Don’t expect to see the circus back for at least couple of years or more to Kent’s ShoWare Center or anywhere else in the Pacific Northwest.
Feld Entertainment, Inc., the parent company of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circuses, will soon close down the touring unit that appeared weekend at the ShoWare Center and Oct. 1-4 at the Xfinity Arena in Everett.
“We’re being told they are taking the gold (touring) unit off the road,” said Tim Higgins, ShoWare general manager, during a phone interview on Friday.
The circus has appeared every year at the ShoWare Center since it opened in 2009. The first year Ringling Bros. brought their largest unit, known as the three-ring circus, to Kent. That unit travels by train and the stop included a parade of animals from the train parked in Renton to the ShoWare Center.
Every year since, the Kent stop has included the gold unit that features a smaller circus but still includes such acts as daredevil motorcycle stunts inside the Globe of Steel, heart-pounding tricks on the Dual Wheel of Steel; edge-of-your-seat motorcycle high wire action, powerful hand-balancing duo, fun-filled performing pups, fast-paced equestrian acrobatic riders on six beautiful stallions and the world-renowned Asian elephants.
“It’s a good show for us and the community,” Higgins said. “Any loss has some impact but it will not be significant.”
Higgins said with the advance notice, he will search elsewhere to fill the dates left open without the annual circus tour.
“Now we have that time frame and will look for something else for that spot,” he said.
Stephen Payne, a Feld Entertainment spokesman, said he expects the circus to return to the Pacific Northwest in the future, but wasn’t sure when.
“Right now we don’t have any future dates,” Payne said during a Friday phone interview. “But it’s an important market for all of our shows. My counsel is don’t be surprised to see the Ringling Bros. coming back.”
When, however, remains to be determined as the circus enters its 146th edition in 2016.
“It’s too early to tell,” Payne said about any Pacific Northwest or Kent dates.
Julie Furlong, who serves as a Seattle area media consultant for Feld to promote the circus, said during a phone interview there are no plans for the circus to return to the Pacific Northwest.
“The unit will end in October,” she said.
Furlong said she was told it’s a part of doing business and that Feld will focus on growth in its other shows. The company produces other shows, including Monster Jam, Monster Energy Supercross, Nuclear Cowboyz, AMSOIL Arenacross, Disney On Ice , Disney Live! and Marvel Universe LIVE!.
Ringling Bros. will still have the large circus units, known as red and blue. Furlong said the larger units travel by train while the gold unit, which is in Kent this weekend, travels by truck and trailers.
“We haven’t known this for long that they are going to close down the unit,” Furlong said. “It does not mean that other units won’t come here but that’s not on the schedule at this point.”
That end of the tour also means it’s probably the last time performing elephants will come to Kent. Feld announced earlier this year that elephants are being phased out of the circus by 2018.
The elimination of elephants from the circus came as good news to People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). The group protested the use of elephants in the circus for more than 35 years with claims of abuse of the animals. Protesters showed up with signs last weekend outside the ShoWare Center against using elephants in the circus, a march they have done each year in Kent.
Payne said the lack of elephants in the circus isn’t the reason for ending the gold unit. Many other circus acts still draw crowds. He also said crowd numbers remained strong in the Pacific Northwest even with the circus coming to town each year for the last several years.
But Payne added routing tours for the two larger units to the Pacific Northwest becomes more of a challenge because of the travel by train. The company doesn’t travel into Canada, so booking enough stops becomes a challenge as does figuring out where to park the large circus train for several days during a show.
“As we move forward with future shows, the Pacific Northwest is always a great market,” he said. “We need to look at logistics but it’s a positive market. I would not be surprised if we bring a larger unit there.”
Editor’s Note: This story was updated to include information about annual protests to the circus at the ShoWare Center.
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