Photography from Circus Smirkus's 2023 Big Top Tour, A Midsummer Night's Circus.

Celebrating its 36th year, Circus Smirkus is the only traveling ‘tented’ youth circus in the United States—its shows are among the most beloved arts events of the New England summer. The show featured a vast array of circus arts — including aerials, acrobatics, juggling, clowning — a dazzling display of brilliant costumes, and many other surprises. The 2023 Big Top Tour was on the road from July 1 through mid-August with a tour caravan that required some 23-support vehicles and 80 people— including performers, coaches, cooks, tech and tent crew and a live circus band who played an original score written specifically for this show. The award-winning circus company performs across New England to approximately 40,000 patrons each summer. - Circus Smirkus (smirkus.org)