Yasmine Smart hosts Netherlands National Circus in Swindon

Circus Royalty: Yasmin Smart

The 'Circus Princess' Yasmin Smart is will be bringing glamour and tradition as ringmistress when the Netherlands National Circus pitches its big top in Swindon (opposite the Oasis Centre) from 3 - 8 March.

Alex the Fireman

Also on a packed all-human bill of flying trapeze, tightrope-walking and illusions will be possibly Britain's most acrobatic clown, Alex the Fireman, who combines trapeze skills with slapstick.

And there will be more knockabout fun from Team Fonz - a trampoline tribute to Happy Days!

From Swindon, the show moves to Swansea (Recreation Ground, Mumbles Road, 10-15 March) and Reading (Hills Meadow, 17-22 March).

Tickets and times: 0113 260 2444.

What's life like for those who run away with the circus, and those who were born into the never-aging tradition? Read all about clowns, showmen, trapeze artists, sword-swallowers and tiger trainers in Circus Mania by Douglas McPherson. Click here to buy on Amazon.