Guildford Town Centre will be an entertaining place to be in September, both inside and outside the Surrey shopping centre.
Las Vegas-based American Crown Circus will bring a Big Top tent to a parking lot there for shows Sept. 14-18, and a “Dinosaurs Around The World” exhibit will be set up inside the mall for close to a month, starting Sept. 12.
Admission is free to see Imagine Exhibitions’ showcase of 13 animatronic dinosaurs in the Centre Court area, until Oct. 9.
The biggest of the bunch, a Spinosaurus, measures 45 feet long and 16 high, according to Kiran Deol, Guildford’s marketing manager.
“They’re quite large and impressive,” Deol said. “We’re taking over all of Centre Court and creating an amazing set around that, so people will go on this journey with an entry and exit, walking through this foliage with dinosaurs that make noises and move.”
Atlanta-based Imagine Exhibitions has developed several exhibits, including a few that feature dinos.
“This is our first time partnering with them,” Deol noted. “We had interest last year, seeing how popular dinosaurs are with kids and families, and we wanted to bring something like this to Guildford Town Centre. This exhibit will feature some of their new dinosaurs.”
The exhibit coming to Surrey, according to an online news release, invites guests “to the Age of Reptiles, when lush landscapes covered Africa, and greenery was the norm in Antarctica. Marking the first exhibit of its kind at Guildford Town Centre, guests will be captivated by state-of-the-art animatronics, intricate storytelling, cutting-edge research, and immersive design elements.”
Deol said kids and families will enjoy the exhibition, the largest ever “activation” at the shopping centre.
“The scale and magnitude of the exhibit is unlike anything we’ve done before and blurs the lines between an experience at a shopping centre and a trip to the museum,” she said.
Meantime, starting Sept. 14, 11 afternoon and evening “Circo Osorio” shows will performed at Guildford in a parking lot north of 104 Avenue, at 150 Street.
The American Crown Circus tour of B.C. includes dates in Surrey, Tsawwassen, Nanaimo, Abbotsford, Victoria, Richmond and other cities, according to a post on americancrowncircus.com, where tickets can be purchased.
The company website details the history of the American Crown Circus, dating back to the first Circo Osorio in 1927. By the mid-1990s members of the Osorio family stopped performing at Circus Circus in Las Vegas to create their own touring circus, and expanded into Canada in 2017.
Last September, American Crown Circus brought its “white castle big top” to the parking lot at Guildford Town Centre, where “international acts from around the continent” were featured. The action is shown in reporter Anna Burns’ video/story posted on surreynowleader.com.
Last May, the rival Royal Canadian International Circus performed a weekend of shows under a ‘big top’ tent set up at Guildford Town Centre. The travelling circus thrills with a contortionist, stunt motorbike riders, high-wire acts, speed juggling and other performers.
