LAWSON'S CIRCUS AT VAN HAGES GREAT AMWELL

John Lawson's circus has everything I have come to expect from a circus. The big top, death defying acts, tight ropes, clowns and candy floss! Minus the tigers jumping through burning hoops and elephants standing on tiny balls thankfully. 

The circus is situated in the car park of Van Hages garden centre in Great Amwell. Tickets can be purchased in advance online ( www.vanhage.co.uk ) or on the day at the customer service desk inside the garden centre (enter through the main entrance and turn right.) Tickets are £6.50 each (there is a booking fee when ordering online) or 4 tickets for £20.00 which is a nice little saving and well worth purchasing together if visiting with family or friends. It is worth bearing in mind that purchasing tickets on the day is subject to availability. We purchased ours on the day and there was plenty of availability, however I only learnt about this attraction towards the end of the summer holidays and we went to see one of the last shows so I can imagine it would have been a fair bit busier towards the start if the summer holidays. There are 3 show times a day, 11am, 1pm and 3pm so if a show is fully booked then there is always the option of having some lunch and a look at the animals at the garden centre to kill some time whilst waiting for the next show time if that has availability. I will write a separate post on the garden centre as this is a nice little trip in itself. 

Tickets are collected in at the tent entrance so have them to hand to keep things moving along. On entry there are the usual fairs, popcorn and candy floss (£2.50 each) and light up spinners etc. (Over priced plus we already have about 4 at home from past guilt trips!) I would advise arriving around 15 minutes before show time to allow time for purchases and to give yourself more chance of getting a good seat. There are a few restrictive view seats dotted around due to the tent poles, etc. We arrived with 5 minutes to spare and there was a fairly slim selection available from that point. 

I was really impressed with the show itself, they are very talented individuals performing edge of your seat acts. There are plenty of laughs for both young and old viewers and there was a real family feel to the whole thing. I won’t give away too much, but my favourite act was the aerial act and my least favourite was the knife throwing! My nerves just can’t handle things like this these days! The show is approximately 45 minutes long which was the perfect length of time for my 2 year old who started to get a little fidgety during the final 5 minutes. 

What did my 2 year old think?

Mummy: Did you like the circus?

E: *Nods* everyone very clever. 

Mummy: What was your best bit?

E: The funny man (Bippo) and popcorn.  

Here are some of my tips if you are planning to visit: 

1. Take advantage of the 4 for £20 offer. If you're visiting with friends or family, then purchase your tickets together to save a little money. 
2. Arrive ahead of show time to try to avoid the restrictive view seats. 
3. If you, like us, have a number of light up spinners etc at home, then perhaps pop one in your handbag to take with you. That way your little ones can get involved without it costing you a pretty penny for something which will be forgotten about the minute you walk out of the tent. 
4. If you or your little ones are sensitive to noise, then I would consider sitting further back in the tiered seating. There is a whip performance in the final act which is extremely loud and made us wince a little sitting in the 3rd row. 
5. Have your phone ready when exiting the tent as there is a chance to take a photo with the Ringmaster and Bippo the clown. This is a nice end to the experience. 

All in all I would give John Lawson's circus a solid 4 out of 5 stars, we really enjoyed our experience and will defiantly be returning when they are next in town. 

Until next time ….. x

All thoughts, opinions and photographs are my own. This is not a sponsored post. Prices, times etc are correct at the time of publishing this post and are subject to change.