2nd Hand Circus Scrap Night - First of May

First of May Scrap Night
A Sustainability Circus Experiment

On May 1st, International Workers’ Day and the first day of Bicycle Month, 2nd Hand Circus invites you to celebrate making, trying, building, and beginning.

Scrap Night is a curated evening of short circus works built from thrifted, passed-down, recycled, or once-forgotten objects. Eight circus artists each receive (or bring) a secondhand item and transform it into a brand-new act. Think juggling, contortion, aerial, balance, fashion experiments, and delightful curiosity.

This Scrap Night celebrates the spirit of the First of May: the circus artist stepping into the ring for the first time. It’s about experimentation, risk, ingenuity, and learning in public, the messy, thrilling process of making something new.

It also nods to the labor of making:
🚲 the human-powered spirit of Bicycle Month
🛠 the creativity and craft honored on Workers’ Day
♻️ the ingenuity of building something meaningful from what already exists

2nd Hand Circus creates spaces for creative ingenuity rooted in sustainability. Scrap Night is our playground and laboratory: a low-stakes, high-curiosity experiment asking artists to think outside the box and make something from what’s already in the pile.

What happens when circus artists start with scraps? Come find out.

May 1
📍 Thunderbird Hall  2856 Frankford Ave, Philadelphia, PA 19134 (at E Cambria St)
NOTE: This event is NOT at Thunderbird Salvage!

🕗 Show at 7:30pm | Doors at 7:00pm
🎟 Tickets: $35–$75 (all pre-sale tickets include drink tickets)
NOTAFLOF options available at the door

Pupusas by Masa Discos and bar on-site. 

Before or after the show, browse the 2nd Hand Circus Thrift Store, the Carnival of Feelings, and explore Thunderbird Hall’s estate items, surplus, tools, and legendary $2-per-pound bins.

Accessibility note: Thunderbird Hall is up one full flight of stairs with a landing halfway.

Come for the circus.
Stay for the experiment. ♻️🎪