Cole Bros. Circus visits Oceanside

That summertime tradition on Long Island – known the Cole Bros. Circus – sets up in Oceanside next week, Monday through Wednesday, July 25-27 at Firemen’s Memorial Field.
Its “Circus of the Stars” continues to hold true to an American tradition. Celebrating its 127th anniversary this year, Cole Bros. Circus is the last of the large traveling tent circuses.
Known as the “The World’s Largest Circus Under the Big Top,” the Cole Bros. Circus presents all the traditional circus acts – clowns, acrobats, aerialists, and animals – under its “Big Top” tent. That innovative Crimson and Gold Big Top measures 136 feet wide by 231 feet long.
W. W. Cole, who inaugurated the Cole Bros. Circus title in 1884, began his circus career in 1871, amassing fortune and fame by bringing to cities and villages the most astounding marvels of the day. Among the amazing attractions promoted by W. W. Cole, incandescent light –a single, glowing glass globe, powered by a steam engine – drew record crowds, with young and old alike filling Cole’s tent to witness the seemingly impossible invention. The brightly lit tent of Cole Bros. Circus of the Stars bears slight resemblance to W.W. Cole’s 19th century Big Top, but the tradition of watching what appears unbelievable happen right before your eyes remains at Cole Bros. Circus.
The astonishing feats performed by the Cole Bros. troupe start with the tent raising on opening day. Commencing before daybreak, the circus erects its massive Big Top, assembles some 2,000 seats, rigging and lights, and completes construction of its mobile circus city before noon.
The 2011 edition of the Cole Bros. Circus celebrates the many decades of circus history with a new look that sets the stage for the amazing animals, daring acrobatic tricks, and lovable clowns, among the many crowd-pleasing acts.