Fern Street Circus (FSC) will kick off its 2025 Neighborhood Tour on Saturday, April 12 at Park de la Cruz in San Diego’s City Heights neighborhood.
The annual tour will include a series of six free public performances at parks and recreation centers over three weekends. The touring shows feature a collaboration between professional circus artists and musicians and young performers (ages 6 to 17) from Fern Street Circus’s free after-school program in City Heights.
This year’s show is titled “Big Birthday Bash” in celebration of Heartman, a 10-foot puppet that has come to serve as FSC’s mascot for the last 10 years.
Heartman was inspired by a drawing by then seven-year-old Michael Zimmerman, son of FSC co-founder Cindy Zimmerman, of a superhero whose body is comprised entirely of hearts. Artist Sergio “Surge” Hernandez and Iain Gunn of Animal Cracker Conspiracy later helped bring the heartfelt drawing to life, creating a centerpiece for FSC’s annual shows. Heartman, sometimes referred to as “Sweetheart,” embodies joy, love and the spirit of community, which served as inspiration for this year’s show.
“We are celebrating Heartman’s birthday, but we’re also bringing visibility to the strong, vibrant communities that have been experiencing hardships,” said Catalina Paz, Fern Street’s Circus artistic director and show creator. “Our goal is to bring people together, whatever their ages and backgrounds, for an unforgettable spectacle that is joyful and universal. It’s our gift to the community, so they can hopefully forget about the bad for just a little while and simply have a good time.”
Circus performer and costumer Cheryl Lindley will serve as this year’s co-ringleader in collaboration with some of the student performers. Crowd favorites, the clowning duo of Paz as “Abuelita” and Lucy Forton as “Grandpa Gerold,” will be part of the Big Birthday Bash show, along with a variety of other circus acts, including juggling, contortion, tightwire, puppetry, chair balancing and more.
The shows, which move to a new location each Saturday and Sunday through April 27, are free and open to the public. All ages are welcome, and no tickets are required.
Other highlights include:
- Free Community Health Resource Fairs – with health screenings, vaccinations and other community resources from Live Well San Diego
- Pre-Show Concerts – featuring student performers from Mariachi Victoria de San Diego
Principal funding for FSC and the 2025 Neighborhood Tour comes from the National Endowment for the Arts, California Arts Council, City of San Diego, City of San Diego Department of Cultural Affairs, County of San Diego and the Prebys Foundation. Other partners include the City of San Diego Parks and Recreation Department, Live Well San Diego, San Diego Guild of Puppetry, City Heights Music School and San Diego Unified School District.
Fern Street Circus is a project of Fern Street Community Arts, a 501 (c)(3) not-for-profit organization. It has been serving San Diego’s mid-city neighborhoods for more than 30 years with its signature after-school program and annual performances at public parks, all offered free of charge.
Schedule:
All Circus shows begin at 2 p.m.
Community Health Resource Fairs start at 12:30 p.m.
Mariachi Victoria de San Diego concerts begin at 1:15 p.m.
———————————————————-
Saturday, April 12 – Park de la Cruz, 3603 38th Street, San Diego 92105
Sunday, April 13 – North Park Recreation Center, 4044 Idaho St, San Diego, CA 92104
Saturday, April 19 – Cesar Chavez Recreation Center, 455 Sycamore Rd, San Diego 92173
Sunday, April 20 – Golden Hill Recreation Center, 2600 Golf Course Drive, San Diego 92102
Saturday, April 26 – Azalea Park, 2596 Violet Street, San Diego 92105
Sunday, April 27 – Gompers Park, 4926 Hilltop Drive, San Diego 92102
Additional information can be found at fernstreetcircus.com and on Facebook,Instagram and X (formerly Twitter).
Photo credit: Todd A Davidson Photography
