Past Performances

We had a spooktacular celebrating the 10th anniversary of the Witches Ball.  We brought the haunt to the haunt, flaunt, and boogie festivities at The Statler Hotel. Buffalo Rising once again conjured a gathering of Buffalo’s best immersive Halloween experiences, featuring dozens of local artists, actors, aerialists, drag queens, musicians, DJs, psychics, mediums, and more. This phantasmagorical realm brought together specters of decades past for one hauntingly sexy night!

March 9th is getting closer and we’re counting on you to celebrate with us! Our 10th anniversary is a big deal to us and we’re going all out. The Kenan Center arena will be filled with circus magic, live music, and all kinds of festivities. Tickets are only $20 and include a drink ticket, live entertainment and more. Part 1 7:30-8:30 Slyboots African Drum ensemble. The night opens with live drumming and a variety of circus acts taking the stage – we’ve got fire, comedians, jugglers, dancers, hula hoopers, and aerialists ready to perform for you. Part 2 8:30 Buffalo Aerial Dance Memory Lane.  We celebrate 10 years with some of our favorite memories and a few throwback performances. Our Founder will also be making a big announcement! Part 3 9:30-11:00 Jess and The Mess. There’s a rock band in the house!  Jess is bringing the party with your favorite pop and rock hits, and once again we will have live aerial and fire performances happening to the music.  The dance floor will be open as well! All night – drinks, snacks, Buffalo Aerial Dance

The Panama Rocks Foliage Festival featured traditional crafts such as chainsaw carving, glass blowing, and blacksmithing, dozens of craft vendors, food vendors, music, and Fall and Halloween themed activities.  This year, the festival also included aerial performance for the first time.  It was magical to perform at this gorgeous location surrounded by the perfect fall foliage.

We graced the skies with the Slyboots circus for one of our final outdoor shows of the season. As a part of the Slyboots show, we perform aerial acts accompanied by other circus entertainment like stilt walkers, jugglers, fire spinners, acrobats.  The Slyboots musical ensemble plays African drums and other international instruments to provide music for the circus.  With musicians both local and hailing from Ghana, it’s an experience like none other.  For this year’s Folk Faces circus performance, we introduced a new act: Fire lyra.  Stay tuned for when you can see it again! Folk Faces also brings in top folk musicians from all over the country.  This festival is always great for enjoying music, art, camping, and shopping. Bonus, beautiful sunsets and a view of the rollercoasters at Darien Lake.

The Music is Art Festival, Buffalo’s largest one day exhibition of our creative community, celebrated its annual event on September 9th 2023.  With hundreds of bands, artists, and vendors, the festival was as lively as ever.  The streets were flooded with music of all genres, and from fire performances to warehouse dance clubs, drag and belly dance shows to silent discos, everyone in Buffalo finds their groove at MiA. We were in the busy outdoor rinks with many bands and dance groups.  Our aerialists ended up going with the flow, performing some some improvisational aerial with some of the musical artists, as well as performing their choreographed routines.    

The famous cider that inspired a whole festival brought us back to Medina once again.  We performed two high flying sets at the Leonard Oakes family orchard and winery, surrounded by the finest of costumes, artwork, beverages, and entertainment to celebrate the Steampunk Festival.  The creativity of the guest, vendors, and artists is always on full display at this festival, and we love to see it!  The Steampunk Cider is always delicious

We are extending the Halloween season for a few days because it’s too short. Join us on November 4 for our student showcase with the theme of Urban Legends. Witness aerial feats inspired by spooky, creepy tales such as Bloody Mary, the Spider Woman, an exploding dog, and more! Some of your favorite BAD performers will be back in action as well as some first-timers! Tickets are $10 cash at the door, $5 for under 12 or seniors. First come, first serve. Doors open at 5:30. Show is at 6:00. It will last approximately 1 hour and 45 minutes, including a 15 minute

Saturday August 19th we flew high above a local farm. The West Side Tilth Farm grows the most amazing veggies, herbs, and flowers right in Buffalo’s West Side.  It’s a great example of urban farming complete with its own market and fresh pizzas made to order.  This summer they added musical and circus performances to some of their farmer’s markets.  We were happy to be a part of the entertainment.   Westsidetlith Farm Buffalo

Shoutout to local mead-makers Lilly Belle Meads for bringing Renaissance Faires to WNY.  This is the second year that the local brewery/meadery organized this festival in Lancaster, and it’s sure to continue growing. This Ren Faire is a chance to celebrate history and tradition while of course enjoying some of the delicious mead.  The Faire also had stilt walkers, live music, axe throwing, tarot card reading, sword fighting, and Renaissance themed food

We were back on Old Falls Street for the second time this summer, and this event was all about the kids.  There were a variety of kid-friendly activities on Old Falls Street, including a DJ, inflatables, petting zoo, performances from Buffalo Aerial Dance, and more.  It was a beautiful day in August, although it got a little hot, but a walk over to a certain famous waterfall after our show helped to cool us down. Here’s a video with highlights from our show:  Kids Day on Old Falls Street, Niagara Falls USA (youtube.com)