Farewell to the Freo Big Top

🎪 An end of an Era

Since 2017, the CircusWA training and development centre has called the Freo Big Top on Princess May Park, home. The Freo Big Top was installed as a short term (3 year) survival strategy for the circus after losing Old Customs House as a training facility.

But the transition from this temporary solution into a permanent home ended up taking 9 years. The transition was impacted by a pandemic and a decade of diminishing funding to the arts sector.

Against all odds, and with extraordinary fortitude and resilience, the circus community transformed a tent in a park into the Freo Big Top. A safe and vibrant space where young people and professional artists have come together to build skills, confidence and connection through circus.

“In this temporary facility, we grew WA’s first funded youth Academy. Since 2017, we’ve created and performed an average of four shows a year, supported four resident circus companies, hosted national and international artists, and built a space where artists could connect and thrive in WA,” CircusWA Artistic Director Jo Smith said.

Tuesday night, youth performers, board, staff, trainers, tent builders, funders, donors, and friends gathered for the Lowering the Big Top Celebration Event. It was a special evening, celebrating the life of the tent and the many memories held within it.

Hon Simone McGurk MLA, Minister for Creative Industries, City of Fremantle; Mayor Ben Lawver, Patron Hon Dr Brad Pettitt MLC, and Director of Creative Arts and Community Pete Stone attended the event.

Also attending – three of the 2017 board members, Pam Nairn, Paul Ingleson and John Bowskill, who in 2017 guided the survival strategy across that year and financed the purchase of the Freo Big Top via a private loan arrangement.

To oversee the dismantling of this decade long enterprise was sail maker Pete Ripley who sewed the new tent skin in 2018 and the two Bens— Ben (the builder) Alpers and Ben (the rigger) Kotovski-Steele.

But this isn’t goodbye to the Freo Big Top, just a holiday for her. CircusWA will be working to raise the required funds to create a new Big Top skin and replace some of the old infrastructure, with plans to bring it back to the community in the future as a place to perform in around Fremantle.

CircusWA has now opened the doors to our new home, the Circus Substation at 2/10 Parry Street, where the old Energy Museum used to be and where Fremantle Press also have new offices. A vibrant hub where energy, creativity and connection will keep growing, where new skills are learned, friendships are formed, and young people are empowered to find their voice.

Here’s to a new beginning and lots more circus.

*Story by Jean Hudson. Photographs supplied by CircusWA

Jean Hudson is our Shipping and Sailing Correspondent and also a regular feature writer, reviewer and photographer here on the Shipping News. You may also like to follow up her informative Places I Love stories, as well as other feature stories and Freo Today photographs, right here.

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