JIADING has held the AEMI World Clown Festival for three years and this year’s festival, from September 23-24, presented 40 clowns from 12 countries, ranging from European classical performances to modern American interpretations.

“Ever since my daughter watched the clowns show last year, she just couldn’t get them out of her head. It’s her fifth birthday wish to watch the clown festival again,” said Hong Yu, a 5-year-old daughter’s mom.

Despite the drizzle, festival goers were in a happy mood at Shanghai Auto-Expo Park, where the festival was staged.

The clowns’ performances included walking on stilts, magic tricks, puppets and improvisations to close-up performances and parades.

This year’s festival introduced many new highlights, including plays and a magic show performed by magicians from Edinburgh, Scotland’s capital city, which became the top choice of many festival goers at the event.

World-renowned professional circus clown Greg DeSanto, who has been invited to perform at the White House in the US, made his second appearance at the festival. Using comical body language and expressions, along with refined acting, DeSanto reenacted historical moments of clown performances.

Kirk Marsh performed his signature show, Fantasy Circus, a show that took the audience to an Alice’s wonderland kind of fantasy, filling them with joy and sorrow of the clown’s world.

The clowns and performers at the parade interacted with the audience by giving them clown’s noses.

The Auto-Expo Park also set up stage especially for children. “Dad, I want to touch that biggest bubble!” 3-year-old Shen Jiayan shouted in excitement as Darren Burrell, the bubble master, performed.