The big top, pocket-sized · Saturday, August 22 & Sunday, August 23
Queen City Stunt Circus brings the wonder of the big top right into the heart of the festival grounds, up close and personal. No giant tent, no ticket booth. Just world-class circus performers turning a patch of festival lawn into a stage where fire spins, bodies fly, and the whole crowd leans in.
It is the same daring skill you would expect under a three-ring tent, scaled down to meet you exactly where you are standing with a snack in one hand and your family at your side.
Right On The Grounds
Up Close
Every show is a different mix. Here is a taste of what spins, soars, and burns when the cast takes the lawn.
Two long ribbons of fabric, one performer, and a whole lot of nerve. They climb, wrap, and drop through the air in slow, controlled falls that look impossible from the ground.
A steel ring wrapped in wicks, soaked, and set alight. The performer spins it around their body in trails of real flame. None of that frozen LED stuff, this one actually burns.
A single steel hoop suspended in the air, called a lyra. The performer balances, spins, and poses inside and around it, turning raw strength into something that looks effortless.
It starts with one hoop. Then a few more. Then an armful, all spinning at once across arms, waist, and legs. Equal parts skill, rhythm, and showing off.
Two performers, one bar, working in perfect sync high above the lawn. Catches, holds, and counterbalances that only work because each one trusts the other completely.
Every show builds to one last burst of color, a final pose, and a bow. Then the performers come down to meet the crowd, take photos, and high-five every kid in reach.
By day it is aerials and acrobatics under a blue sky. After dark the same performers trade daylight for flame and glow. Stick around for the version of the show you can only see once the stars come out.
Real flame poi and fire hoops by night, plus LED light shows that turn the dark into color. This is the part the kids talk about the whole way home.
The same circus, two completely different shows depending on when you catch them. Grab the handle and slide.
The circus does not stay on the stage. All weekend long, performers stroll the festival on stilts, on skates, and on the lookout for their next audience.
Queen City Stunt Circus is a women-led company out of Cincinnati on a mission to revive the circus arts and treat performers with the respect they deserve. They have brought their shows everywhere from Orlando to Albany to Austin, and now to Lexington.
Performing circus since 2010, Ali spent five years as show director and head trainer before founding QCSC. A University of Cincinnati DAAP design grad who also performs stunt combat and variety acts at Renaissance fairs.
A performer since age five, Gia trained in classical ballet and dance before joining the circus as a traveling ringmaster. Her specialties run from aerial acrobatics and flying trapeze to fire performing.
A former USAG certified gymnastics instructor who found her home in the air. Ariana brings more than six years of performance and teaching across silks, lyra, Spanish web, and duo trapeze.
Two shows each day, with roaming performers in between. Exact times are being finalized. Check back soon or watch the festival schedule.
Watch the festival map and schedule for the stage location · Lexington, Ohio · August 20-23, 2026
Two days, four shows, and a whole festival to roam. Plan your visit around the Queen City Stunt Circus and catch them lighting up Lexington.
Performer info and photos courtesy of Queen City Stunt Circus.
Celebrating community, tradition, and the sweet taste of summer.
August 20–23, 2026 · Presented by OhioHealth
Have a question about the festival? We're happy to help. Reach out to the Lexington Blueberry Festival team directly.
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