Underbelly Circus Hub on the Meadows

The Underbelly Circus Hub on the Meadows, now a stalwart feature at the Edinburgh Fringe, returns for 2018 bursting with amazing global circus! As the art form marks its 250^th anniversary, The Circus Hub remains the first and only venue on the Fringe dedicated to celebrating circus in all its many extraordinary physical forms.

Audiences young and old are in for a treat, with smorgasbord of jaw-dropping, awe-inspiring circus to ensure that there’s never a dull moment in Edinburgh this August.

Following their 2015 Edinburgh Fringe bearded-sensation Barbu, Canada’s Cirque Alfonse return to the Fringe with the UK premiere of TABARNAK. Turning The Lafayette into a church, these roller-skating acrobats turn the pews upside down in this infectious musical circus. Having electrified US audiences for 25 years, America’s ‘coolest show on earth’ (Newsweek) comes to the UK for the first time. Universoul Circus: Hip Hop under the Big Top is set to get audiences up off their feet with a soundtrack that will blow the roof off the tent. UniverSoul’s international cast includes high-wire artists, slapstick comedy, jaw-dropping contortionists, Caribbean limbo fire-dancers and global internet sensations Fresh The Clowns. Come see the show that has entertained over 20 million people in the USA.

One of the UK’s hottest circus companies, Barely Methodical Troupe are at the forefront of a new kind of physical performance, creating highly entertaining shows that mix the show-stopping acrobatics of circus with the emotional punch of theatre. They bring SHIFT to Fringe 2018 in an astonishing gravity defying show featuring cyr wheel, hand to hand, acrobatics and circus; using apparatus in ways you didn’t think possible!

Returning after a stellar-2017 Fringe and having dazzled audiences at The Royal Variety Performance, Circus Abyssinia: Ethiopian Dreams is an unashamedly joyful mix of astonishing stunts, astounding circus skills and enchanting adventure that will mesmerise audiences of all ages. Joining the Ethiopian stars in The Lafayette are Colombian super humans Circolombia, returns to stun new crowds with their unbelievable feats of strength and agility, set to a pulsing original Latin American beat heavy soundtrack the show will have audiences shaking their heads in disbelief and dancing in the aisles!

Long-time Underbelly circus collaborators CIRCA are back with Wolfgang, a family-friendly show about a man known as Mozart, who appears amidst a puff of powder, ready to throw musical madness into a crescendo of swoops and twirls.

Also for the kids are Australian circus clowns, Head First Acrobats and their Fringe favourite Arr We There Yet? a rip-roaring and swashbuckling adventure in which three sailors hit the high seas in search of treasure. Also returning, albeit in a new waterproof guise, are Splash Test Dummies with some splish splashing circus set to drown you in tears of laughter.

You might want to leave the kids at home for Little Death Club. Join Queen of Weimar punk kabarett Bernie Dieter and her travelling family of misfits, miscreants and fantastic freaks for “a feast of feathers, nudity and side-splitting comedy”, hot off a huge success at the Adelaide Fringe.

Star of Ru Pauls Drag Race and winner of Celebrity Big Brother, Courtney Act makes her triumphant return after a sell-out 2017 Fringe with a new show. Courtney Act: Under the Covers invites audiences to get tucked in, lay back and enjoy the caress of those satin sheets as she strips songs down and flips others on their back to show you just how gender-fluid and genre-fluid a great song can be!

Following their smash hit show Elixir at last year’s festival, Head First Acrobats return with a new late-night offering of raucous circus naughtiness. Circus-Cision is a mash-up of Spiegeltent legends, home-grown favourites, and the freshest and hottest circus superstars of this year’s festival. Expect hula hoopers, acrobats, contortionists, and performers straight out of left-field!