HOOPLA! Circus Bella presents its 16th annual FREE Circus in the Parks Season

HOOPLA! runs June 4-26, 2025, at various locations in Bay Area parks, Laguna Beach and Reno – 15 performances only! ALL SHOWS FREE! Enjoy the preview on Wednesday, June 4, at 5:30 p.m. in DeFremery Park, better known as Lil Bobby Hutton Memorial Park, in West Oakland, and the opening weekend Friday, June 20, at noon and Saturday, June 21, at noon and 2:15 p.m. at Yerba Buena Gardens, 760 Howard St., between Third and Fourth streets in San Francisco.

by Lawrence Helman 

Circus Bella, the Bay Area’s beloved one ring family-friendly circus, announces their new show HOOPLA! for summer 2025. Space is first come first served. Circus Bella does not provide audience seating at events. Audiences are encouraged to bring picnic blankets and small folding chairs to all locations. 

Schedule by date: https://www.circusbella.org/press-schedule-by-date

Schedule by area: https://www.circusbella.org/press-schedule-by-area

For info call:  415-480-4239

Check https://www.circusbella.org/circusintheparks for up-to-date listings.

Experience the hypnotic hijinks and hilarity of HOOPLA! a captivating blend of circus enchantment and madcap mayhem. Circus Bella offers a modern twist on the one-ring circus, overflowing with heart and soul. This exhilarating 60-minute show promises to delight and astonish children of all ages in a cherished family event. Watch in awe as the vibrantly colorful Circus Bella Company, comprising a diverse troupe of acrobats, aerialists, jugglers and clowns from the Bay Area and beyond, performs to the lively tunes of Rob Reich and the six-piece Circus Bella All-Star Band. Best of all, these performances are completely FREE, ensuring a memorable experience for all. 

HOOPLA! is directed by Abigail Munn, Circus Bella co-founder and artistic director, music is composed by Rob Reich, and costumes are created by Autumn Adamme and Dark Garden Unique Corsetry.

Performers of all races, genders and ethnicities are always a part of Circus Bella performances. This year African-American performers in HOOPLA! include: Veronica Blair, aerialist; Tristan Cunningham, clown; and Toni Cannon, strongman.

Tristan Cunningham started her circus days when she was only 10 and toured with Circus Smirkus for eight summers! She is a SUNY Purchase Theater Arts and Film Conservatory graduate and a proud member of AEA and SAG-AFTRA. She has performed with Circus Bella, Velocity Circus, Medical Clown Project, Cirque Berzerk, SF Mime Troupe and circus legends Alberto Zoppe and Marcel Marceau. Most recently she was in “All Rise” on CBS and Hulu’s “Reasonable Doubt” as Toni. She is so excited to be coming back to her circus home and stepping into the Circus Bella ring, with her daughter and mini-clown sidekick by her side. (See https://www.instagram.com/tristanavelinacunningham/?hl=en.)

Veronica Blair is an accomplished aerialist, choreographer and circus researcher. She is the recipient of the 2021 Gerbode Foundation’s Choreographers Award, the 2020 American Circus Educators Award for Innovation, and the Community Impact at the inaugural International Circus Awards for her work on the Uncle Junior Project, a multimedia archive spotlighting people of African descent in American circuses. Under the same project, Veronica curated a live exhibition titled “Entrapment to Entertainment: A Celebration of Black People in American Circus” in 2013. Her impactful work has earned her invitations to speak at the Smithsonian, SF International Arts Festival, and facilitate panel discussions engaging conversations about institutional barriers, individual biases, and abuse prevention in the circus industry as part of the Circus and Changing Realities series in partnership with CircusTalk.com. (See instagram.com/veronica_blair_aerialist.) 

Toni Cannon is consistently working on finding new ways to express himself through acrobatics. He finds the challenge thrilling and very relatable to life’s challenges. Toni started his circus career later in life; however, that didn’t stop him from diving deep into his new found love and passion. He has been lucky enough to train under some great coaches like Master Lu Yi and Dominik Wyss learning disciplines like Chinese pole, partner acrobatics, and hand to hand. He has been a part of some amazing companies and productions like Topsy Turvy Circus, Circus Bella and his one man show “Reflection.” (See instagram.com/acrocannon.) 

Circus Bella was founded in 2008 by David Hunt and Abigail Munn with the vision of bringing the spirit of the much beloved Pickle Family Circus back to San Francisco. The original program was its annual FREE Circus in the Parks series which has grown into a much beloved Bay Area annual tradition. In 2017, Circus Bella participated in the 50th anniversary of the Smithsonian Folklife Festival in Washington, D.C., where it presented “Bay City Rhapsody” to thousands of festival goers on the National Mall. 

In November 2018, Circus Bella offered its first winter showcase, Kaleidoscope, located in a big top circus tent on Treasure Island. And in August 2019 it toured this production to Colorado. In 2023 and 2024 the company remounted its holiday show at the Crossing at East Cut in San Francisco and looks forward to continuing the magic in 2025. 

Circus Bella is a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization with a board of directors of 12 community members. It is proud to receive funding from San Francisco Grants for the Arts, The National Endowment for the Arts as well as other private family foundations. Since 2009, the organization has performed for more than 135,000 people across the Bay Area and beyond.

The post HOOPLA! Circus Bella presents its 16th annual FREE Circus in the Parks Season appeared first on San Francisco Bay View.

Source: https://sfbayview.com/2025/06/hoopla-circus-bella-presents-its-16th-annual-free-circus-in-the-parks-season/