Family Fun at Paulos Circus Topsham

Family Fun at Paulos Circus Topsham

This weekend we had the pleasure of visiting Paulos Circus at Darts Farm in Topsham. it’s a fantastic setting with plenty of parking and the appeal of coffee, cake, and ice cream afterwards.

Aerial Acrobat performing in the air at Paulos Circus

We visited when they were there back in 2017 so we knew we were in for a treat – Paulos Circus 2017.

Paulos Circus has been entertaining the nation since 1816. Isabelle’s Tour is a mixture of traditional circus acts presented with a 21st-century twist. 

The excitement builds once the Big Top is insight. The walk there today was a soggy one, but it definitely didn’t put a dampener on the experience.

Poroto the Clown doing ladder tricks in Paulos Circus

I went with my sister and her daughter. As well as my two. I wasn’t sure if Freddie was going to sit still but he was mesmerised throughout the show as there are so many different acts to see as well as all the lighting and effects.

An Aerial gymnast performing in the Paulos Circus

We wore masks until we were seated. As we were seated ringside, there were plastic partitions between each family group and a one-way system in and out of the tent. There were also hand sanitisers at the entrance and in the toilets.

What to Expect

The show was Go….Go…..Go throughout with act after act providing non-stop entertainment. 

The acts included: 

Juggling
Balancing 
Aerial Gymnastics 
Aerial Cube Gymnastics 
Ladder walking (not sure if that’s the technical term, but you’ll know what I mean)
Trapeze Artist 
A Fairy on a tightrope
A Robot and a Spaceship

And not forgetting Poroto the clown who we saw in between each act – he was absolutely hilarious. 

There were refreshments available on a cash-only basis so don’t forget to take some cash on the day.

The show lasted around 75 minutes and it went by really quickly. 

It is loud in the big top and there are a lot of flashing lights. I did notice a couple of children wearing ear defenders, but my three-year-old and ten-year-old were absolutely fine without. 

Paulos Circus gymnastics act

How much are the tickets? 

Isabelle’s Tour is at Dart’s Farm until the 25th July with plenty of shows available and then on to Newquay for the rest of the Summer. 

The tickets are £8 per person which is a very reasonable price. Under 2’s are FREE.

These can be prebooked or bought on the gate, but personally, I’m not sure I would risk the disappointment of being turned away. You can book your Paulos Circus Tickets Here.

For all updates, it’s best to follow their Facebook Page

A Spaceship landing with an alien emerging as part of the Paulos Circus performance

Our Thoughts 

Right from the beginning, I thought it was well thought out with a one-way system and hand sanitisers available on arrival. The Big Top wasn’t packed full of people, there was plenty of room and in terms of COVID and social distancing, I felt that we didn’t have any issues at all. 

The show was fantastic. There was something going on all of the time which just keeps the excitement going throughout. I wasn’t sure if Freddie was going to sit still as he has no experience of sitting in this kind of setting as he was only 18 months old when the pandemic hit. However, he was mesmerised by the lights and the acts. He joined in with the clapping and laughed throughout. My daughter and niece enjoyed it so much and again joined in wholeheartedly. 

I love the circus and the atmosphere was brilliant. Everybody was clapping along and laughing the whole time. The performers give 100% to their acts and it shines throughout the acts.

To see more of the acts have a look at our Day’s Out Highlights over on our Instagram account.

*We were gifted tickets to attend the Paulos Circus to enable us to provide an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are our own.

 

Paulos Circus – Darts Farm

Paulos Circus heads to Darts Farm

There’s something a bit special about going to the circus. Is it the Big Top, the Clowns, all the sparkly costumes or maybe the oodles of sweets and candyfloss that kids are given a free pass to stuff their faces with.

It was exciting to be invited along to watch the show. The last time I took Isabelle to the circus we were chased across a field by a horse and turned up wet and bedraggled only for Isabelle to sleep through the entire show. She was under two at the time so all is forgiven.

We spotted the Big Top and the excitement began. We went in through the Big Top which was quite dark with disco lights all around and loaded up with popcorn, drinks and candyfloss. There was no formal seating plan so you could choose where to sit yourself. We were lucky to get seats at the front in the middle so Isabelle didn’t need to sit on either of our laps which was nice.

Paulos Circus

The Show

The show which was an hour and ten minutes long was action-packed throughout with acrobatics using swings and ribbons to twirl and whirl through the sky, Mr. N the funny Clown, plate spinning, trampolining, and other shenanigans.

Mr. N the clown was so funny. Mr. N did lots of really silly stuff which the crowd, us included thought was really funny. He popped out between each act and had all the kids and adults enthralled in his funny antics.

Paulos Circus

When it was time to pick a helper from the audience he picked  – ME – to hold a balloon above my head whilst he had a balloon arrow. Using the balloon bow he shot an invisible arrow that popped the balloon.

Later on in the show he picked on us again – Chris this time, was chosen to catch popcorn in his mouth which he missed. Mr N gave him another chance and when he went to throw the popcorn he threw the whole bucket over him.

We watched ariel acrobatics which was pretty amazing and similar on a swing.

paulos_circus

At the beginning of the show, there was an act where a man and a woman took it in turns to go inside material tubes and each time they came out they were wearing different clothes. Isabelle’s face was complete and utter astonishment. She thinks that it would be cool for us to get some of the material tubes so it’s quicker to get changed.

paulos_circus

The grand finale was called the Ring of Death which was an enormous wheel with two circles which two acrobats climbed inside and outside whilst it was spinning. I think I gasped the first time it whooshed round as I was sat completely in line for first squashing as it was so close. There were lots of open mouthes as it went around at speed with the two of them going around and around.

paulos_circus

Our thoughts

The time went really quick and everyone joined in clapping along and laughing. Isabelle loved all of the sparkly costumes that the ladies wore and her face said it all really. Isabelle left with a sticky smile and another memory stored away of a fun family day.

Visiting the Circus

Paulos Circus will be at Darts Farm in Topsham until Sunday 9th July when they will be moving on to Newquay.

Tickets are only £7.00 per person but if you have a look around there are lots of £2.00 off vouchers. This can be applied to all tickets purchased. For more details on where the Circus is visiting next pop over to the website www.pauloscircus.co.uk.

If you do get the chance to go we would definitely recommend it.

Lisa x

*we were gifted tickets to the show but all opinions are our own.