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Royal Canadian circus coming back to Cloverdale

June dates for rebranded circus in year of expansion into U.S.
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Acrobats are featured in the touring Royal Canadian International Circus. (submitted photo)

The rebranded Royal Canadian International Circus is headed back to Surrey this spring.

The Calgary-based company’s 2020 tour will stop at Cloverdale Fairgrounds from June 4-7, for eight performances “under the big top.”

The all-new travelling show will feature “high-flying acrobatics, death-defying tricks, clowning and towering feats of strength, teetering towers of balanced bodies, extreme bending and devilishly precarious aerials,” according to a post at royalcanadiancircus.ca.

The circus is managed by the Zerbini and Bauer families. Ringmaster Joseph Dominik Bauer is a ninth-generation daredevil and circus veteran who has performed annually in Surrey in recent years, including a 2019 tour stop at Guildford Town Centre, where the 2,700-seat circus tent was set up in a parking lot.

The circus came to Guildford last year and also in 2018, following a single year of operation at Cloverdale Fairgrounds in 2017.

• VIDEO AND STORY from 2018: International ‘circus village’ in Surrey for weekend shows.

Last year was a record-breaking one for the Tarzan Zerbini-produced circus, according to the company.

“It has been decided to rebrand as the Royal Canadian International Circus and will expand its shows to the United States in the coming year,” says a news release posted to the circus website in November. “The 2020 tour will feature over 140 performances in cities in Canada and the U.S., from May through August. Additional shows have been scheduled with a number of extended stays including Minneapolis’s Mall of America.”

Royal Canadian International Circus “continues its migration toward thrill acts and acrobatic feature performances, no longer having exotic animals as part of their show,” the web post notes. “Performances will allow audiences to experience a traditional European Big Top circus through thrill acts and acrobatic feature performances.”

Bauer said 2020 is shaping up to be a special year for the circus.

“If last year’s attendance numbers say anything, it’s that Canadians and Americans still love the circus and that these shows provide families with a unique opportunity to show their children something new and exciting.”

The tour of B.C. will include shows at Richmond’s Lansdowne Centre from May 14-24 and at Concord Pacific Place in Vancouver from May 28-31, followed by the dates in Cloverdale.

Tickets went on sale earlier this month at rcictickets.ca/Surrey.



tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com

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Tom Zillich

About the Author: Tom Zillich

I cover entertainment, sports and news stories for the Surrey Now-Leader, where I've worked for more than half of my 30-plus years in the newspaper business.
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