In 2017, NoFit State Circus was awarded funding through the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) Young Roots programme to take members of its Youth Circus on a creative exploration of circus history, as part of 250th-anniversary celebrations of modern circus in 2018.
Circus: 250 Years Young was a 9-month-long creative heritage project, led by NoFit State Circus, working with its talented Youth Circus community members, aged between 5 and 18 years old.
The project explored the unique Welsh contribution to the development of Circus over the past 250 years and culminated in a final performance as part of the UK-wide celebrations marking the 250th anniversary of Circus.
Working with heritage partners Glamorgan Archives, NoFit State’s youth circus set out to discover Wales’ lost circus history; scouring the archives, taking talks from circus experts, and even experiencing practical workshops in forgotten circus skills - including creative workshops and talks with NoFit State's professional company during the creation of LEXICON.
Working with creative organisation ProMo-Cymru, NoFit State’s budding young performers also learned the skills to document the project and create captivating video blogs about their experience.