To celebrate the arrival of The Greatest Show on Earth, we’ve rounded up 10 fun facts about the circus.
1. Five of seven Ringling brothers started the Ringling Bros. Circus in 1884, in Baraboo, Wisconsin.
2. In 1919, Ringling Bros. Circus merged with P.T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey to create Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.
3. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus annually visits between 90 and 120 cities in North America, and no city ever sees the same show twice.
4. More than 10 million people experience The Greatest Show on Earth every year.
5. In 1968, Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus Clown College was founded to teach and preserve the art of clowning, but women weren’t admitted until 1970.
6. In 1995, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Center for Elephant Conservation (CEC) was established on 200 acres in central Florida to care for and support the reproduction, retirement and research of the endangered Asian elephant. There are less than 35,000 Asian elephants left on the planet.
7. In May 2016, the 40 remaining Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey Circus elephants were retired to the CEC after decades of controversy, lawsuits and protests over the animals’ welfare.
8. According to the CEC, each elephant eats about 150-250 pounds of hay daily as well as grains, fruits and vegetables. They each drink about 30-50 gallons of water every day.
9. With the purchase of a ticket to this year’s circus, you’ll get an All-Access Pre-Show pass that allows you to join the performers on the show floor one hour before the circus starts to clown around with the clowns, learn circus skills and try on a ringmaster jacket.
10. The story of circus founder P.T. Barnum will be the subject of a film titled “The Greatest Showman on Earth.” The movie will star Hugh Jackman and will be released in December 2017.
For ticket information, visit ringling.com.
