An iconic travelling circus is set to make a return to Bury next week.

After a four year hiatus, Circus Mondao will be performing an array of daring stunts before live audiences for five nights from next Wednesday,. at High Bank Farm, Walshaw Road.

Back in February 2020, the circus had to close down and couldn’t perform for five months.

In November, following another lockdown, performers and ring masters once again found themselves with no food or money to survive.

Circus Mondao is a registered business but has no premises so was not eligible for government assistance.

Many performers are international, and have visas costing around £1,000 per person, But due to regulations they were unable to take jobs outside the entertainment industry and couldn’t access aid.

Due to border closures, they could not return to their home countries, leaving them in difficult financial situations.

So for five months, many performers had to live off food banks.

Petra Jackson, circus ringmistress, said: “Things got really bad as we headed into the first lockdown. Many acts relied on food banks as they had no other way of supporting themselves and their families, putting them between a rock and a hard place.

“After the second lockdown, they were able to find their feet again, but when the second one hit they began to struggle once more, so the food banks were an absolute godsend.”

Petra confirmed they are making donations to local food banks on their current run and added: “We’re really pleased and looking forward to finally coming back, we simply can’t wait. I’m looking forward to seeing families return that we have missed, because, at the end of the day, we are a family circus.

“Going to the circus is a great experience for the whole family, it makes memories and I’m so glad people are finally going to get some more of that after so long.

“There’s a real variety here that I think people will be happy with, we’ve got the usual wheels of death, horse dressages. I love meeting people at the door, and I like to chat with people as they come in with children. Many parents remember coming to Circus Mondao when they were children."