Tightrope walking is a spectacle activity usually performed for the amusement of an audience. It involves a performer who walks along a thin wire or rope usually from a great height. The "tightrope walker" may sometimes use a pole to aid in balancing while walking the rope. For heightened drama, the walker may perform the feat without the precaution of a safety net. A tightrope walking act is common for circuses.

Sometimes tightrope walking may be performed as a publicity stunt.

Closely Related Subjects

• Highwire
• Tightwire
• Slackwire
• Skywalk
• funambule (french)

Famous tightrope artists

• Blondin, a.k.a. Jean-François Gravelet, who wire-walked across Niagara Falls many times
• Phillippe Petit who walked between the towers of the former World Trade Center in New York City
• Jade Kindar-Martin and Didier Pasquette , highwire walkers, most notable for their world-record setting skywalk over the River Thames in London
• the Flying Wallendas, famous for their seven- and eight-person pyramid wire-walks