If you picture a traditional circus show, one of the first things that come to mind is animal performers. The traditional circus involves acts involving exotic animals such as lions and elephants. These acts might seem like harmless fun summer family activities on the surface, but things aren’t quite that simple.
At the RCIC, we are well aware that the public opinion on animal acts has shifted. Among other reasons, the RCIC has not used exotic animal performers in our shows for the last 3 years.
You may have some questions about how this has changed our show. Can a traditional family circus run without animal performers at all? We believe the answer is yes. Our recent successes and post-show surveys back this up. Our show has garnered so much support that we have been able to expand and even go international.
Here are a few things we would like our audience to know about how our show has changed, and what fun summer family activities we still offer.
1. Why Not Animal Performers?
In the past, many circuses used exotic animal performers as some of their key acts. While that was acceptable then, times have changed. While we had always employed the utmost care and sensitivity toward any animal being used in the circus, we understood that the general public was uncomfortable with the use of animals and we listened.
Accordingly, the Royal Canadian Circus has embraced this idea and has fully dropped the concept of exotic animal performers in all of our acts. We hope to set an example that other circuses and shows may follow to keep all of our entertainment fun, clean, and ethical.
2. Public Opinion and How It Affects Us
When it comes to a small entertainment business like our family circus, our relationship with the public is crucial to our success. On top of the public viewing animal circus acts in a negative light, we decided in 2017 to remove all exotic animals from the circus acts.
At the RCIC, we take post-show surveys to tell us what the audience is thinking. In our 2016 survey, the last year we used any exotic animal performers, our surveys showed that an overwhelming 94% of our customers would give us their support with no animal performers.
We are pleased to advise that since we’ve dropped animal acts, our admissions have broken new records each year. This means that abandoning these types of acts in favor of more fun summer family activities is both a good ethical and business decision.
3. Our Replacement Acts
As a family circus, we hold long shows with plenty of time to fill with acts. With no animal acts in RCIC, what’s next for our circus? We’ve spent a long time planning and developing performances that fill the gap left by the removal of animal acts that have enhanced the show according to our public opinion surveys.
Our goal is to move towards fun summer family activities such as acrobatic and thrill acts. We want to showcase a variety of cultures from all over the world, all coming together in our circus to provide our audience with an unforgettable experience.
Fun Summer Family Activities | Royal Canadian International Circus | Ontario
If you’re looking for a fun summer family activity for you and your kids, there is no topping a circus for authenticity and thrills. At the Royal Canadian International Circus, we believe in providing an ethical show that everyone can enjoy. That’s why none of our acts use animals or performers.
We work hard to bring you acts that you love so that we can keep the long-lived tradition of the family circus alive even as we face new challenges. We work with various charities to give back to the communities that help support our circus. If you’re interested in learning more, please contact us today.
● Public opinion has shifted away from exotic animal acts in circus shows.
● We try to keep ahead of public opinion and have dropped all exotic animal acts since the start of 2017.
● At RCIC, you can enjoy guilt-free fun summer family activities without having to worry about any animal being hurt behind the scenes.
