Ringling Bros. circus ends after 146 years

Clowns say goodbye during the final Ringling Brothers performance.
(Image credit: Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images)

With ticket sales down and operating costs up, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus held its final performance Sunday in Uniondale, New York, after 146 years.

"We all have to embrace change," Kenneth Feld of Ringling's parent company, Feld Entertainment, told The Associated Press. "But there is a love for the circus that will never die." Feld Entertainment announced in January that the show would come to an end, eight months after the company, at the urging of animal rights activists, removed elephants from performances. The final circus featured aerialists, contortionists, clowns, motorcycle stunts, ice skaters, and dancing dogs.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.