# Has anyone attended the New Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [January 22, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-attended-the-new-ringling-bros-and-barnum-bailey-circus/1026935 "2026-01-22T18:09:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-attended-the-new-ringling-bros-and-barnum-bailey-circus/1026935/1 "2026-01-22T18:09:25Z")
It started back up in 2023, and apparently it is sans animal acts, clowns or ringmaster. What does it have, and is it any good? ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-attended-the-new-ringling-bros-and-barnum-bailey-circus/1026935/2 "2026-01-22T20:10:19Z")
Also, are you thinking about attending? Their schedule is on this website: [Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey | Get ready to have the most amazing time at The Greatest Show On Earth®!](https://www.ringling.com/) I am assuming, of course, that they have registered that whole phrase, and not just the word “Earth”. 😁 ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2026, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-attended-the-new-ringling-bros-and-barnum-bailey-circus/1026935/3 "2026-01-22T20:28:10Z")
I’ve not seen the current incarnation but, AIUI, it’s in direct competition with Cirque du Soleil. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-attended-the-new-ringling-bros-and-barnum-bailey-circus/1026935/4 "2026-01-23T01:29:21Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > apparently it is sans animal acts, clowns or ringmaster “It’s not much of a circus, is it?” ”Finest in the district!” ”Explain the logic underlying that conclusion, please.” ”Well, it’s so clean, sir!” ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2026, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-attended-the-new-ringling-bros-and-barnum-bailey-circus/1026935/5 "2026-01-23T13:18:23Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Also, are you thinking about attending? Their schedule is on this website: [Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey | Get ready to have the most amazing time at The Greatest Show On Earth®!](https://www.ringling.com/) I hadn’t thought of going until I saw your thread. It’s been many years since I last went and it might be fun to go. They’ll be in Sacramento in September. Maybe we’ll go. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-attended-the-new-ringling-bros-and-barnum-bailey-circus/1026935/6 "2026-01-24T00:25:52Z")
Circuses only exist to remind us how much better entertainment is now than it was in the 19th Century. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2026, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-attended-the-new-ringling-bros-and-barnum-bailey-circus/1026935/7 "2026-01-24T00:55:33Z")
True, if you define entertainment as staring at screens. But when people had time off work for leisure activities in the 19th century, they could find [plenty of mass entertainment](https://sharonvirts.com/2020/03/22/the-rise-of-mass-entertainment-leisure-time-and-fun-in-pre-civil-war-america/). Attending live concerts and theater performances, going to amusement parks, arcades, circuses, museums or getting together at their homes for cards or home musical activities were part of the scene. I’m not sure I would’ve been hot on the idea of [Chautauquas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chautauqua) though. “Let’s go hear William Jennings Bryan give a speech!” Uh no, I’ll pass.