The circus is back in town! At least in Milwaukee, it is. And maybe for the last time.
A tradition in this town since 1963, The Great Circus Parade, hosted by Circus World of Baraboo, Wisconsin, is more than just a parade. It is a five day circus extravaganza of historical wagons, horse, camel and elephant rides, calliope automata, ferris wheels, and plenty of food and beer (it is Milwaukee, after all.) There is plenty to see and do on the circus grounds, but the highlight of the event is the grand parade through the streets of downtown Milwaukee this Sunday, July 12th
Having never been to the Circus parade or the festival grounds, we rounded up the family and made our way downtown. My son was excited shouting, “We’re going to the circus!” over and over again, but at age 3, I don’t think he really knew what that meant. However, as we snaked our way into lawn parking near the grounds, he began sensing what the circus was all about.
We first came upon an antique calliope wagon playing entertaining music from punch cards. As much as my son was enthralled with the music, I was enthralled with the whirring of machinery, mechanical relays, and automata that brought the music to life. While the original wagons would have been steam powered, the steampunk in me was a little disappointed to see electric motors driving the equipment. Even so, there were several of these wagons around the park grounds, and each as enthralling as the last.
Below is a video of the wagon that greeted us at the circus entrance.
Moving on through the fairgrounds, we saw camels, elephants, and the tallest horse I’d ever seen. It was possible to buy tickets to ride the camel and elephants, but we opted to watch from the gates. Circus performances run throughout the days with various tents set up with music, shouts and laughter of those inside bleeding out into the entrance enticing us to catch a show.
The circus has always been known for spectacle, and the Kelly Miller Circus Performance did not disappoint. It’s interesting how the circus is a part of American culture, but with so few actual circus’ being performed, it is one we do not directly associate with. Mostly, our connection is through pop media and cartoons. So it was with the excitement to experience a show directly that we entered the tent and found our seats. The performance was wonderful! There were acrobats, a magic show, clowns, a juggling family that juggled each other, drained dogs, and a trio of elephants. My son enjoyed the acrobats and elephants the best; being a little guy, watching the performers tower over the center ring where he could see them made for laughter, clapping, and wide-eyed amusement.
After the show, we roamed the grounds a bit more. My wife and son went on a Ferris Wheel ride, which even the day after my son is still talking about. Lastly, we finished taking in all of the remaining historical wagons and side performances.I brought my DSLR camera along and took pictures of much of the wagons and activity, and uploaded many of them to flickr.
So if you are or will be in the Milwaukee/Chicago area, I highly recommend stopping down on Sunday, July 12th for the Great Circus Parade through Milwaukee’s downtown streets to see the event in person. You can see the parade route here. If you can’t make it, note that this may be the last circus in Milwaukee for quite some time. Circus World is struggling with sponsorship issues, and the last time the Circus was in town was 2003.
Do you have any memories of the Great Circus Parade or other circus events in your town? Tell us about it in the comments; we’d like to hear about it!
All Images and Video: Chuck Lawton
