An ‘extreme’ circus is set to thrill Sunshine Coasters and raise money for a good cause.
The Great Moscow Circus is poised to host a special event on February 22, before officially starting its national tour with a series of shows at Noosa.
The circus will team up with fundraiser extraordinaire Oz Bayldon and Events4GreaterGood, to help those doing it tough here and abroad.
Circus marketing manager Mark Edgley said the circus was proud to get behind a good cause.
“We like working with charities to help raise some money for the local community, which is really important to us. And we have been working very closely with Oz, which has been fantastic,” he said.
“We wanted to start on the Sunshine Coast and thought Noosa would be the best place to launch the production as we haven’t been there for well over 10 years,” Mr Edgley said.
The renowned circus is presenting its Extreme show, promising acts including high-wire performers and daredevil motorcyclists to keep the audience of all ages on the edge of their seats.
“We’ve got the Moscow Circus Extreme including The Flair Riders, unbelievable BMX riders, trapeze artists, jugglers, Russian acrobats and much more. It’s an extreme show, so it brings that wow factor to the audience,” Mr Edgley said.
“When people say they’re too old for the circus, it’s not true. There’s no age limit. We get a really good mixture of ages who love it.”
Following a long halt to production caused by the pandemic, Mr Edgley was looking forward to starting the national tour.
“Obviously, we’ve been interrupted by the COVID situation, which has been hard for us after not working for eight months,” he said.
“So, we can’t wait for our brand-new show, which has already got a great response,” Mr Edgley said.
With sold out performances across the country, Mr Edgley said the show will feature an international cast of superstars.
“We have 25 performers from Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Armenia, South America, Greece, and Australia. So, it’s a great mixture of people in the show,” he said.
“Once we leave Noosa, we go all the way north to Bundaberg, Rockhampton and Yeppoon. And then we go across to the Northern Territory, then to Western Australia by the end of the year,” he said.
Meanwhile, Mr Bayldon was on another mission to make a difference.
As the director of Events4GreaterGood, he is no stranger to supporting communities.
“In general, we are helping those in vulnerable positions. Here, locally, I help a lot of domestic violence (DV) survivors find houses, furnish their house, get them shopping vouchers, do a lot for single parents, etc,” he said.
“I’ve taken maybe 20 to 30 families living from living tents or sleeping in cars into stable living,” he said.
He expected proceeds from this event’s fundraiser would help cover the costs of running a local community space, including a Nepalese orphanage his London-based charity Music4Children opened in 2014 to prevent homelessness and provide girls essential life skills.
“I hope a bit of this money will go towards helping the girls in Nepal, and we’ll also put it towards the local situation here,” he said.
“At the moment we are looking to get a place in Tewantin to turn it into a community venue, with the goal of having all the local charities have somewhere to meet and network.
“We would be able to train people with disabilities, DV survivors and longterm unemployed in hospitality and the creative arts. So, this money will help us put all that together, as well as helping those in emergency situations,” he said.
As the brainchild behind annual festival Noosa Come Together, he has helped to raise funds for programs Sailability, Riding for the Disabled and the Disabled Surfers Association for children and people with disabilities.
With a string of accolades under his belt in the name of charity, Mr Bayldon is the world record holder of four musical gigs, including The longest gig of playing non-stop for 44 hours, the coldest gig (-10 degrees) at Mt Snowdown, Wales, the highest gig in the Everest region at 6467m, playing an instrument on the highest canyon swing.
The attempt to smash his world record of non-stop playing while sailing down the Amazon to raise funds for a local eco-tourism education program was cancelled due to COVID-19.
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But the wizardry of Oz keeps going.
Nothing will stop him following that yellow brick road to serving the most vulnerable.
“And I’m now breaking another four world records in music,” he said.
“In fact, we’re talking with a couple of people now where we’re hoping to get it on Netflix or Amazon or something of that calibre.
“What I love about this whole event with the circus, is that I consider myself to be the world authority on extreme music, when the performers are the authority on extreme circus,” he said.
The charity night will include a VIP event with live music featuring Mish Shell and Oz Bayldon, and it’s scheduled to start at 5pm, with canapés served by celebrity chef Larry from legendary restaurant Rosie’s. Seafood to be supplied by Soul Fish, with free beverages sponsored by Heads of Noosa.
The Great Moscow Circus will run almost daily until March 6 at Noosa Pirates Rugby League Football Club, Noosa District Sports Complex, 31 Butler St, Tewantin.
For tickets to the charity performance go to Events 4 Greater Good. For further information see The Great Moscow Circus.
