The curtain went up on the greatest show in town last week when Gandey’s Circus opened in Noble’s Park, Douglas for a five-day spectacular.

The theme for this year’s circus was ‘carnival’, and there was certainly a Rio-style party atmosphere in the packed Big Top for the opening show on Thursday, March 27.

Reporter Adrian Darbyshire was amongst the packed-out crowd, and here he recounts his experience.

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

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

One of the many highlights was 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 delighted the crowd with their incredible springboard acrobatics.

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

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

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

A Skywalker provided a new take on monkey bars by negotiating ten hoops high up in the Big Top upside down using his feet.

It was 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 then closed with a full-scale carnival extravaganza, featuring be-feathered showgirls and giant puppets.