To all of our Circus Fans and visitors, we have created this page to keep you abreast of news and information pertinent to the Circus and the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Please submit any news you hear and we will make this, along with our Facebook page, a hub for our industry. Please stay safe and healthy. Let’s stay #circusstrong
Ringling Museum cancels Summer Circus Spectacular in Sarasota
Circus members make masks for places of need in the Suncoast
CARES Act provides help to businesses – Here’s how to see if it works for you
Can’t believe: people donate for the circus family, and their animals
Stuck circus ‘overwhelmed’ by generosity amid virus lockdown
Assistance for Small Businesses
Just as everyone else is being affected by the Coronavirus, Cirque MonteCarlo has also been hit extremely hard. We are closing our doors (or should I say side walls) for at least the next two weeks to allow time for the country to get back to normal. Realizing this may take more time than just two weeks we are preparing to be able to support our performers and employees through this extremely difficult time. We have made a commitment to these people and they have stayed loyal to us during this very trying period. With close to 50 people to support our daily cost to feed, provide electricity and a location to stay for all these people is close to $500 a day. Cirque MonteCarlo wants to do right by the people who depend on them and that is why we are doing everything in our power to keep them fed, housed and happy during this trying period. Any size donation is truly appreciated and if you do not have the capacity to donate we ask that you please share this Gofundme page for us. Everyone who donates will be guaranteed a free family four pack admission into any of our shows in any location for the rest of the season. ($100 value).
Cirque MonteCarlo GoFundMe
Some important info for our Circus friends from attorney Scot Silzer: “Circuses, as well as other entertainment venues, might be eligible for the Stimulus Plan loan that can be converted into a grant to keep employees, even independent contractors, employed over the next 2 months, maybe longer. Accordingly, employees should stay in contact with your employers, especially those on visas, so that visas are less likely to be withdrawn and you perhaps can receive pay under the Stimulus Plan.”
Información importante para nuestros amigos del Circo de abogado Scot Silzer: “Los circos, así como otros lugares de entretenimiento, podría ser elegible para el préstamo del Plan de Estímulos que se puede convertir en una subvención para mantener a los empleados, incluso contratistas independientes, empleados en los próximos 2 meses, tal vez más. En consiguiente, los empleados deben que mantengan en contacto con sus empleadores, especialmente aquellos que tienen visas, para que las visas sean menos probabilidades a ser retiradas y tal vez pudiere recibir la paga bajo el Plan de Estímulos.”
Circus Cares About Circus
“With It and For It” —This well known phrase is reflected in the sources of help available for Showpeople that have been established by Showpeople and those who care about Showpeople.
The first came from riding sensation Dorothy Herbert. Her concern was housing for performers and at her death she left funds to address this concern. This became the Dorothy Herbert Fund for Circus Performers at the Community Foundation of Sarasota County. And through the generosity of others it has grown and is available to provide emergency housing funds to performers and ex-performers. The fund has come full circle as some that have been assisted by the Fund in the past are currently making contributions to the fund to help others.
A few years after the Dorothy Herbert Fund was established, members of the Circus Ministry focused on the same concern from a different angle. Their goal was a place for Showpeople to live when they were forced to leave the road. The result was the Circus and Traveling Shows Retirement Project, Inc. Again, Showpeople and folks that care about Showpeople, rose to the challenge and on January 28, 2015, Showpeople’s Winter Quarters was established in Seffner, Florida. The property offers a place to move in with a trailer and/or a place to store equipment within a community of Showpeople.
An additional need was identified for a source of funds for small emergencies such as money for a family to travel to an injured performer, funds for corrective shoes for an ex-performer to allow her to work, and a ramp for a Showperson with terminal cancer to make her last days easier. To meet such needs, the Dale Riker Fund was established along with the informal “Do-Good Fund” using contributions from those who care to help those in need.
If you are someone who is “With It and For It, who cares or needs care or wishes to donate, contact:
Father Jerry Hogan, circusrev@aol.com
Father Richard Notter, ren132@aol.com, or
Dorita Estes, WRAC@aol.com
Circus Smirkus, a Greensboro-based youth circus, introduces Smirkus@Home, an online initiative featuring paid virtual classes — think Hula-Hooping, juggling and clowning — for all ages. “While we planned to do this anyway, we kicked the process into high gear in response to the current situation,” wrote executive director Jen Carlo in a newsletter. Details are at smirkus.org. Exhibits, classes and studio hours are off-limits to in-person visitors at Burlington’s BCA Center through at least April 6. Instead, visual arts fans can engage with the center’s new Home Studio project, which features virtual-reality gallery tours, as well as prompts to inspire art making. Folks can then share their work with the BCA Home Studio Facebook group.
Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) Addresses Federal Relief for Fairs and Festivals
Cirque du Soleil explores options including bankruptcy
Circo Caballero Stranded in Parking Lot. The circus is in neighboring Thousand Oaks (Calif).
“I gathered everyone together and told them, ‘Look, every single penny, every single dollar we have, let’s stretch it as much as we can,’” Caballero said. “I told them if they want to leave that’s fine, but if they leave, they’re not coming back. I told them we are going to use this space as a quarantine area.” owner Ruben Caballero told the Acorn on Sunday.
Acrobatic circus grounded in Waco after schedule collapses