Julian Orbach

In the late 1990's Circus Monoxide bought a Leyland Alantean Double Decker bus, adorned it with the Circus Monoxide livery - black and yellow hazard stripes - and, for many years, used it to tour around regional Australia performing shows from the custom-built hydraulically lowered stage built into the side.


That bus - eventually dubbed "Harvey" - holds lot of special memories for the cast, crew who lived in it and the audiences who participated in these performances.


Since 2009, Harvey has been cared for in the Circus Monoxide warehouse, but it is time for her (Yes, Harvey is a her.) to move on. Circus Monoxide need the space.


Over the past few years, there have been several valiant attempts by Circus Monoxide to find Harvey a new home.


Unfortunately, the romantic idea of another circus company buying the bus, fixing it up and once again putting it on the road is unlikely. Age has wearied Harvey, and she is no longer really viable as a vehicle, but more a metal box with tyres. A metal box that is very expensive to move.


Circus Monoxide worked with several organisations to work out the feasibility of giving it a new home, but, with limited arts funding available, it was impossible to justify.


They had little choice but to sell it on the open market, and get some dollars that could be put towards new circus ventures.


Harvey has a lot of sentimental value to a lot of people, and the bidders on eBay probably don't get that, and probably don't care.


But wait... a project that is financially unjustifiable to the arts funders, but that would satisfy the nostalgic pangs, and but smiles on the faces, of thousands of people? That's where crowd-funding fits in perfectly!


This project is to raise the money required to obtain Harvey and tow her to a new home - the Mullumbimby Showgrounds, home of Spaghetti Circus - where she can rest her wheels, and act as a fixed stage/performance area - and maybe even a bar.

But time is short! The ebay Auctiuon finishes Saturday!

Buying the Bus
First up, we need to acquire the bus. It is currently on eBay, and we will need to win the auction. We are going into this project with an upper price budgeted, but it is foolish to announce that figure. If the auction reaches that price before the campaign is over, we will stop the campaign without charging anyone. If we are outbid after the end of the campaign we will refund all the money (or, if at all possible, not charge you in the first place).

The auction is already close to our maximum price. If it goes much higher, the campaign will be ended early, and it won't cost anyone a cent.

Moving the Bus

Then there is the big cost.

It isn't practical to *drive* the bus. We'd be throwing a lot of money and time at it, and it still probably wouldn't make it. 
Putting it on the back of a float and carrying it to Mullum also isn't an option. At 4.4 metres high, it isn't legal.

So, that means towing. Which means making sure the wheels and tyres are roadworthy. The back tyres will probably need replacing after sitting still and deteriorating for 7+ years. Who has a jack big enough!?

Towing itself is expensive. (The highest quote was a whopping $20,000!) Fortunately, we've found cheaper places, and we are still hunting more quotes, but it still accounts for the biggest part of the budget.

Keeping the bus
There may be some costs on Spaghetti's side.

Do some circus!
If there is any money left over after that, we will ask Spaghetti Circus to spend it on the organisation of the Circus Festivals.

We aiming for a very large target based on pessimistic assumptions because the worst outcome would be that we pay for a bus, and have it stuck somewhere without the funds to move it. On the other hand, in the best case, we will have excess funds to use in a way our contributors will likely approve - towards running Australia's biggest circus festival.

The biggest challenge is the short time we have left to raise the money before the auctions ends, but that isn't a reason not to contribute, because if we don't make it, you don't get charged a cent, but can still proudly say "I was part of the effort that tried."

The second biggest challenge is that there has been a surprising number of bids on Harvey, and the price is getting very high. Again, that isn't a reason not to contribute, because if we don't make it, you don't get charged a cent.

To succeed, we need to see happy smiles on the faces at Circus Monoxide, Spaghetti Circus and the Mullumbimby Showgrounds. We are keeping them involved, and they have been pretty supportive, but that's a lot of people who can say no, which will squash the plan before it starts (and before it costs us any money). 

While the physical move of the bus is likely to be difficult, the money is largely to hire professionals to take care of that, so we've mitigated the chance of something going wrong there.

Kate, one of the key organisers of the plan will be overseas for 3-4 weeks during the most critical time, which limits our reaction time to coping with new developments.