THE BALLOON MAN

Cole Bros. Circus Performing Six Shows at Tigertown

The Cole Bros. Circus presents its Bengal and Siberian tigers during shows in Lakeland from Monday to Wednesday.

(MIKE SPENCER/WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS PHOTOS)
By Matt Reinstetle
From:  THE LEDGER.com
October 31, 2012
Lakeland, FL--Ringmaster Chris Connors has been around the circus since he was a baby.
Connors, whose family attended many circus performances, has spent 11 of his more than 20 years in the circus as ringmaster. Now he's doing what he's always wanted to do as part of the Cole Bros. Circus.

"I used to tell my parents, ‘Well, if you don't like me, I'll run away and join the circus now,'" Connors said. "It took me many years later to do it, but here I am."

The Cole Bros. Circus will be performing two shows a day from Monday to Wednesday at the Tigertown complex in Lakeland.

The Cole Bros. Circus is the is one of the oldest traveling circuses, second only to Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey. It is the oldest circus to perform under a big top tent.

Elephants, Clowns, Tigers, Aerialists Among the Acts Coming to Lakeland. (MIKE SPENCER/WILMINGTON STAR-NEWS PHOTOS)
"When people go under the big top, it has a different feeling by itself," Connors said. "It feels more like a circus than when you go into a building. I've played in circuses in buildings and even when you're a performer, it doesn't feel the same.

"You feel like this is the real circus when you're under the tent."

Cole Bros. features several signature acts, including Baby Val, a 5-year-old elephant who does a show with Haley, the 5-year old daughter of the elephant's trainers.
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http://www.theledger.com/article/20121031/ENT/121039882/1308?Title=Cole-Bros-Circus-Performing-Six-Shows-at-Tigertown-