The curtain has gone up on the greatest show in town.

Gandeys Circus opened in Noble’s Park, Douglas, on Thursday for a five-day spectacular.

Theme for this year is Carnival and there was certainly a Rio-style party atmosphere in the packed Big Top for the opening show.

Our ring-side seats got us up close and personal to the action.

As always, there’s an international line-up of star performers and this year there are artists from Kazakhstan, Cuba, Ethiopia, Colombia, Switzerland and Portugal.

One of the many highlights is the ever-popular Gerlings with their gravity-defying high wire act.

Fresh from their premiere at Hong Kong’s World Circus, the Ethiopian Troupe Habesha delight the crowd with their incredible springboard acrobatics.

Charismatic ringmaster Joel Hatton does his best to keep Bippo the Clown in check but can’t stop him corralling audience members for a conga around the ring.

A perennial favourite, again featuring the Gerlings from Colombia, sees a trio of daredevil motorbike riders hurtling around the Thunderdome.

Strongman Thor lets a 4x4 drive over his stomach before smashing a nail into a plank of wood with his bare hand.

A Skywalker provides a new take on monkeybars by negotiating 10 hoops high up in the Big Top upside down using his feet.

There’s non-stop action over the course of an hour and 45 minutes with flying trapeze artists, a double space wheel, jugglers and dazzling dancers.

The show closes with a full-scale carnival extravaganza featuring be-feathered showgirls and giant puppets.

Gandeys Circus runs until March 31 at Noble’s Park with two shows today (Friday), four on Saturday and Sunday and a final performance at 4.45pm on Monday.

To book tickets go to gandeycircus.com or call 07878 228403. Tickets are not available online three hours before the start of a show.