(Seguin) — Three rings of fun will return to Seguin as it welcomes the Carden International Circus. Circus guests, the next two nights, will be treated to a full evening of music, magic and up-close
encounters with live animals.
Among those excited to take on tonight’s show is Brett Carden, one of the owners and producers of the circus. Carden says after having to take a year off due to the pandemic, performers and animals are thrilled to be back under the big top. He says it was just a couple of weeks ago that the the Carden Circus opened back up for business.
“It’s been exciting. I mean we went out there and we didn’t know what we were getting into, right? We didn’t know if people would show up, scared of the virus but man, they’ve really showed up — thousands and thousands of people have showed up to see the show. It’s like they really appreciate us more now than they did before. So, people are really enjoying the show I think because they are really tired of
being hampered up and tied up and not being able to go where they want to go. So, it seems like they’ve enjoyed the show more now than they ever have before,” said Carden.
Carden says with that much time off, performers have returned with even more energy and exciting thrills.
“We got tigers. We got elephants. We’ve got dogs. We’ve got acrobats that fly through the air. We’ve got the human canon ball. We’ve got the Globe of Death with the motorcycles inside the globe. It’s very family friendly. Our crowds have been unbelievable,” said Carden.
Carden says families who want the full experience of the circus are especially encouraged to arrive early.
“If they come an hour before, we are going to have elephant rides, pony rides, people can get their faces painted, moon bounces. People can actually go inside the Globe of Death and take pictures on top of
a motorcycle. So, there’s lots of stuff to do before and at intermission time,” said Carden.
Concerns over the care of circus animals was also recently publicly made from PETA which stands for People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals. Among the allegations by the animal rights group was that the animals used in the shows were not well taken care of. Carden says that claim couldn’t be farther from the truth. He says the animals are and have always been a top priority.
“Our animals are our family. They get the best of hay, the best of grain, the best of feed, the best of veterinary care that they can get. We have elephants all the way up into their 60s. We take care of
our elephants. In the wild, usually elephants don’t live any longer than 30 years but with us, they get the best of everything and they are family for us and we are not going to take our animals that are worth a lot of money to us and very valuable and are family and mistreat them. That’s just not something we do. We’ve been in business a long time. We get inspected all the time from the USDA. We have our license every year. We get permitted every year. We have to get it renewed and we love our animals,” said Carden.
In response to PETA’s allegations and to enforce its own policies against animal cruelty, the city of Seguin has also committed to visiting the circus and evaluating the health conditions around its animals.
Although the city has no current concerns with the Carden Circus, Seguin Animal Services officers will still be reviewing its standards for this and other circus companies that perform in Seguin. City officials say it’s more a preventive step to help the enforcement of city ordinance.
The circus is set to perform tonight and Wednesday. Showtimes are at 6:30 p.m. today and Wednesday. Pre-sale special tickets are limited to the first 100 general admission sales and can be purchased online at tickets.spectacularcircus.com.
If you would prefer not to buy online, you may purchase tickets at the show’s on-site box office one the hour before each performance. The big tent will be located in the Seguin Events Complex rodeo arena parking lot located at 950 S. Austin St. A special coupon is also available in today’s Seguin Daily News.