Great Benjamins Circus draws crowds in Moncton

It was nearly a full house under the Great Benjamins Circus’ big blue tent Sunday afternoon for the second last performance in Moncton, N.B., for this summer.

“We’ve been here since Thursday and we have an incredible lineup this year,” said director of operations and performer, Eva Rodriguez.

“We have globe of death with the motorcycles, we have aerialists, jugglers, clowns, we have the great American cyclone, the Russian swing, just a million other things going on.”

The 90-minute show brought an array of performances and activities including face painting for visitors.

“I’ve never been to the circus before,” said Adalynn Hoelzlui who was there with her entire family.

The group is based out of Dallas, Texas, but spends their time touring around the world to share their talents and passion with different communities.

“We all love what we do and we love sharing that with the communities that we’re in,” said Rodriguez.

“The Maritimes are beautiful. It is gorgeous here, just stunning and everyone is so sweet. We’re always so warmly welcomed here, it’s incredible. We just love it.”

She says the show is designed with the entire family in mind and is entertaining for all ages.

Eva Rodriguez showing her aerial skills. (Alana Pickrell/CTV News)

“It’s my birthday weekend and I wanted to do something fun that included my god daughter and I thought this would be a great event,” said Whitney Benjamin.

She said it was the first time for both of them to see a circus and she hopes it ended up being a core memory.

Tickets are available for a discount if bought during the pre-sale, but can also be purchased at the door if the show isn’t sold out.

Children under three get in for free.

“The main reason [we came] is we saw it online. She was very excited when she saw the pictures and videos online, she was like ‘daddy I want to go to the circus’ and I was like ‘okay let’s do it,” said Mikhail Miller, who’s daughter is almost four-years-old.

“I think she’s having a great time. She’s been clapping and dancing all the way, so it’s a grand time,” he added.

While the show had a variety of acts, there was one specific act that seemed to stand out above the rest.

“The globe of death act is definitely a crowd pleaser and more recently, since we’ve added the great American cyclone, that one is also a very big crowd pleaser. All the motorcycle acts basically,” said Rodriguez.

Cecily Broderick said she was most looking forward to seeing the motorbikes as well.

“I saw all the bikes on the tickets and it looked super cool and I’ve never been to a circus before,” she said.

Adding, “motorbikes are pretty cool, like the way they move around and they’re really fast and they can do lots of cool tricks.”

A balancing act that was apart of the big performance at the Great Benjamins Circus in Moncton, N.B. (Alana Pickrell/CTV News)

The Great Benjamins Circus has one more stop in the Maritimes before continuing its Canadian Tour until the end of August.

Tickets are still available for its Saint John Show July 25-28. 

“We’re just hoping that, you know, it’s a great time for your family, just a good experience all together, something fun to do, a little break from the week,” said Rodriguez.

Click here for a photo gallery of the Great Benjamins Circus' performance in Moncton.

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