Circus Royale: Bayswater North shows set to be circus’ swan song following impact of COVID-19

Its big top is finally heaving again, but a year-long juggling act on a muddy Bayswater North block spells the last hurrah for a family run circus.

Circus Royale owner Damian Syred (right), pictured with performer Lena Knipping in Bayswater North in July 2020. Picture: Josie Hayden

COVID-19 and a year of living on a muddy block is set to spell the end for a family owned circus after 50 years of touring.

The beleaguered performers of Circus Royale finally resumed their long-postponed season in Bayswater North at the start of February, after the pandemic grounded them on the corner of Dorset and Canterbury Rds almost a year ago.

They were set to finish on Sunday but have extended their season until March 14, having rescheduled shows following Melbourne’s snap lockdown.

It is set to be the circus’ last hurrah, with owner Damian Syred saying he’d lost hundreds of thousands of dollars due to the pandemic and it was not viable to continue after 14 years in charge.

Mr Syred’s trucks have been deregistered and he said the cost of re-registering them and travelling to another town was too high.

“The damage is already done, this is it for us basically,” he said.

“I stopped adding them up (the losses) a long time ago, it’s too heartbreaking to see how much has gone.”

Despite generous support from neighbours and local businesses, the circus has received only two business grants from the State Government to try and stay afloat.

Mr Syred said his next steps would be to arrange for his 26 performers, some from China and Columbia, to fly home and put as much gear as he could into storage.

“It’s definitely sad its coming to this,” he said.

“The community has done so much for us, but the more bums on seats we get before we leave town, the better chance we have to continue.

“If anything we have set a record for a circus being in a town in history, its unheard of,” he said.

Bayswater state Labor MP Jackson Taylor said he would lend his support to Mr Syred “wherever possible” in their endeavours to stay on longer.

“I appreciate the tough spot that Circus Royale finds themselves in, and I’ve been pleased to have been working with Damian for over a year now and am always willing to chat with him and the team directly,” he said.