NE FAIR OPENS JUNE 17

Keira Long, 3, and sister Courtney, both of Wilkes-Barre, on the Merry-Go-Round at last year’s Northeast Fair.

June 6
NE Fair to open June 17 with ‘preview night’

An expanded Northeast Fair will open on Thursday, June 17, with a free admission “preview night” at 5:00 p.m., with the official fair opening on Friday June 18.

The fair will continue for 10 consecutive days, closing on Sunday evening June 27. The fair previously ran for 6 consecutive days and is located off just Route 315 in Pittston Township.StoreIn addition to the expanded length of the fair, there will be improvements and increases to number and scope of rides, entertainment, concessions, exhibits, contests and fair infrastructure. The free admission preview night on Thursday, June 17, is sponsored by numerous regional media outlets and will allow people an opportunity to visit the fair free of charge, to discover what the fair is about.
On the free preview night, all rides and all concessions will be open, there be a slightly reduced entertainment schedule as compared to regular fair days, and some exhibits will be closed, as they will still be undergoing preparation for judging. Unlimited rides will be available for purchase on the fairgrounds for only $6.00, with over 25 rides expected at the fair.READ MORE AT:http://www.timesleader.com/pittstondispatch/events/NE_Fair_to_open_June_17_with__lsquo_preview_night_rsquo__06-06-2010.html

REITHOFFER'S GIANT WHEEL

REITHOFFER "THE ARISTOCRAT" OF SHOW BUSINESS

CAVALIA AT THE MEADOWLANDS

'Cavalia' is a 'poem for the ears and eyes'

By Vicki Hyman/The Star-Ledger, June 06, 2010
LYNNE GLAZERA trick rider performs in Cavalia. The spectacle’s creator, Normand Latourelle, says riders must put themselves “into the mind of the horse.”Normand Latourelle, a co-founder of Cirque du Soleil, spent the early years of his career explaining what cirque is and is not: a circus without the animals, a theater piece but wordless, with modern music that’s not rock ’n’ roll.
His newest brainchild, the multimedia spectacle Cavalia, arrives at the Meadowlands on Wednesday. Though it’s been dubbed cirque with horses, he has similar difficulty summing up the production.
"It’s a show about horses, but it’s not a horse show," Latourelle says in a phone interview from his native Quebec. "The show is built like a poem for the ears and the eyes. I often say that because it’s very hard to describe. It’s more like you enter a dream."
Latourelle left Cirque du Soleil in 1990 because he wanted to remain home in Quebec with his children. On his home turf, he orchestrated shows and celebrations such as the 350th anniversary of the founding of Montreal, but as his children got older, he wanted to return to the touring life, he explains in his thick French accent.
He conceived of Cavalia after putting on a show that included a single horse. Whenever the horse was onstage, he realized, audience members couldn’t take their eyes off it. So why not add another horse? So he did, and then another, and another.
Today, there are more than 60 horses performing in Cavalia, on an enormous stage more than half the length of a football field, under the largest touring big top in the world. Acknowledging the less-than-stellar reputation traveling circuses have for humane animal care, Latourelle boasts that Cavalia is a "Club Med for horses," with a team of 20 people caring for the animals, none of which are on stage for more than three minutes during any given show.
Cavalia Where: White Big Top at the Meadowlands, next to the Izod Center When: Wednesday-Saturday, June 15 to 19 at 8 p.m.; matinees June 13 and 20 at 2 p.m., and June 12 and 19 at 3 p.m. How much: $56 to $126. Call (866) 999-8111 or visit cavalia.net.
read more at:http://www.nj.com/entertainment/arts/index.ssf/2010/06/cavalia_is_a_poem_for_the_ears.html

TORNADO HITS STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL IN OHIO

By Mike Bowersock,Published: June 04, 2010 Updated: June 05, 2010
Newark, Ohio -- The Newark Kiwanis Strawberry Festival is like a street carnival. It encircles the Courthouse in Downtown Newark.
Friday was the festival's first day, and severe storms moved through the area in the evening.
At about 8:30 p.m., the storms became serious.
Tents were blowing all over the place, and a woman who was working inside the funhouse became trapped and had to be cut out.
The funhouse flipped over with her inside it.
Another woman was selling jewelry in her booth when one of the big trees that surround the Courthouse was knocked over and came right down on top of her.
At the last minute, she jumped under a table and that may have saved her life.
"I dove underneath that table right there," Teresa Felix said while pointing to a broken and smashed school-cafeteria style table.
She crawled out but had to walk around the downed power lines that were also around the Courthouse.
It appeared no one was seriously hurt.
There also were downed trees and power lines throughout Newark.

FESTIVAL FOOD SAFETY--COLUMBUS, OHIO

ELEPHANTS!

The Ainad Shrine Circus Parade takes off from West Main and 17th Streets, headed east on West Main Street towards downtown. The Ainad Shrine Circus will hold performances at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds in Belleville at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, and again on Sunday at 2 p.m. and 6:30 p.m. where performers with the George Carden Circus International will delight the crowds. - Tim Vizer/BND

Saturday, Jun. 05, 2010

The circus came to town!

Ainad Shriners march through Belleville, News-Democrat Buzz up!

BELLEVILLE -- Music, entertainment and laughter filled the streets of Belleville Friday night when the Ainad Shriners Circus parade marched through town.
The 44th annual circus will perform at 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 6 p.m. Sunday at the Belle-Clair Fairgrounds in Belleville.
Also, you can also see the show at 7:30 p.m. Monday at the Monroe County Fairgrounds in Waterloo at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, at the Jerseyville American Legion Park on June 9 in Olney, on June 10-11 in Salem and on June 12-13 in DuQuoin.

CIRCUS VARGAS

CULPEPPER & MERRIWEATHER CIRCUS 2009

August 15, 2009 This is a short clip of the Merriweather and Culpepper Circus that performed in Zimmerman, Minnesota on July 26, 2009.

ATLANTIC CITY'S STEEL PIER

CHILDRESS SHOWS 1994 PART 1 (HAL GUYON)

Dick, Looking at your pictures of Bob Chidress`s Lewis & Clark Circus I thought I`d send you a few pictures I took of Bob`s carnival back in April of 1994. These were taken in Simpsonville, South Carolina at a lot next to a shopping center. Bob is a fine person that I have known for years and always treats people with great respect and kindness whenever they visit on his lot.

Hal Guyon Columbia, SC

CHILDRESS SHOWS 1994 PART 2 (HAL GUYON)

JOB DISCRIPTION---

Johnathan Lee Iverson,

ringmaster for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus, is the first African-American and youngest ringmaster in Ringling Bros. history. (Courtesy Iverson family via Newport News Daily Press)
from the Los Angeles Times, Jobs section.
Circus RingmasterThe profession is so much more than top hats and sequins
Life's a circus for Johnathan Lee Iverson -- literally -- and he loves every minute of it.
"Circus is the prize fighting of entertaining. You don't play circus, like you don't play boxing. It's something that you live," said the 34-year-old ringmaster in a recent Newport News Daily Press article.
Iverson is a ringmaster for the world-famous and legendary Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey traveling circus. He's the first African-American and youngest ringmaster in their storied history.
A ringmaster serves as the host of ceremonies and a guide for the performances. They are there to excite the crowd and build drama. But outside of being flamboyant and bombastic, what does a circus ringmaster do?
He should be familiar and comfortable with hectic environments, such as acrobats, tightrope walkers, fire jugglers and large exotic animals. It's crucial to improvise and entertain while spending long hours on your feet.
Depending on the circus, the ringmaster may also have to handle questions from the audience during a show and do promos and outreach outside the ring.
Someone who wants to become a ringmaster can do one of the following: Attend circus school (yes, they do exist), train as an actor or improv performer, or work through the circus ranks.
For Iverson, the profession is so much more than top hats and sequins.
"When you get to travel this often, when you get to be around this many people, when you get to witness excellence all the time, when you live among people who fly, who do daring feats ... I think it does something to your capacity for tolerance and understanding the world in a much broader sense," the seasoned ringmaster told the Daily Press.

CIRCUS JUVENTAS

SARAH HOFFMAN

Circus Juventas has local girl flying high

By Tom Larson Sun Tribune

For several years, audiences have been captivated by the performances of Cirque du Soleil and other groups which have brought the grace and athleticism of contemporary circus arts to mainstream stages.
A Morris youth is learning and performing those skills through Circus Juventas, a youth circus school in St. Paul.
Sara Hoffman, 8, has been practicing and performing with Circus Juventus for about half of her young life.
The daughter of Julia and Marshall Hoffman, Sara recently performed in the Circus Juventas’ Spring Celebration Performances, “Around the World.”
Circus Juventas presents two major public productions each year in May and late summer. The spring shows feature beginning and intermediate level students, and the summer shows consist of advanced students in a Cirque du Soleil-style production.
This year’s summer show, “Sawdust,” is July 29-Aug. 15. Morris Area Community Education is encouraging people to sign up for a bus trip to “Sawdust” at 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 7. For more information, contact Community Education at (320) 589-4394.
read more at: http://www.morrissuntribune.com/event/article/id/22197/

AL-KALY SHRINE CIRCUS

Habib Omar, elephant trainer from Argentina, tends to Bimbo, one of three Asian elephants in the circus. The elephants weigh from 7,800 to 9,000 pounds. Omar said he has been with the circus his entire life, and his family is fifth-generation circus folk. He spends 10 months of the year traveling and two months at his home in Missouri. Photo by Sue Price

6/4/2010

Al-Kaly Shrine Circus draws Salida crowd
Sue Price - Mail Staff Writer
"Lions and tigers and bears - oh yes!" describes the Al-Kaly Shrine Circus, featuring the cast of Jordan World Circus and presented locally by Mon-Ark Shrine Club, which rolled into Salida Thursday.
Performers staged two shows in the open-air on White Field at Salida High School.
The circus is a fund-raiser for Shriner Hospitals for Children. Steve Jordan, potentate, said 300,000 Shriners worldwide support 22 hospitals which provide free care for children with burns or orthopedic conditions.
Since 1922, he said, the hospitals have treated more than 1 million children, Jordan said.
The traveling circus, owned by Jody and Patsy Jordan of Las Vegas, arrived with 12 rigs, about 50 cast members and crew, in addition to tigers, elephants, bears, ponies and more.
The Shriners will sponsor circuses in Salida, Colorado Springs, Lamar, Cañon City, Rocky Ford, Trinidad, Monte Vista and Durango this summer.
"It is one of our year's biggest fund-raisers and a good way for us to get our name out so people know what we do," steve Jordan said. "It's also a way to bring a circus to smaller communities."
The two-hour, three-ring show featured an international cast performing balancing acts, animal acts, aerial artistry, high-wire acts and more.From The Mountain Mail, Salida, Colorado

3 REDNECK TENORS AND DINNY MCGUIRE

3 Redneck Tenors invade Branson for singin' show

by KY3 News
Story Published: Jun 4, 2010
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Some singing rednecks are storming Branson. They'll perform at the Oak Ridge Boys Theatre this summer.
The 3 Redneck Tenors joined Ozarks Today on Friday. Even though there are four members of the group, one of them isn't a tenor, thus the name. ----
Here's how one reviewer described the show:
"The curtain rises on the boys’ Paris, Texas, trailer park and before you know it Billy Bob (Alex Bumpus) is singing “Willkommen” from “Cabaret” in cutoff shorts and a raveled orange sweatshirt.
The show has a plot line narrated by The Colonel, Dinny McGuire, who in real life has spent 25 years as the ringmaster for Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus and the Big Apple Circus. He also sings bass.
The set features an outhouse, Airstream and plastic furniture — all the better to pop beers and wish upon a star peeking out from behind an oil rig. The cousins decide to follow their dreams and head for Broadway. “Hold on to your badoobies,” Bill Bob says.
Their trip takes about 15 minutes, and when we rejoin the Rednecks after intermission they’ve installed their Airstream in Times Square, adding bars on the window and a New York City portable toilet. Their first job in the Big Apple is at a haunted Howard Johnson’s, which leads the trio."

CHEROKEE, NC SUMMERFEST

New Carnival coming to Cherokee’s Summerfest

June 3, 2010

A new carnival will debut in Cherokee this year for an expanded 10-day Summerfest at the Cherokee Fairgrounds. Bringing bigger and more exciting rides than ever before, the Summerfest this year will host J & J Amusements from New Middleton, Ohio for 10 days beginning on Thursday, June 10, and running through Saturday, June 19.
The carnival will open each weekday at 5:00 pm; Saturday and Sunday at 1:00 pm. Closing time will be at 11:00 pm each night except Sunday, when the carnival will close at 10:00 pm.
Long time organizer of Summerfest, Hubert Bullard, has announced the new carnival that has altered its route of playing churches, firemens celebrations, festivals and fairs in Florida through Ohio and Pennsyvania.
Bullard said he believes that a whole new look will be at Summerfest as different and more exciting rides than ever will be on the fairgrounds. J & J Amusements is one of the largest traveling carnival companies in the world with more than 80 rides in its arsenal. Some of the largest county and regional fairs in the southeast are played by J & J.
Discount coupons for ride wristbands will again be available at all visitors and welcome centers in Cherokee as well as at convenience stores and fast food restaurants.