In Oirschot, a special circus shone on Saturday that is aimed at elderly people with dementia, among others. The circus travel throughout the Netherlands and made an unplanned stopover in Oirschot. The village is actually too small to give performances. But after several healthcare institutions asked if an exception could be made, the dementia circus stood there.
It was a special Saturday afternoon for the elderly with dementia or a mental or physical disability. They were allowed to go to a real circus performance on Landgoed Groot Bijsterveld.
“They must be able to have a nice day out.”
“The elderly and their caregiver must have a nice day out,” organizer Bea Vorstenbosch tells presenter Ellis Smulders van ‘t Brabants Buske. “But children and the disabled are also welcome”
“I am here with my son,” one of the spectators answered laughing. “He came to get me.” His son says that physically is less and less. “So if we can do something together, I would like to take him with us. Although I often have to persuade him a bit.”
“The people are super enthusiastic and it is also nostalgia for them,” says organizer Bea. That the circus on the estate could give six performances is partly due to Joris Zorg, Amalia Zorg and many sponsors.
As a result, the show costs the thousand seniors, their caregivers and any family, but ‘an incentive’. Because a ticket was only three and a half euros.
“The shows are provided with fewer incentives especially for this audience.”
Circus director François Kastèllo explains that the circus has specially adapted the performances to the special audience. “The shows are somewhat less stimuli. Nobody will do a triple somersault. It is above all a very nice family show that makes barriers disappear.”
