The Circus Under the Moon returns to the Ijams Park lawn
Aerialists, jugglers and fire performers take the lawn outside the Visitor Center after dark on Saturday — one night, one show, and the only circus in town that ends with the woods behind it.
- When
- Sat Sep 19 · gate and marketplace 6 PM · show 7:30–9 PM
- Where
- Visitor Center lawn, Ijams Park · 2915 Island Home Ave
- Tickets
- $22 adults · $15 kids 6–12 · under 6 free · parking included
- Intermission
- Around 8:30
- Bring
- A lawn chair or a blanket — the lawn is the seating
- Food & drink
- Food trucks and the Ijams beer garden on site
- Sunset
- About 7:37, so the fire acts land in real dark
A troupe of local and regional performers sets up on the grass outside the Ijams Park Visitor Center on Saturday evening, and for ninety minutes the lawn is a circus: acrobats, aerials and silks, jugglers, and the fire performers the park bills as the reason to stay to the end. The gate and the marketplace open at six; the show starts at 7:30 and runs to nine with an intermission around 8:30.
How the night is built
The hour and a half before the show is the part people underuse. The marketplace is open from six, the food trucks are parked, and the Ijams beer garden is pouring — so the sensible version of Saturday is to arrive at six, eat on the grass, and be settled when the light goes. Sunset is about 7:37, which means the show starts in dusk and finishes in full dark. That is deliberate, and it is why the fire acts are back half.
The practical part
Twenty-two dollars for an adult, fifteen for a kid six to twelve, free under six, and parking is included in the ticket — worth knowing, because parking at Ijams Park otherwise costs five dollars a car. There are no seats: bring a lawn chair or a blanket. And the one conflict to plan around is the clock: Tennessee kicks off at Neyland at 7:45 the same night, fifteen minutes after the circus starts. You cannot do both, so pick one.
