Pictured: Students from the Red Troupe of the Circus Arts Conservatory's Sailor Circus Academy will present its new holiday show, Candyland. Photo courtesy of CAC.

Hop into the holidays with the new holiday show Candyland, from the Circus Arts Conservatory’s Sailor Circus Academy. This year’s iteration of the Academy’s annual holiday show–which features some of the best and brightest members of the program aged 8-18–takes after the iconic board game Candy Land. The show will mimic the path of the board game: four ring masters will “play” the game, drawing cards and taking the audience through the various kingdoms of Candy Land in search of the lost King Kandy.

“The show features a number of wonderful circus acts from acrobatics and the trampoline wall to the lyra, juggling and of course the flying trapeze,” says Ryan Weston, the Head of Acrobatics and Program Development at the Sailor Circus Academy. “It’s super bright, super colorful and super fun as we travel through the different lands of Candy Land. The lighting, costuming and set pieces are all pretty grand, which is going to make for a really fun experience.”

Perhaps the most intriguing thing about the holiday show is that while the performers may look like professionals under the big top, they’re not. They’re children. For many of the performers, Candyland is the culmination of years of training. “Circus is not something that you can just throw together. You have to be preparing for years and years and these kids, some of which are seniors in high school, have been preparing for this since they were really young,” says Weston. “We take kids here at the circus as young as six and then they graduate when they’re 18. Some of these kids have spent the majority of their lives training for this moment. It takes years and years to perfect the skills and gain the strength and flexibility necessary to perform some of the feats they’ll be doing in Candyland.

December 17 through 31, 941-355-9805, Sailor Circus Arena, 2075 Bahia Vista St., Sarasota.

Pictured: Students from the Red Troupe of the Circus Arts Conservatory's Sailor Circus Academy will present its new holiday show, Candyland. Photo courtesy of CAC.