Phare Ponleu Selpak won four business awards as the world-renowned circus experienced a tumultuous year marked by financial uncertainty and the death of its co-founder earlier this month.

Phare Ponleu Selpak is a not-for-profit organisation that serves as a vocational training institute for youths. Its circus has drawn spectators encompassing every strata of society from royalty to backpackers.

In March, it held the “Phare into the Future” event, which saw 90 circus acts perform for 24 hours. The live-streamed event raised more than $130,000 for the organisation, which had lost 60 percent of its $600,000 annual operating budget.

“This year has been an emotional rollercoaster,” Osman Khawaja, executive director, said. “Our staff and performers have gone through some very difficult times. Just a few hours after the exhilaration of succeeding in performing for 24 hours, which was such an incredible achievement by our artists and the staff supporting them, we had to close performances again as the current [Covid] outbreak grew more serious.”

During the closure, its co-founder, Srey Bandaul, succumbed to Coronavirus and passed away.

“Receiving the news of these four awards in the wake of his passing is a powerful acknowledgement and recognition of the power of the arts, something he believed in and dedicated his life to… I am sure he is smiling at us with pride,” Khawaja added.

Phare won four International Business Awards (IBAs), dubbed “Stevies”, for Best Cultural Event, Best Event for a Cause, Best Communications Campaign for a Non-Profit and Best Fundraising Event.

The awards were founded by Michael Gallagher, a US entrepreneur, in order to help restore confidence in the private sector after he became disillusioned by the collapse of Enron Corp, a US energy, commodities and services company based in Houston, Texas..

“What we’ve seen [in] this year’s IBA nominations is that organisations around the world, in every sector, have continued to innovate and succeed despite the setbacks, obstacles and tragedies of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” Stevies president Maggie Gallagher said in a statement.

“It [Phare Circus] was full of culture and immense talent. With a small budget, this was a complete success, hitting and surpassing targets,” a judge added.

Bo Ratha, an acrobat who has been working with the circus for 18 years, said that the group had to “fight together for survival”.

“We knew we had to make it. One chopstick is easily broken, while a bundle of chopsticks is not,” he pointed out.

The awards come as Phare Circus awaits Guinness recognition for its 24-hour feat in March. The Kingdom already holds 10 Guinness World Records, including the longest woven scarf, King with most titles and the longest alphabet in the world.

• Tags: circus, Phare Ponleu Selpak