Big-top circus coming to Miller Park Thursday

The Culpepper & Merriweather Circus will make a return to Breckenridge’s Miller Park, following a two-year absence.

The circus partnered with the Breckenridge Rotary Club this year and will perform for the first time in Breckenridge since 2015, beginning with two shows at 5 and 7:30 p.m. Thursday night.

“The circus has been around since 1985. It started as a four-man circus, and they grew very rapidly after that. It’s been on the road every year since,” Culpepper & Merriweather Office Administrator Jim Royal said.

The event will be held in an old fashioned, big top tent, which Royal explained is beneficial for attending audiences.

“This is the best way to see a circus. It is designed to benefit the audience, that’s why it’s shaped the way it is. This is a one-ring circus format, and no one is very far from the ring, so you can actually see the expressions on the artists faces as they’re working, up close and personal,” Royal said.

Royal said Thursday night’s performance would include lions, tigers, performing horses and dogs, aerialists, acrobats, jugglers, and of course, a clown.

“It has all the ingredients that a traditional, good circus would have,” he said.

One hour before performances, an old-fashioned circus midway will be offered for activities such as face-painting, a small petting zoo, pony rides, a giant slide and bounce castle.

“It’s great entertainment for all ages, that’s the success of the circus is that it appeals to the littlest people right on to grandparents, great-grandparents,” Royal said. “It’s nice for people to get away from their heads down or looking at the screen of a television, and actually seeing difficult things being done right in front of their eyes. These aren’t computer graphics, these are real people doing those things.”

Print-out coloring sheet. Kids print and bring in colored sheet to compete for winning prizes- circus souvenirs from a novelty stand. Find sheet on Culpepper website.