NorthFIRE Circus fire dancers, Maggie Haze and Stephanie Sapphire delivered a high octane fire show at Harbourfront for Winterfest 2025. Our blazing ballerinas turned the waterfront into a scintillating spectacle, and on this special occasion they were joined by the beautiful aerialist Elizabeth from Artist Play.
NorthFIRE’s sizzling hot show was the highlight of the annual winter festival and a memorable occasion for all eventgoers. In addition to parents, there were many wide-eyed children in the audience which swelled in size with every song, because everyone passing the fiery scene became instantly mesmerized and drawn-in by the pop music and pyromania.
Who can look away when attractive ladies in bejewelled costumes are juggling fireballs? Even more outrageous was the blue-haired Elizabeth swinging freely overhead while taking many graceful forms.
Maggie Haze tells Jessie which songs she wants him to play during the upcoming fire show.
The fire show happened outdoors west of the Power Plant and near the Harbourfront Centre’s enormous Christmas tree, on the flagstones at the south-end of the campus, which was not the originally designated spot for this attraction. The set shifted, hours before the show, due to the aerial performer’s preference for more ambient light.
Maggie Haze and Stephanie Sapphire were quick to shift their fire show to the well lit Harbourfront courtyard.
The event location originally selected by the Harbourfront team was a raised patio in the center of the compound which would have made a nice stage had there been more light in the area. Normally, a fire show doesn’t need extra lighting, but aerial trapeze artists do require some illumination, otherwise they’re just making silhouettes against the skyline. And so, on less than an hours’ notice, the whole show was shifted to the courtyard,
In the photo below you can see the team setting up Beth’s aerial apparatus. I should mention again how cold it was that evening, and make the observation that while the frigid temperatures may have dampened the crowd’s size, it clearly didn’t diminish the enthusiasm of our performers.
Elizabeth from Artist Play binds four foot lengths of pipe into a suspension frame for her aerial performance.
There was a cold wind blowing in across the lake. but the fire effects, sparkly costumes, and dance music created an incredibly compelling focal point which drew in many passing families. In the video, you can see the audience grow steadily larger, and planes flying low over the harbour to land at Billy Bishop airport. Harbourfront is a tourist mecca and in this heartland, the entertaining show became a nice reward for the many families willing to brave the cold temperatures.
Maggie Haze lays out the cones which become the boundaries for the fire show.
NorthFIRE Circus performed two thirty-minute shows, one at 7:15pm and another at 8:30. With each new song they debuted fresh dance moves and a different set of combustible props. They had fiery things on strings, batons and multi-pronged blazing pompoms. The show ended with Maggie and Stephanie twirling multiple flaming hula hoops.
NorthFIRE Circus has Friendly Fans
Much to my surprise, before the fire show started, there were families lingering about and waiting to see where Maggie Haze would lay the boundary cones, and hence, where they might stand to get front row seats. It led me to wonder if some of these savvy folks have seen NorthFIRE perform at other events in the past, because they knew exactly what to do and where to stand. I was a little too slow on the get-go and found myself off to the side, but every angle was excellent and the Starlets smile in all directions.
Fire Dancing is Perfect for Winterfest
Harbourfront positions NorthFIRE Circus as one of the signature draws of Winterfest, promoted alongside the tree lighting, carollers, live music, train rides and their large coniferous Wintermaze. More than any of these other attractions, NorthFIRE helps deliver on the festival’s promise to “ignite winter” with arts and spectacle.
The Dec 6th fire show capped the festival’s weekend programming with a visually dramatic performance which balanced family accessibility with enough intensity to feel like a marquee waterfront event.
