A little bit of rain never stopped a show that must go on.
Historic wagons, clowns, horses and marching bands comprised most of the Big Top Parade’s units, along with local politicians and men driving inside of large, motorized bicycle wheels. They all smiled and waved enthusiastically as the rain fell harder as the procession made its way through downtown Baraboo, Wisconsin.
People in costume wave to the attendees of Baraboo’s Big Top Parade on Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Baraboo, Wis. (Angela Major/WPR)
Fans from all over the country came to this renowned former home of the Ringling brothers. The week’s festivities included the 65th Big Top Parade, the 5th annual Circus Fans Association of America convention, and the Central States Circus Soiree.
The parade dates back to 1963 in Milwaukee, and began as a fundraiser for Circus World Museum. It jumped between Milwaukee, Baraboo, and Chicago for years but has been the biggest annual event in Baraboo for a decade. The local Chamber of Commerce estimated 15,000 to 17,000 people attended this year, despite a forecast of rain all morning.
An attendee watches Baraboo’s Big Top Parade while wearing a clown nose Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Baraboo, Wis. (Angela Major/WPR)
“There are so many guests here for the parade and people from everywhere, from Minnesota, from Texas, from Las Vegas, everywhere for the parade,” said Charlene Flygt, president of the board of the Al Ringling Theatre.
Baraboo resident Reed Andrew said he used to be a parade sponsor. He would drive his old pickup truck with kids in the back, including one in a penguin suit advertising his froyo shop.
This year, he was watching his daughter play trombone with the Baraboo High School marching band.
“She had three older brothers that played trombone and she is the first one to have the guts to put on the clown costume to march in the circus parade. The older boys would only do homecoming and other other things,” Andrew said. “So we’re proud that we have a child that finally looks like a clown (in) downtown Baraboo.”
A clown band passes by during Baraboo’s Big Top Parade on Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Baraboo, Wis. (Angela Major/WPR)
Andrew Halbach also grew up in Baraboo and has a long history with the parade.
“I was in the first circus parade that ever happened in Milwaukee. And all the time in junior high and high school, I marched in the band that led that parade,” he said. “So I had to be here. I brought my good friend here along with, ’cause she’s never been here, and I thought, you can’t not get to a circus parade.”
Band members play for attendees of Baraboo’s Big Top Parade on Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Baraboo, Wis. (Angela Major/WPR)
Devoted circus fans, some who work as professional clowns, traveled much farther.
Regina Wollrabe came from Milwaukie, Oregon, where she performs as Cha Cha The Clown.
“I feel like I left my world and I’m just immersed in circus,” Wollrabe said. “I just love performing arts in general, but the circus, there’s just something about it that gets me so excited. Like, the child in me comes out.”
She’s been a clown for 35 years. Her oldest son was in Ringling Bros. Barnum and Bailey’s red unit for three years.
A float passes by as a part of Baraboo’s Big Top Parade on Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Baraboo, Wis. (Angela Major/WPR)
More than a hundred people paid to attend the circus fans convention, according to a post from Baraboo-based traveling ringmaster Timothy Tegge.
“We had 119 paid registrants from as far Northwest as Tacoma, WA, to as far Southeast as Sarasota, FL, and even a neighbor from over the Canadian border, to boot! They traveled by air, rail, and overland to get to Baraboo to join in celebrating all things circus,” Tegge wrote.
A cyclist greets attendees during Baraboo’s Big Top Parade on Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Baraboo, Wis. (Angela Major/WPR)
Others came from neighboring states. Al and Sandy Anderson traveled from the Chicago suburbs, a tradition Sandy has upheld every summer for 65 years.
“My grandfather was vice president of US Tent and Awning, so he worked with the Ringlings from the forties and fifties, and we came up to Baraboo every summer,” she said.
“It’s always been a second home to us, and the circus has always been special. We had a tent set up in our backyard as kids, and as a coincidence, my son-in-law’s grandparents also were circus performers in Cuba. So our grandchildren have circus roots on both sides, so we just wanted to come and honor that today,” she said.
A bicyclist performs tricks during Baraboo’s Big Top Parade on Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Baraboo, Wis. (Angela Major/WPR)
Al Anderson agreed.
“Circus feels like a, just such an agreeable way to put aside stuff that we’re concerned about otherwise,” he said. “You can just forget all that for a little while. Smile, laugh.”
A car with poodles is driven in the Baraboo’s Big Top Parade on Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Baraboo, Wis. (Angela Major/WPR)
