Royal Hanneford Circus

Carrying on the Hanneford tradition, The Royal Hanneford Circus is stepping into the new age of the circus in America. With years of experience, Producers Adrian Poema and Nellie Hanneford Poema, along with their four talented children – Catherine, Mariana, Adrian Jr., and Tommy, are focusing on bringing forth a fresh and new, wholesome family entertainment. The Hanneford Family is guaranteed to bring smiles and laughter to each and every audience with their wide variety of high end acts and talents from all over the world. We hope you let our family tradition become yours.

The Hanneford Family, long considered the “Royal Family of the Circus,” can rightly claim an unbroken span of circus history fast approaching three centuries! Beginning with Edwin Hanneford in the late 1600s to the present family action Tommy Hanneford, they have consistently amazed, amused, thrilled and delighted audiences around the globe with their resinback exploits and stellar circus presentations.

Our story begins in 1690 with Irish-born Michael Hanneford who toured the dusty roads of rural England with Wombwell’s Menagerie, the first show of it’s kind in the British Isles. Each day the athletic Michael put on a display of horsemanship that included dancing and leaping upon the bare back of a galloping horse. Word spread about the multi-talented performer so that he was invited to attend a contest before King George III to determine who was the greatest juggler in England. He not only juggled off with the Grand Prize, but made his mark in circus lore by having presented the first of the Hanneford Royal Command Performances, a tradition of honor that has been repeated by each succeeding generation since then.