Zippos Circus awarded more than £600,000 in government funding

Artists from Zippos Circus celebrated being awarded funding of more than £600,000 from the government’s Culture Recovery Fund on the day their tour opened in Blackheath.

Zippos Circus opened on October 22 and celebrated the funding in style at the opening of their show with knife throwers, foot jugglers, acrobats, comics and motorcycle daredevils.

The funding will enable the circus to continue to perform this year and get back on the road across the UK in 2021.

Zippos Circus was unable to go out on tour for Easter this year and has been faced with many challenges including having artists from around the world stranded in the UK.

The show managed to get back on tour in July, despite huge hurdles, with a critically-acclaimed new production ‘Rebound’ and has since then been touring England with a socially-distanced show and hugely reduced capacity.

Zippos biggest annual gig at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland will not go ahead as the whole event has been cancelled for winter 2020.

The 2020 tour will end in November and the funds will enable the 2021 production to be created ready for touring and provide much needed monies for the business’ infrastructure.

Martin Burton, Founder and Director of Zippos Circus, said: “This generous grant is a lifeline for us and gives our immediate future certainty after a devastating year even if social distancing measures remain in place well into next year.

“The circus is a hugely popular, accessible and affordable art form, appealing to a wide audience and for many children is their first introduction to live performance.

“We are delighted and hugely relieved to have received this grant which will secure our financial viability and set us up for our 2021 tour.”