The circus came to Peru, Indiana in 1884 as local businessman, Colonel Ben Wallace brought his show to town. Although his show traveled around a multi-state area, it always returned to Peru to winter. As the circus grew, it became known as the Hagenbeck-Wallace circus and was considered a competitor to the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey shows. After the demise of the Hagenbeck-Wallace show, other circuses used the Peru site for shows and wintering, including the brief presence of the Ringling Brothers circus, until the 1930's. The love affair with the circus continued however, and in 1960, the Circus City Festival began, which includes performances by the amateur circus. The Circus City Festival occurs for 10 days in July each year.
The festival includes rides, games, food, entertainment, arts & crafts, and much more. The parade includes authentic wagons, a calliope, floats, bands, clowns, and other items of interest. FFBT has provided free cold water and green clown noses to the many spectators for the past 4 years. A tent is set up outside our main branch on the corner of Broadway and Main Street and employees volunteer their time to pass out the noses and water. This year, we had 7 employees working the tent: Trudy Judge, Ron Douglas, Kris Hiers, Suzanne Arnold, Maria Correll, Sierra Martinez, and Amanda Frey.
One of the primary highlights of the Circus City festival of course is the circus performance itself. At least 10 performances are held each year and include a variety of acts from juggling and unicycles to trapeeze and highwire acts. It's a three hour long three ring circus complete with clowns and a full circus band that plays nearly non-stop. The beautifully costumed performers consist of 250 local area residents, most of them between 7 and 21 years of age. The band, a mix of amateur and professional musicians is also comprised of many area residents although there are some who come from across the country to volunteer their time and talents. These performers have made a serious committment to the show. They begin practicing in March, perform a fairly grueling schedule during the July Circus City Festival Days, travel to surrounding states for additional performances, and even participate in an international competition in Monte Carlo each January.
