Ringling Bros. Circus is Closing After 146 years

“The Greatest Show on Earth” will permanently shut its doors after 146 years in business.

“After much evaluation and deliberation, my family and I have made the difficult business decision that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey will hold its final performances in May of this year,” Kenneth Feld, chairman and CEO of Feld Entertainment, announced on the Ringling Bros. website on Saturday (January 14).

“Ringling Bros. ticket sales have been declining, but following the transition of the elephants off the road, we saw an even more dramatic drop,” he went on. “This, coupled with high operating costs, made the circus an unsustainable business for the company.”

Feld Entertainment retired its performance elephants last year due to protests from animal rights activists. The U.S. Department of Agriculture has also fined the company $270,000 for reportedly violating the Animal Welfare Act, though the company denied any misconduct.

The final Ringling Bros. performances will be held at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center in Providence, R.I., on May 7, and the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Uniondale, N.Y., on May 21.

Click inside to see what else Kenneth had to say…

“Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey has served as inspiration for all of the live entertainment produced at Feld Entertainment,” Kenneth added. “We learned from the circus, and applied those learnings to our other productions. Without Ringling Bros., we wouldn’t have the vibrant live entertainment company that we have today. Ringling Bros. will always be part of Feld Entertainment, and its spirit will live on in every production and project we do.”