NYTimes.com: Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus announced on Saturday night that after 146 years of performances, it was folding its big tent forever.
In a statement on the company’s website, Kenneth Feld, the chief executive of Feld Entertainment, the producer of Ringling, said the circus would hold its final performances in May. He cited declining ticket sales, which dropped even more drastically after elephants were phased out from the shows last year.
1 comment:
I never really considered how many factors had to be taken into account when it came to a traveling circus. I remember attending the circus as a child and thinking the people and animals that performed in it magically transferred from place to place and performing all the time. Now, I realize that someone (or someones) have to strike, pack, move, unpack, and set up everything every time the show moves to a new location, and that there are subsequent transportation costs for all of the performers. I was happy when the company decided to discontinue it's use of elephants in the shows, as I fully support animal rights and humane treatment, but I do think it never really found a way to make up for the loss of that spectacle. Without the animals, the circus just didn't have the same draw, though clearly a large number of people did still attend, just not enough to keep this show in business.
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