Forums > Social Discussion > The end of the circus?
Login/Join to ParticipateBRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
Posted:
Hi there everyone,
I noticed this story when I was searching through the wire this afternoon... I'm not sure if it affects fire performance directly, but I imagine it won't be long before all types of performance are governed by licence.
Whatever happened to freedom of speech and expression?!
Take care xo
CLOWNS AND MPS UNITE IN BID TO SAFEGUARD CIRCUSES
By John-Paul Ford Rojas, PA News
A colourful collection of circus workers gathered in Downing Street today to lobby against new measures they fear could destroy their livelihoods.
Ringmasters, acrobats and clowns were joined by MPs to call for new licensing laws to be reviewed.
The new rules would mean travelling circuses having to apply for a new licence for every site where they planned to stage a show.
A petition signed by more than 10,000 members of the public, circus workers and audiences was presented in Downing Street today.
The campaigners say the new law would mean circuses having to apply for dozens of licences every year several weeks in advance at an unknown cost.
Problems would also be caused if they had to apply for a new licence at the last minute.
“If, for example, it rains at the site they have a licence for and they have to go to a new site, they would need a new licence and they may not have time to get it,” Tory MP Sir George Young said at today’s event.
He added that the government had promised circuses would not be affected by the new bill but had failed to add the necessary exemptions during its passage into legislation.
Peter Luff, another Conservative MP who was there today, told how he grew up watching the circus with the grandson of famous impresario Billy Smart.
He said of the 34 travelling circuses in Britain today only four or five would be able to survive if the new rules were enforced.
Asked what they would mean for the traditional circus industry in Britain he said: “Kill it.”
Carolyn Roberts, director of the family-run Roberts Circus, was also at today’s event.
Ms Roberts, whose family involvement in the circus goes back to her great-grandfather, said: “The law, if it came in, would harm us. It would restrict us to where we can go and how quickly we can go there. This is our way of life.”
While the new law has been passed, campaigners hope the government could bring in guidelines to protect circuses from it.
Conservative Culture spokeswoman Julie Kirkbride, who was also present today, said: “They still have a chance to change it.
“Circuses have been a tradition of England for centuries and it’s a wonderful form of family entertainment which is totally unsubsidised.
“It would be a great pity if we lost circuses because they simply couldn’t comply with these new bureaucratic burdens.”
Representatives of the circus industry had travelled to today’s events from across the country, including Scarborough, London, Chiswick, Southampton, Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester.
But scantily-clad showgirls among their number were not allowed through the gates at the end of Downing Street to attend the presentation of the petition.
Ms Roberts said they were not allowed in because they were inappropriately dressed.
Hi there everyone,
I noticed this story when I was searching through the wire this afternoon... I'm not sure if it affects fire performance directly, but I imagine it won't be long before all types of performance are governed by licence.
Whatever happened to freedom of speech and expression?!
Take care xo
CLOWNS AND MPS UNITE IN BID TO SAFEGUARD CIRCUSES
By John-Paul Ford Rojas, PA News
A colourful collection of circus workers gathered in Downing Street today to lobby against new measures they fear could destroy their livelihoods.
Ringmasters, acrobats and clowns were joined by MPs to call for new licensing laws to be reviewed.
The new rules would mean travelling circuses having to apply for a new licence for every site where they planned to stage a show.
A petition signed by more than 10,000 members of the public, circus workers and audiences was presented in Downing Street today.
The campaigners say the new law would mean circuses having to apply for dozens of licences every year several weeks in advance at an unknown cost.
Problems would also be caused if they had to apply for a new licence at the last minute.
“If, for example, it rains at the site they have a licence for and they have to go to a new site, they would need a new licence and they may not have time to get it,” Tory MP Sir George Young said at today’s event.
He added that the government had promised circuses would not be affected by the new bill but had failed to add the necessary exemptions during its passage into legislation.
Peter Luff, another Conservative MP who was there today, told how he grew up watching the circus with the grandson of famous impresario Billy Smart.
He said of the 34 travelling circuses in Britain today only four or five would be able to survive if the new rules were enforced.
Asked what they would mean for the traditional circus industry in Britain he said: “Kill it.”
Carolyn Roberts, director of the family-run Roberts Circus, was also at today’s event.
Ms Roberts, whose family involvement in the circus goes back to her great-grandfather, said: “The law, if it came in, would harm us. It would restrict us to where we can go and how quickly we can go there. This is our way of life.”
While the new law has been passed, campaigners hope the government could bring in guidelines to protect circuses from it.
Conservative Culture spokeswoman Julie Kirkbride, who was also present today, said: “They still have a chance to change it.
“Circuses have been a tradition of England for centuries and it’s a wonderful form of family entertainment which is totally unsubsidised.
“It would be a great pity if we lost circuses because they simply couldn’t comply with these new bureaucratic burdens.”
Representatives of the circus industry had travelled to today’s events from across the country, including Scarborough, London, Chiswick, Southampton, Bristol, Liverpool and Manchester.
But scantily-clad showgirls among their number were not allowed through the gates at the end of Downing Street to attend the presentation of the petition.
Ms Roberts said they were not allowed in because they were inappropriately dressed.
Getting to the other side 
GOLD Member
Fool
2,020 posts
Location: Cornwall, UK
Fool
2,020 posts
Location: Cornwall, UK
Posted:
Good article. How much will it affect us non-pro's?
Not at all.
Win, score, bonus round.
Good article. How much will it affect us non-pro's?
Not at all.
Win, score, bonus round.
"I believe the cost of life is Death and we will all pay that in full. Everything else should be a gift. We paid the cover charge of life, we were born."
Bill Hicks, February 1988
BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
Posted:
Maybe not yet... but with increasing numbers of people playing with fire (and I really hope this doesn't happen), but there is a chance of someone f**king up and setting an audience member alight.
Then, it could get difficult... perhaps even permits for all people wanting to play with fire etc...
This is how governments normally bring in unpleasant legislation... sneak it in bit by bit.
Maybe not yet... but with increasing numbers of people playing with fire (and I really hope this doesn't happen), but there is a chance of someone f**king up and setting an audience member alight.
Then, it could get difficult... perhaps even permits for all people wanting to play with fire etc...
This is how governments normally bring in unpleasant legislation... sneak it in bit by bit.
Getting to the other side
GOLD Member
Fool
2,020 posts
Location: Cornwall, UK
Fool
2,020 posts
Location: Cornwall, UK
Posted:
I nearly set someone on fire once. I felt guilty as hell and spent the rest of the night apologising, which was probably quite annoying. I learned a whole lot about safety that day i can tell ya.
I suppose it bears consideration. In Falmouth we've been moved on by police regularly, (sometimes as much as three times in a night) and more recently been threatened with Fixed Penalty Notices if we insist on playing with fire on a "private beach". The beach is owned by the local district council, who somehow use Devon & Cornwall police to, if you'll pardon the repetition, police their beaches.
However, a little bird tells me that the bit of land between the high tide mark and the sea is public land. So we can spin while paddling.
(was that totally
?)
I nearly set someone on fire once. I felt guilty as hell and spent the rest of the night apologising, which was probably quite annoying. I learned a whole lot about safety that day i can tell ya.
I suppose it bears consideration. In Falmouth we've been moved on by police regularly, (sometimes as much as three times in a night) and more recently been threatened with Fixed Penalty Notices if we insist on playing with fire on a "private beach". The beach is owned by the local district council, who somehow use Devon & Cornwall police to, if you'll pardon the repetition, police their beaches.
However, a little bird tells me that the bit of land between the high tide mark and the sea is public land. So we can spin while paddling.
(was that totally
?) "I believe the cost of life is Death and we will all pay that in full. Everything else should be a gift. We paid the cover charge of life, we were born."
Bill Hicks, February 1988
BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
Posted:
You could be right on that little bit of land thingme... If I remember correctly, in NZ I the entire coastline (or maybe it's just in Auckland) is protected by law. Two metres from the high tide mark is called the 'queen's chain' or somesuch, the idea being to give the people freedom to walk around the beaches.
So there would probably be something similar in England.
I haven't set anyone on fire yet (thank god), but I did drop my poi once when doing a throw - it kinda soared into the middle of a big group of people. That was a while ago, but it's still mortifying. Thankfully noone was struck by the flying poi.
But you can see the problem - if an accident does happen (and I hope it doesn't), especially in a country like America, you could see legislation introduced which will totally change the form, style and concept of firespinning. (and anything america does, the uk does too)
Of course, this may not happen (or may not happen for a long time), but it's worth thinking about.
Anyways xo
You could be right on that little bit of land thingme... If I remember correctly, in NZ I the entire coastline (or maybe it's just in Auckland) is protected by law. Two metres from the high tide mark is called the 'queen's chain' or somesuch, the idea being to give the people freedom to walk around the beaches.
So there would probably be something similar in England.
I haven't set anyone on fire yet (thank god), but I did drop my poi once when doing a throw - it kinda soared into the middle of a big group of people. That was a while ago, but it's still mortifying. Thankfully noone was struck by the flying poi.
But you can see the problem - if an accident does happen (and I hope it doesn't), especially in a country like America, you could see legislation introduced which will totally change the form, style and concept of firespinning. (and anything america does, the uk does too)
Of course, this may not happen (or may not happen for a long time), but it's worth thinking about.
Anyways xo
Getting to the other side
newbie
34 posts
Location: Nr London, UK
34 posts
Location: Nr London, UK
Posted:
there's always public footpaths...you can't get thrown off of them.
there's always public footpaths...you can't get thrown off of them.
BRONZE Member
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
Still wiggling
5,967 posts
Location: Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK)
Posted:
Yeah, but people normally walk down public footpaths, so you can't really spin fire on them.
I think there will always be somewhere available to spin fire, the problem is going to be the licensing, if that is ever introduced. And with licensing comes insurance (which in the UK is about £140 a year).
Lol, happy little ray of optimism that I am
Yeah, but people normally walk down public footpaths, so you can't really spin fire on them.
I think there will always be somewhere available to spin fire, the problem is going to be the licensing, if that is ever introduced. And with licensing comes insurance (which in the UK is about £140 a year).
Lol, happy little ray of optimism that I am
Getting to the other side
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