SEATTLE (CelebrityAccess) — Feld Entertainment is planning an animal free re-launch of the venerable Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in 2023.
Feld Entertainment Chairman and CEO Kenneth Feld and Chief Operating Officer Juliette Feld Grossman revealed the company’s plans during a question-and-answer session at the VenuesNow Conference in Seattle on Thursday, with the trade publication VenuesNow first reporting on the planned big top revival.
According to Feld, the revived circus will focus on human performers and will feature some technological updates to help connect the show to the audience.
“In 2023 we will be relaunching Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus,” an emotional Grossman told the audience, according to VenuesNow. “You can see it’s emotional and exciting for us as a family. We really feel that Ringling Bros. has incredible relevance to today’s audience.”
Billed as the ‘Greatest Show On Earth’ Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus originally ran from 1871 until 2017 when Feld, faced by high operating costs, declining audiences and growing pushback from animal rights activists, announced that the circus would cease operation. What many thought would be the final performance of the circus took place at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on May 21, 2017.
