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Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus won’t come to Quad Cities in 2016

For the first time in years, the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus will not be making a stop in the Quad Cities over Labor Day weekend. When the circus an...

MOLINE, Illinois — For the first time in years, the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus will not be making a stop in the Quad Cities over Labor Day weekend. When the circus announced 2016 tour dates the decision had been made to not come to the iWireless Center.

"We've been making some changes to the Ringling Brothers and based on those changes we weren't able to come to the area this year, but we're really excited to bring 'The Greatest Show on Earth' back in 2017," said Stephen Payne, Vice President of Corporate Communications for Feld Entertainment, which is the parent company of the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey Circus.

The changes involve the routing and tour structure.

"Really what our routing and tours were reflecting was a change in our rehearsal schedule. Rather than rehearsing the circus in November and December and opening in January in Florida, we’ve changed that so we now do rehearsals in the spring and open the  newest show in the summer," said Payne.

The newest edition of the Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey circus, which has a 145-year history, incorporates performances from animals and people while on ice. The show is called, 'Out of this World'. It's the first show in the history of the circus that will not include elephants. Back in May, 2016 all of the elephants that traveled with the circus were retired and transferred to the Ringling Bros. Center for Elephant Conservation in Florida.

"The best way to start is to start new traditions we have been coming each year, and we know there are tens of thousands of circus fans who come to see Ringling Brothers and we’re hoping they’ll be able to come back next year in 2017," said Payne.

The long term plan for the circus to come to the Quad Cities is not set, however it will be returning in 2017.

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