The Great Moscow Circus is set to pitch its Big Top in Browns Plains from 30 January to 15 February, bringing a newly-created show.
The high-adrenaline program of international acts is part of its 2025 Australian tour.
Evening performances of the two-hour production will run Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7pm, with 3pm matinees on Saturday and Sunday and an additional 11am show on Sundays.
Marketed under what organisers call a “legendary banner,” the show leans heavily into spectacle and danger, with daredevil cycling stunts, aerial feats and classic circus comedy woven into a fast-paced format branded as the new “Extreme” show.
“Under the legendary banner of The Great Moscow Circus, death-defying acts from around the globe are being presented,” marketing manager Mark Edgley said.
“Covid grounded the Circus in 2021 and due to the sensitive political world situation, these carefully chosen superstars have come together for the first time in a brand new show performing throughout Queensland.”
Despite the name, organisers emphasise the show’s ownership and identity are Australian. The Great Moscow Circus first toured Australia in 1965 through the Edgley Organisation and has returned every few years since.
“When the Soviet Union collapsed in December 1991, the Edgley family purchased trademarks on the ownership of the name,” Mr Edgley said.
“These trademarks are currently owned by the Edgley family and the Weber Circus Family, both of Australia, and have no association or affiliation whatsoever with the government of Russia.
“The Great Moscow Circus is an extremely strong brand name built up in Australia and New Zealand since the 1960s with over 7 million attending our different seasons.”
This season’s line-up features performers from Armenia, Ukraine, Brazil, Colombia, Greece, New Zealand and Australia.
The program includes BMX and pro scooter riders, a multi-motorcycle cage act, and a world record-acclaimed pole act, alongside more traditional circus elements.
Mr Edgley singled out the production’s clown — an Armenian performer he described as “the funniest in the world” — as a crowd favourite.
Thrill-based set pieces such as the Wheel of Death, high-flying trampoline routines, aerial acts and a trapeze performance are paired with “techno colour lighting” and elaborate costuming, according to promoters.
The show has already toured parts of Queensland and other states, where organisers say it has drawn standing ovations under the Big Top.
Organisers are betting that a mix of nostalgia, international flair and high-risk spectacle will once again draw crowds to the sawdust ring.
