Children's Circus
of Middletown
Oddfellows Playhouse and
the Middletown Commission on the Arts present
The 38th Annual
Children's Circus of Middletown
June 29 - July 31
Performance on July 31 at 5 pm
(Raindate: August 1 at 5 pm).
**NEW THIS YEAR**
Registration will open at 10am on Monday, March 9 and will be in person at Oddfellows Playhouse!
Forms must be hand-delivered to Oddfellows at
128 Washington Street, Middletown, CT 06457
*NO EMAIL SUBMISSIONS WILL BE ACCEPTED*
The Children’s Circus is a unique blend of traditional summer camp with an immersive arts performance-based enrichment program, serving kids age 5-15 years old.
KIDS ARTS/The Children's Circus of Middletown is sponsored in part by the City of Middletown and presented by Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater.
2026 Program Schedule Dates and Times
Monday – Friday, beginning on June 29, 2026 through Thursday, July 30, 2026
NO DAY PROGRAM on Friday, July 3rd in observance of the federal holiday
NO DAY PROGRAM on Friday, July 31, performance day
TIME:
9:00 a.m. – 3:00 p.m.
PROGRAM LOCATION:
Wilbert Snow Elementary School
located at 299 Wadsworth Street
PERFORMANCE DATE & TIME:
Friday, July 31 at 5:00 p.m.
RAIN DATE:
Saturday, August 1 @ 5 pm
PERFORMANCE LOCATION:
TBA
The Children’s Circus is a five-week performance-based program.
The 38th performance this year will take place on Friday, July 31 at 5pm.
Participants are asked to not have more than three absences.
Please check your schedule when planning vacations and other camps to avoid conflicts.
Thank you for taking the time to check your schedules!
Frequently Asked Questions
WHEN DOES REGISTRATION OPEN?
March 9, 2026 for Middletown residents (or April 13, 2025 for non-residents)
In-person at ODDFELLOWS PLAYHOUSE AT 10AM!
• Emailed registration forms are not accepted.
Aftercare?
The Circus program hours are 9am-3pm and does not provide before or aftercare. However, in collaboration with the Recreation Division, aftercare is offered for Circus participants from 3:00 p.m. – 5:30 p.m. at the Recreation Center located at 140 Wilderman’s Way.
Bus transportation from circus to aftercare location is provided.
Contact rec@middletownct.gov to inquire about registration for aftercare with the Recreation Division.
Attendance policy?
The Children’s Circus is a five-week performance-based program.
Participants are asked to not have more than three absences.
Please check your schedule when planning vacations and other camps to avoid conflicts.
Thank you for taking the time to check your schedules!
Any Further Questions?
Please call Oddellows at 860-347-6143 or email circus@oddfellows.org
Job Opportunities
Ages 16+
What is the Children's Circus?
The Children's Circus of Middletown is a celebration of OUR growth over the past 37 years as one of Connecticut’s most exciting and unique summer learning experiences for kids, their families and the community. Started by Oddfellows Playhouse Youth Theater with 60 kids at Powder Ridge ski area in Middlefield in 1988, the Children’s Circus has been embraced by the City of Middletown and grown into a program which has become a national model as a partnership between a non-profit arts organization and a municipality. The Children’s Circus performance is the culmination of a five week day camp as part of the City of Middletown’s Kids Arts program. Over the five weeks, the young people are trained in performance skills, acrobatics, juggling, dance, unicycling, clowning, stilting and other circus arts. In 2018, The Children’s Circus was one of two programs nationally recognized with the “New York Life Excellence in Summer Learning” award by the National Summer Learning Association. The 2020 Virtual Circus "From the Big Top to the Lap Top" miraculously created the excitement, fun and community of circus in a Virtual format.
The Children’s Circus is part of the Kids Arts Program of the City of Middletown’s Office of the Arts and is directed and produced by Oddfellows Playhouse. Major support is provided by the Middletown Commission on the Arts, the Middlesex United Way, and the M. Jones Fund of the Community Foundation of Middlesex County.
Oddfellows Playhouse offers year-round programs in theater, circus, music, dance, technical theater, and visual arts to young people ages 1-20.
2026 will be the 38th year of the Children’s Circus of Middletown, which was awarded the New York Life Foundation Excellence in Summer Learning Award on July 12, 2018. We were one of two programs nationally which received this recognition. Proud to be recognized nationally as a unique and outstanding summer program!
