By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
A nationally acclaimed circus will return to Piedmont next Saturday and the chamber of commerce executive is expecting a large turnout for the high-wire performers and the lions and tigers.
The Culpepper & Merriweather Circus will be located on a lot next to the Round-Up Arena, 104 Piedmont Road, where two scheduled performances will be held at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. Saturday, September 29.
Tickets are $10 for adults, $7 for seniors and children age two to 12. Children under two are free.
Circuses have delighted audiences for hundreds of years, but dwindling crowds and frivolous lawsuits from animal rights activists have put many out of business. Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Baily closed its circus last year after being in business for 146 years.
“There aren’t many around anymore,” Piedmont Chamber of Commerce Director Jennifer Ochoa said. “This circus comes every two years and I think it’s exciting.”
Ticket sales in 2016 totaled 450 for adults and 337 for children, but Ochoa expects higher figures this year.
“That was on a Monday and we almost never get the circus here on a weekend, so we think we’re going to have a pretty good crowd,” she said.
The C&M Circus uses the traditional “big top” tent and between 9:30 and 10 a.m. the public is invited to watch the raising of the tent followed by a free tour. Those who attend will get a closeup look at the performers, animals and learn about the history of the circus.
C&M has been touring for 33 years and has been featured on “Under the Big Top,” in an A&E special, and recently for a Nickelodeon special on Nick News, “On the Road with Circus Kids.”
This year’s lineup includes an “All-Star group of performers and entertainers” that include: Miss Simon, trapeze artist, Miss Paulina’s proud “ Big & Little” prancing ponies, The Arlise Troupe unicyclists, Natalie’s American Eskimo Escapades, Miss Georgia displaying flexibility to the extreme and for the first time, the Wheel of Destiny & Tight Rope by The Perez Family, a prepared statement shows.
Jungle Cats with Soloman, Delilah & Francis, will be presented by Trey Key with original music composed by Matt Margucci from Los Angeles, Calif.
