By SARAH CULTON

sarah.culton@leaderpub.com

DOWAGIAC — Visitors to Dowagiac this weekend will be able to see youth flying through the skies, hanging from wooden bars and tumbling across a stage as the opening act for an annual festival.

The Dogwood Fine Arts Festival will kick off this weekend with the Starfish Circus. Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the Dowagiac Middle School Performing Arts Center. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students. Preschool-aged children can attend at no cost. The event will serve as the first of many events taking place as part of Dowagiac’s 2019 Dogwood Fine Arts Festival, which will run through May 17.

For the Starfish Circus, Dowagiac students train for two weeks with professionals to learn circus moves and routines to perform on the show dates.

This year will mark the third year that the Dogwood Festival has included the Starfish Circus in its lineup. According to Jim Benedix, chair of the Dogwood Fine Arts Festival, the program was brought back again this year due to popular demand. He said that parents and community members have continually responded well to the event.

However, more than just being a night of fun and entertainment, Benedix said that the Starfish Circus provides students with a one-of-a-kind experience.

“It affects the lives of the young people,” Benedix said. “It’s a challenging experience. It’s a growth experience. For the community, it’s an opportunity to watch our children excel with some very unique skills. … For the kids, it’s exciting. They make friends, and they gain so much confidence.”

Megan Loyer, a coach with the Starfish Circus, echoed Benedix’s statements, saying she thinks students who participate in the circus both have fun and gain confidence, body awareness and a sense of self.

“Everyone is good at something,” she said. “It’s really important for them to find the one thing that they are good at and really be able to show that off. … It’s really a community building activity.”

Both Loyer and Benedix said they would encourage the community to attend one of the Starfish Circus performances this weekend. Not only would audience members experience a night of unique entertainment, they said, but attendees would also be supporting local students.

“It’s a great entertainment option,” Benedix said. “In two weeks, these kids learn so much. When they start performing, it truly is a full circus that is not second class. It is top-notch.”

Loyer agreed, saying that students always get excited to see a full audience on show night.

“They all look before the show and during the show to see how full the seating is and how many people are there,” she said. “[A full show] gives them even that much more to be proud of.”