Tag Archives: circus

Entertainment, Life in the Capital, The Daily Feed, The District
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Ringling Bros. Is Fully Charged In DC

Photo courtesy of mosley.brian
2012 Elephant Parade – Capitol Fun – 03-13-12
courtesy of mosley.brian

If you didn’t realize from the giant Elephant Parade last week, the circus is in town. Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey’s Fully Charged Tour spent the weekend in Chinatown for a slate of shows at the Verizon Center. The circus will continue in Baltimore for the rest of the month and then head to Fairfax for a run of performances.

Ringling Bros.’ return to the DC-area wasn’t welcomed by all. PETA asked Mayor Gray to investigate claims of animal abuse and protesters were out in force outside the Verizon Center urging families not to see The Greatest Show on Earth. PETA has also recently released a new video starring Alec Baldwin pleading for a boycott of animal-featured circuses.

Regardless of the controversy, the show is a spectacle beyond any other where the best moments are found sans elephants, tigers, or other animals. An overwhelming mixture of human feats will surely draw the attention of any young child.

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The Daily Feed
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2012 DC Pachyderm Parade

Photo courtesy of vpickering
Circus Parade
courtesy of vpickering

The circus is back in town! In case you’ve missed the advertising, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus will be performing at the Verizon Center March 15th to the 18th. Every year Ringling Bros. comes into town, they parade their elephants from the railroad south of the Capitol Building to the Verizon Center. Dubbed the Pachyderm Parade, it’s always a cool time to see a bunch of elephants walk through the middle of downtown DC.

This year the parade is Tuesday March 13th. They’re doing something different by parading the pachyderms through downtown at night, starting around 8pm. Well worth taking the time to see; here’s a link to the parade route. And there are a bunch of restaurants and bars in Chinatown and Penn Quarter doing specials; called Clown Around Downtown Happy Hour, it makes another good reason to come out and enjoy the sight.

And if you’re interested, I’m organizing a meetup of photographers through my DC Social group on Flickr. If you want to go running around with a bunch of photogs, you’re welcome to join us; all skill levels are welcome, including non-photo people. And if you do take pics, be sure to tag your shots with “2012 Pachyderm Parade” and I’ll do a recap for Thursday.

The Daily Feed
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The Greatest Show on Earth Makes its Way to the District


‘Elephant with Green Hat’
courtesy of ‘Chris Rief aka Spodie Odie’

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls…it’s that time of year again! Who doesn’t love the circus? The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey are coming to town next week, complete with a grand entrance and all. The circus will kick off the festivities with its annual elephant parade to Capitol Hill.

Starting at Virginia Avenue SE and ending at the Verizon Center, the parade is set to start at 1pm on March 16th. This year’s special guests appearing in the parade are the Washington Nationals Presidents. So grab the kiddies and catch the show! It starts March 18th at the Verizon Center.

The Features, Weekend Flashback
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Weekend Flashback: 3/20 – 3/22/09

Photo courtesy of quinnums
They make a big deal about the cherry blossoms and spring here in DC, courtesy of quinnums

In case you had no doubt, spring is finally here in DC. Hope you all were able to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather and the end of winter’s grasp. From the photos I saw in Flickr, there was a lot of hustle and bustle in the area, sampling everything from concerts to the circus to museums to the opening buds of the cherry blossoms.

Fair warning: we’ll be having a lot of cherry blossom photos over the next few weeks, since it is arguably one of the best times to photograph DC. And it never gets old.

Meantimes, enjoy the sampling of shots from our area photogs from this past weekend! Continue reading →

Fun & Games, People
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He Loves DC: Crickett The Clown

Photo courtesy of
‘Just hanging out’
courtesy of ‘afagen’

As many of us are aware after the parade yesterday, the circus is in town! I had a chance to catch up with one of the clowns in the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus, Crickett. Crickett hails from the DC area, and I was able to  talk to him all about what it’s like to be a clown, what he misses about DC, and even about that mysterious bearded lady…

Katie: Tell us how you and DC intersect, how long you lived here, what your early memories are?

Crickett: I moved to the DC metro area when I was in 10th grade from New York and simply fell in love with it since I got here. Over more than a decade, I have lived here off and on while working and studying. Many of my early memories consist of taking the metro into the city and riding the trains with friends and just hanging out and seeing all the free sites.

Any favorite places you miss?

Of course! After I have lived/ played/ entertained (I hesitate, for obvious reasons, to call what I do work) in large arenas, such as Verizon, I enjoy being entertained as opposed to doing it myself. The Palace of Wonders is my favorite place to go in DC. It’s a tiny little club that hosts regular nightly entertainment, both amateur and professional in vaudeville, burlesque, comedy, variety and such. One of my favorite groups, the Lucky Daredevil Thrill Show performs there regularly. It’s a great place to meet up and coming performers, relax, or see weird sideshow ephemera such as Fiji mermaids, swords, and other oddities. Other than that, I love the Smithsonian and the masses of other free museums DC has to offer, especially the Air and Space Museum or the Zoo

Name the best part of DC, in your opinion?

The cherry blossom trees when they’re out. On a sunny spring day, there is no better place to be or better company to have than the cherry blossoms.

How did you wind up a clown?

While I was attending University in Newport News, VA, I happened upon a now-defunct traveling sideshow. It was then I realized I could act outrageous, tour, color my hair, wear makeup, and have fun touring without being a rock star (or a drag queen for that matter). This appealed to me because I can’t keep a beat to save my life!

More on Crickett’s career as a clown, and where you’ll be able to find him while he’s in town after the jump. Continue reading →