THE BALLOON MAN

Elephants Take to the Hill. Clowns, Too.

by Jon Penndorf 
Capitol Hill, Capitol Hill South, DC
from:  www.thehillshome.com
March 13th, 2012 
No, this isn’t an allusion to a Republican party meeting.  In fact, no politics are involved.  The annual parade of performers and animals from Ringling Brothers, Barnum and Bailey Circus travels through Capitol Hill Tuesday evening, March 13.  They will de-train near Garfield Park and traverse the neighborhood and city streets on their way to the Verizon Center, where the show plays a limited engagement this coming weekend.
Verizon Center, where the show plays a limited engagement this coming weekend.

In the spirit of this year’s show theme “Fully Charged,” the parade breaks tradition from years past and will occur in the evening.  The circus folks promise the walk will light up the neighborhood.

The parade is scheduled to begin at 8:00 p.m. but can vary due to train travel delays or traffic.  According to Ringling Brothers, the route for the parade at press time is: “begin on Virginia Ave, S.E. and New Jersey Ave. S.E. (Garfield Park) moving west towards South Capitol Street, S.E. then heading north up Washington and Independence Ave S.W. past the National Mall and continuing up 3rd Street N.W. arriving at the Verizon Center via G Street N.W.”  A map of the walk can be found here.  Anticipated arrival time at the Verizon Center is 8:15 p.m.

For up-to-the-minute parade and arrival times you can call the Circus’s hotline at 1-866-683-3670 or follow them on Twitter at @DCElephantWalk.

So consider this your notice!  Whether you are an avid annual spectator or just looking to avoid the area and traffic delays, know that tonight we will have random animals, clowns, and tumblers wandering our neighborhood streets.  More exciting than a typical motorcade, no?