Whether it’s the thrill of watching trapeze artists soar or the mesmerizing rhythm of a juggler’s hands, the circus has always offered a kind of magic. But in an increasingly fraught time, can that magic do more than dazzle? Can the circus, with its bright canvas tents and aerial silks, foster new points of connection in a distressed town? In November, the New England Center for Circus Arts in Brattleboro aims to find out with the inaugural Vermont Circus Festival.
The weeklong program features dozens of workshops and classes at the circus training center and locations around Brattleboro, along with performances by national circus performers as well as students and alumni from the school.
The festival, which runs November 2 to 9, grew out of a smaller series of workshops that the school hosted in prior years, which steadily drew more attendees. Cofounder and producing director Serenity Smith Forchion sees the expanded event as a way to increase community access to the arts — and to shift the narrative around Brattleboro, a town she said is often defined by its challenges with homelessness, addiction and other social issues.
“Brattleboro, like many small towns, is really struggling,” she said. “But there are so many beautiful stories about what’s happening here, too, and we need more of these stories.” Circus, she added, can be part of that shift: “As an art form, it’s joyful. And joy is something people need in order to face the things that are not so joyful.”
Parallel Exit, a New York City physical theater and contemporary circus company, will perform its latest piece, I’LL TAKE IT, twice on Friday, November 7. It centers on three friends navigating the challenges of living together in a tiny space, represented onstage by a box roughly the size of a refrigerator. As the characters twist, contort and collide in their efforts to coexist, their friendship is pushed to a breaking point, forcing them to confront whether their bond can survive. The story unfolds entirely through movement.
“It has everything from very specialized circus techniques that performers worked on for years, like juggling, hand balancing and chair stacking, all the way to very pedestrian moments where they’re just in character, interacting with each other,” Parallel Exit artistic director Mark Lonergan said.
“We love to explore ‘simple magic,’” he said of his troupe. “We’re not trying to make the Statue of Liberty disappear like David Copperfield. What’s of interest to us is, there’s something visual we can do that tricks the audience’s eye and subverts their expectation.”
“As an art form, it’s joyful.”
Serenity Smith Forchion
The spotlight then turns to the circus school’s own performers — past, present and still in training. The Alumni Cabaret on Saturday, November 8, is a showcase of seasoned circus artists returning to their training ground. And on Sunday, November 9, Beta Night offers works in progress from current students, ranging from those just learning basic skills to advanced performers pushing the boundaries of circus artistry.
“It might be like going to an open mic at your local bar and having some local performers, but then, you know, Sting shows up,” Smith Forchion said.
Beyond the thrills of the main stage, much of the festival’s charm lies in the program’s smaller events and workshops. Among the highlights are figure-drawing classes with acrobat models at the Drawing Studio, a nonprofit community art center; and Silver Circus, non-cardio workout classes at the circus center that introduce older adults to basic circus skills.
Rob Mermin, founder of Circus Smirkus youth circus in Greensboro, will lead a discussion based on his book Circle of Sawdust: A Circus Memoir of Mud, Myth, Mirth, Mayhem, and Magic on Wednesday, November 5, at Brooks Memorial Library, followed by a talk on the history of circus in Vermont the following day at the 118 Elliot gallery.
Mermin said circus arts are thriving in Vermont today, from the success of Smirkus and the New England Center for Circus Arts to the enduring appeal of the annual Festival of Fools street fair in Burlington. After Burlington City Arts canceled this year’s Festival of Fools due to funding losses, local businesses rallied to pay for a downsized Fools Block Party in August. Restaurateur Travis Walker-Hodkin, who helped spearhead the effort, described the Burlington festival as “widely beloved.” In a comment paralleling Smith Forchion’s words about Brattleboro, he said he viewed the smaller block party as a way to uplift a beleaguered downtown.
Now, Festival of Fools cofounder Woody Keppel and others are planning a new event for 2026 called Feast of Fools and will host a sneak-preview mini festival on Sunday, September 21, at Camp Meade in Middlesex. According to Keppel, it will feature “world-class variety and circus acts, art, music, and mayhem.” (See sidebar.)
Parallel Exit’s Lonergan, a former Circus Smirkus creative director, noted that the rise of circus’ popularity in Vermont is part of a broader national trend. That’s been helped in part by organizations such as the American Circus Alliance — a nonprofit he cofounded five years ago with Smith Forchion and other performers — which helped spark a wave of new circus festivals in cities such as Philadelphia and Ithaca, N.Y., this year.
Of course, no circus would be complete without clowns. Vermont Circus Festival attendees can ice-skate for free with the circus school’s clowns (red noses provided) at Nelson Withington Skating Facility on Sunday, November 2, or meet up at Pliny Park on Friday, November 7, for the Clown Crawl. The latter welcomes “anyone who identifies as a clown and those who love them,” according to the festival program.
Clowns, Smith Forchion noted, have long provided more than just comic relief. They can be cultural truth tellers with the power to challenge, reflect and even heal. “Across many societies, they were approved to say things that nobody else could say without fear of punishment,” she said. That kind of honesty, she believes, can be disarming — a way to open dialogue, ease tension and help communities see themselves more clearly.
It’s a spirit that runs through the festival, which, for Smith Forchion, is ultimately about strengthening Brattleboro — bringing joy, connection and a renewed sense of possibility to a town grappling with housing insecurity and other marks of inequity.
“I know I, singlehandedly in my role, can’t change things like the lack of housing in Brattleboro,” she said, “but what I can do is make this a more positive place to live.”
Vermont Circus Festival, Sunday, November 2, through Sunday, November 9, at various locations in Brattleboro. Various prices; some events are free. necenterforcircusarts.org
Feast of Fools Circus in Middlesex Previews a new Festival Planned for 2026
Feast of Fools Circus, Sunday, September 21, noon to 5 p.m., at Camp Meade in Middlesex. Suggested donation of $10 for adults and $5 for kids. info@campmeade.today or 1.800.FOOLERY
The original print version of this article was headlined “A Balancing Act | The inaugural Vermont Circus Festival looks to entertain and uplift in Brattleboro”
This article appears in Sep 10-16 2025.
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