Greetings and welcome to our new Circus Flora website. We hope you like what you see here and will visit often to learn about what’s going on with St. Louis’ own world-renowned Circus Flora!

While much of St. Louis is aware of the magic of Circus Flora and what we do under the Big Top each year, there are still many people in St. Louis who don’t realize that we have been a St. Louis based nonprofit for 31 years. We have always maintained that in addition to world-class performances, a commitment to the greater community is essential to the growth and success of Circus Flora. This is where we can make an impact in St. Louis all year long and areas that we hope to expand in the coming years. We currently have two main community outreach programs that make a difference throughout the year.

Clowns on Call, with our major partner, SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children’s Foundation, celebrated its 5th birthday in 2017. Since its inception, Clowns on Call has served over 5,000 children and families as they live through challenging and difficult healthcare situations at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon and Mercy Children’s Hospitals.

Share the Circus makes it possible for many of those unable to attend the circus due to economic barriers to enjoying the magic of Circus Flora. Working with over 30 area social service agencies, Circus Flora donates approximately 3,000 tickets through Share the Circus each year. In 2018 we plan to expand Share the Circus with a transportation arm to help defray the cost of buses for transport to the show as well as finding new ways to bring the joy of Circus Flora to the community throughout the year.

We also create special engagements throughout our annual production run to ensure that the circus remains accessible to all. Each year, our annual Peanut-free preview, presented with the help of Gateway Feast, allows people with severe nut allergies an opportunity to enjoy the excitement and wonder of a Circus Flora performance.

Also, the annual Sensory-Friendly performance is designed in partnership with EasterSeals Midwest for individuals with developmental disabilities, including autism so they can experience Circus Flora with their families. In 2017 we added an audio description for the visually impaired courtesy of MindsEye Radio. Going forward, we hope to engage more differently abled communities to join us for this unique and special show to make it as broadly inclusive as possible.

In addition to these exciting programs, our biggest piece of news will really show St. Louis that we are here to stay. Our new partnership with the Kranzberg Arts Foundation has enabled us to establish a dedicated permanent location for the Circus Flora Big Top. Plans are underway to develop our new home site at the corner of Washington Boulevard and Josephine Baker Blvd in time for our Spring 2018 production. With this new site, we have adjusted our performance schedule to a more hospitable time of year and keep the tent up beyond our regular season. This means there will be more events happening under the Circus Flora sign throughout the year!

Plans for the site include a new, permanent box office as well as new administrative offices so we can work with the Big Top as our background all year long. I can’t let the cat out of the bag just yet but there are more exciting things in store for Grand Center with this new venue. Thank you, Ken & Nancy Kranzberg, MaryAnn Srenco, Chris Hansen, and the entire team at the Kranzberg Arts Foundation. Their dedication to the arts in St. Louis are making an enormous difference and we are proud to be in a partnership with you.

We hope to have you visit our site regularly to keep up with all the new exciting changes at Circus Flora. And don’t forget to put our spring 2018 show dates on your calendar – April 19th through May 13th (a perfect way to spend Mother’s Day!). You won’t want to miss out on this year’s show. It promises to be one of our most exciting ever!

See you under the Big Top!

Larry Mabrey
Executive Director