Jules Verne Circus

Standing before you is an impressive building with quite a unique role: it’s one of the last remaining permanent circus venues in Europe! These types of venues began popping up in French cities during the 19th century, providing a fixed, covered space for circus shows, which until then had mostly been held in temporary setups. The one you see here was built by Emile Ricquier, chief architect for the Somme at the time. He took inspiration from the Cirque d’Hiver in Paris, and designed this one to hold over 3,000 people—even for horse shows. The building was inaugurated in 1889 by Jules Verne himself, who served as a city councillor in Amiens during this period. Since then, this venue has hosted regular performances to showcase circus arts and street theatre—whether traditional or contemporary. Despite facing several threats of demolition in the 20th century, the building survived when most other circus venues in France did not. It even withstood the bombings during the war. Today, following renovations in the early 2000s, it was renamed the Jules Verne Circus and now features 1,650 red velvet seats arranged in a circular layout. It still puts on circus performances—including equestrian shows—but also hosts concerts and all kinds of other events. Every summer since 1978, it becomes the heart of the Festival of Street Arts, a three-day event spreading across the circus and the whole city. And just so you know, the building was officially listed as a Historic Monument in 1975.