PALMETTO, Fla. — The show will not go on.
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey announced it will hold its final circus performances in May.
Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, announced the news in a press release. Feld Entertainment is the producer of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey.
Feld said ticket sales have been declining, especially since the show retired its elephants last spring.
The iconic elephants featured prominently in Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey shows over the years, but after some animal rights groups criticized and even picketed, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey decided to pull the elephants from the tour. The elephants were retired to a conservation center in Florida.
There are two shows currently on tour, “Circus XTREME” and “Out Of This World.”
The “Circus XTREME” show is set to make a stop in Wilkes-Barre in April.
The final “Circus XTREME” is scheduled for Providence, Rhode Island on May 7, 2017, and the last scheduled “Out Of This World” show is May 21, 2017 in Uniondale, New York.
