A BRADFORD gallery is calling for people to roll up and visit an exhibition celebrating 250 years of the British Circus.

Decades of Delight, opening at Cartwright Hall on Sunday, will feature items such as a ringmaster outfit from Billy Smart’s Circus, authentic clown shoes and a series of circus posters spanning several decades, produced by local company WE Berry.

The exhibition opens on Sunday with an event that aims to bring the fun of the big top to the Lister Park gallery.

Staff at Cartwright Hall have been putting the exhibition together with experts and families of major circus figures, including Baracca Smart, granddaughter of Billy Smart - one of the UK’s top circus proprietors.

She has provided items from her family’s collection, including costumes, props and scrapbooks filled with newspaper coverage of when the show came to town.

The cuttings show how big a deal circuses were just a few decades ago.

A number of Mrs Smart’s paintings will also be on display as part of the exhibition. Having grown up in the circus industry, she has travelled the world in recent years, visiting circuses in other countries, speaking to the people that work in them and painting what she sees.

Other artefacts that will be on display during the five-month exhibition include antique toys created for children enthralled by their visits to the circus, a costume worn by a child clown, the glittery dresses worn by female acrobats, antique rollerskates and an Anderson Galloper from one of the carousels at a Billy Smart fairground.

Numerous posters created for circuses by WE Berry are also on display in the gallery. The company, which was famed for its movie posters, also produced iconic posters for most of the country’s circuses for several decades.

The colourful pieces display clowns, exotic animals and human cannonballs, as well as acts that would be considered inappropriate today, such as shows featuring polar bears and baby elephants.

Among the posters for local shows are one created for when Gerry Cottle’s Circus came to Peel Park - a poster which spotlights Charlie Cairoli, then “Britain’s favourite clown”.

Another multi-coloured poster for a Manchester circus features a chimp dressed as a Native American and promotes acts like the Six Amazing Bertinis, Two Corinis up the pole and Rudi Lenz and his chimps.

As well as the Berry posters, there is also a collection of posters from US circuses.

Professor Vanessa Toulmin, former manager of the National Fairground and Circus Archive, has also helped put together the exhibition.

The opening event will feature popcorn, candy floss, roving circus characters and accordion music by former Chumbawamba member Phil Moody.

Curator Sonja Kielty said; “There was a huge excitement when the circus came to town. You speak to older people and they can still remember seeing elephants marching to Lister Park decades ago. Circuses then featured people from all over the world showing off their skills.

“Going to the circus is still a great experience, seeing all these incredible acts while you’re in this huge tent, the smell of the popcorn and the colours and noises. You don’t get to see live entertainment like that anywhere else.”

Talking about Mrs Smart’s paintings, she said: “She travels around the world, and forms a real rapport with people who work in circuses. A lot of people see them as being exploited, but she has spent time with them and sees how much they enjoy their job.

“Sometimes people see a dark side to the circus, but you have to look at it in the context of history.”

The exhibition is accompanied by a spectacular installation at the front of the gallery.

Cupola celebrates Skinning The Cat - an aerial circus company that was based in Manningham.

The group regularly performed in the city, including at Bradford Festival, from the late 1980s. They were best know for their death-defying trapeze acts, performed in colourful costumes - some of which are displayed as part of the exhibition. It has been put together with the help of Becky Truman, artistic director and aerialist at Skinning The Cat. She will give a talk about the group at the gallery on Sunday at noon.

The opening of Decades of Delight will take place at 1pm, just after Mrs Truman’s talk.