OVER fifty people from Swindon, Bristol, London and York visited Lower Shaw Farm to be dazzled by a night of fiery entertainment.

A duo of circus pros juggled blazing clubs and demonstrated their balancing skills while inviting guests to join in with the trickery. The event marked the end of a weekend of circus workshops hosted by the farm in Swindon.

Matt Holland, tenant of the farm and well-known lit-fest organiser, said: “It’s amazing how people love to learn things and how you can create as good a show with a few skilled people on a weekend as you can by going to any circus show anywhere.

“Fire seems a very dangerous thing to work with but when you’ve got good people teaching it – we had nine-year-olds and 59 year olds, full age range – it’s really impressive. But above all it’s spectacular when you’ve got a lot of people doing it.”

Matt’s son Jake Holland and co-performer Jim Semlyen taught guests some basic juggling skills during the show which has been running for around 20 years.

Matt added: “It’s actually a course, people come to it to learn. Over the years we hear from people who came as seven or eight-year-olds and now they’re in their twenties. One guy performs in the Netherlands, another guy performs with Cirque du Jour, so it’s a stepping stone for many people.”