{"id":548577,"date":"2026-03-20T08:00:08","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T08:00:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/548577\/"},"modified":"2026-03-20T08:00:08","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T08:00:08","slug":"nantucket-current-the-circus-is-coming-to-town-mma-bringing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/548577\/","title":{"rendered":"Nantucket Current | The Circus Is Coming To Town: MMA Bringing\u2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

The circus is coming to town. Quite literally.<\/p>\n

That is, if the Maria Mitchell Association (MMA)\u00a0can successfully obtain the necessary permits. The island non-profit has proposed holding a “Stargazer Circus”\u00a0event this July at the Tom Nevers fields, which would serve as its new signature summer fundraiser.<\/p>\n

A\u00a0public hearing will be held before the Select Board on April 1st (yes it’s April Fools Day but this is not a joke) for the MMA’s request for a public assembly permit to hold the circus from July 23rd – July 26th.<\/p>\n

The MMA is partnering with Venardos Circus<\/a>, a\u00a0Broadway-style traveling circus founded by former Ringling Bros.\u00a0ringmaster Kevin Venardos, to bring\u00a0a world-class circus experience\u00a0to Nantucket for the event.<\/p>\n

But how does a circus connect to the mission of the MMA?<\/p>\n

“A circus fosters a sense of wonder, curiosity, and imagination, just as Maria Mitchell inspired in others,”\u00a0the non-profit said in a statement provided to the Current.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The Stargazer Circus would feature acrobats, aerialists, jugglers, comedy, storytelling, and live performances under a big-top tent in what the MMA is calling a “family-friendly, community-centered, four-day celebration.” The Venardos Circus is an animal-free production.\u00a0<\/p>\n

As proposed, the four-day Stargazer Circus\u00a0event would begin with a ticketed premier party on July 23rd from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.<\/p>\n

Friday, July 24: 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.Saturday, July 25: 3:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m.Sunday, July 26: 11:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.<\/p>\n

Tickets, which go on sale March 20, are $95 for adults and $45 for kids 12 and under. The opening night premiere party tickets are $750 per person. <\/p>\n

All proceeds from the circus support the Nantucket Maria Mitchell Association\u2019s educational mission, programs, and science education and research.<\/p>\n

While Tom Nevers has previously hosted the Nantucket Atheneum’s “Circus Flora” fundraiser, as well as a traveling carnival during the summer months, those events have been defunct for years. The Island Fair has made a comeback during the fall, but doesn’t feature the circus acts the MMA is hoping to bring this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The circus is coming to town. Quite literally. That is, if the Maria Mitchell Association (MMA)\u00a0can successfully obtain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":548578,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[444],"tags":[879,49,48,20248,641,638,115642,44,115643,82,22594],"class_list":["post-548577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mma","tag-breaking-news","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-current-news","tag-fighting","tag-mma","tag-nantucket-current","tag-news","tag-people-of-nantucket","tag-sports","tag-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548577","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=548577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/548577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/548578"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=548577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=548577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=548577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}