Great Big Climate Circus finale draws 500 in Gloucester

Around 500 people turned out for a day of family-friendly fun as The Great Big Climate Circus brought its 2026 summer tour to a joyful close in Gloucester. The free, youth-led festival, run by the Gloucestershire arts charity World Jungle and its partners, took over the Venture Community Hub in White City on Saturday 18 July, the finale of a Gloucestershire tour that ran through Stroud in June and Dursley on 11 July.

The Great Big Climate Circus big top at the Venture Community Hub in Gloucester. Image courtesy of World Jungle.

A stage for Gloucester's young talent

A free event thanks to the National Lottery, The Great Big Climate Circus is a four-year, youth-led touring circus that helps young people turn their concerns about the world into confidence and collective action. The 2026 showcase put local young talent centre stage: breakdancing from Your Next Move, spoken word and rap from the city's Hip-Hop Garden, and emerging artists from The Music Works development programme in Gloucester, including Tallulah Blue.

Young people from Stroud featured too, thanks to the School of Larks, the 3Spirit Dancers and the youth rock-band Asphodel.

Spoken-word and rap from Gloucester's Hip-Hop Garden featured in the showcase. Image courtesy of World Jungle.

Free meals and a sustainably-powered day

Supported by a team of volunteers, the Venture's mobile community kitchen (the Eat Well Wagon) provided free, nutritious meals for everyone, including the Magnificent Mr Kai, the day's stilt walker.

The sustainably-powered event hosted free activities for all ages: an interactive stall with Forest Green Rovers Community, cultural arts with Gloucester's Kulchalee Arts, and sustainable creative crafting with Can't Sit Still, alongside a circus workshop with the Magnificent Mr Kai, giant bubbles, arts and crafts, bike maintenance and a clothes swap organised by young people.

The pedal-powered Rinky Dink Sound System and the Eat Well Wagon, which served free meals to all. Image courtesy of World Jungle.

The popular pedal-powered Rinky Dink Sound System kept the energy up, alongside walkabout artists including the Dandelion Clock Fairy and giant puppets of Mother Earth and an endangered orangutan from Art Shape.

Ben Ward, director of Dursley-based World Jungle, said: "Rather than using fear or blame, the arts are a brilliant way to engage young people and build confidence. Participants can express their thoughts and feelings about the planet and inspire others in practical and positive action for a greener and fairer planet."

What happens next

Youth climate action will continue after the summer, thanks to Stroud-based Creative Sustainability, which will support young people from Gloucestershire to develop their leadership skills as Young Leaders.

Honor Binning, project manager at Creative Sustainability, said: "The golden thread throughout all this work is young people's voices. We have been working with a core group of young leaders to co-produce workshops for these events and future climate action projects. We are excited to see their ideas come to life."

This is the first year of the four-year project, which is funded to work across 12 communities in Gloucestershire. Over its lifetime it aims to engage around 6,000 people, with 720 young people involved in co-creating events and 120 supported to go on to further climate action locally or nationally.

The partnership behind the circus

The Great Big Climate Circus is delivered in partnership by five Gloucestershire organisations: Creative Sustainability, World Jungle, Cotswolds National Landscape, Bromford Flagship, and The Ernest Cook Trust. Delivery of the touring circus is by Gloucestershire-based On the Brink Arts and Art for Action with World Jungle.

The project has been awarded £1,498,916 (£1.49 million) over four years from the largest community funder in the UK, the National Lottery Community Fund, through its Climate Action Fund.

About World Jungle

World Jungle is a Dursley-based Gloucestershire community organisation that brings people together through arts, play, wellbeing and community events, to support healthy lives, care for the planet and build stronger communities. It is a delivery partner for The Great Big Climate Circus, which is co-led with Stroud-based Creative Sustainability.

Published in partnership with World Jungle. Story and images provided by World Jungle / The Great Big Climate Circus. To find out more, visit worldjungle.org.uk and cscic.org/climate-circus.