Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey

Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey is one of the most recognizable circus brands in American entertainment history. Its identity combines two major nineteenth-century touring circuses: the Barnum & Bailey Circus, founded by P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey, and the Ringling Bros. Circus, established by the Ringling brothers. The two businesses became associated through competition, ownership changes, and operational consolidation before being formally combined in 1919. The combined enterprise became famous for presenting a large-scale traveling spectacle built around acrobatics, aerial acts, animal performances, clowns, equestrian displays, theatrical production, and parade-like staging. The brand promoted itself as “The Greatest Show on Earth,” a phrase that became closely associated with American popular culture. Its shows operated in tents for much of their history and later used arenas and large civic venues, allowing the business to tour extensively across the United States. The circus’s development reflected broader changes in live entertainment. Early operations relied on rail transport, elaborate publicity, large performance staffs, and highly visible urban arrivals. During the twentieth century, the brand increasingly emphasized production scale, technical effects, precision choreography, and celebrity performers. In 1956, the organization ended its traditional big-top touring format for a period and shifted to arena-based presentation, a major operational decision associated with changing venue economics and competition from television and other entertainment forms. Feld Entertainment acquired the circus in 1967 from the American Broadcasting Company. Under Feld ownership, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey remained a major touring attraction and was marketed alongside the company’s other live-entertainment properties. The brand continued to feature animal acts, including elephants, for decades, but public attitudes toward the use of animals in entertainment changed significantly. Animal-welfare organizations criticized the treatment and transport of circus animals, while the company defended its care standards and educational role. Feld Entertainment retired the circus’s Asian elephant performances in 2016 after a long-running public controversy and associated legal and commercial pressures. The traditional circus closed in May 2017 after declining attendance, rising operating costs, and sustained criticism of animal performances. Feld Entertainment retained the intellectual property and announced plans to develop a new version of the brand without animal acts. In 2023, the company announced that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey would return as a contemporary touring circus, with a format centered on human performers, aerial and acrobatic acts, comedy, choreography, and large-scale production. The modern revival is positioned as a reimagining rather than a restoration of the pre-2017 show. The brand therefore spans two related identities: a historic American circus institution and a current Feld Entertainment live-production property.

The brand’s roots lie in two competing American circus traditions. P. T. Barnum, already famous as a showman and museum proprietor, joined with James Anthony Bailey to create a large touring circus that became known as Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth. The Ringling brothers—Gustav, Charles, Alfred, John, and Otto—formed their own circus in Wisconsin in 1884. Ringling Bros. developed rapidly through disciplined touring, strong publicity, and the efficient movement of performers, equipment, and animals by rail. The two organizations competed for audiences and routes during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Barnum & Bailey was acquired by the Ringling organization in 1907, although the properties continued to operate separately for a time. After additional consolidation, the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circuses were formally combined in 1919. The resulting enterprise became the dominant large-scale circus in the United States and adopted the “Greatest Show on Earth” identity for much of its subsequent history. The combined circus used railroads, large tented venues, extensive advertising, and a diverse sequence of acts to create a highly standardized touring product. Its program could include aerialists, trapeze performers, acrobats, clowns, equestrian acts, trained animals, sideshow-style attractions, and elaborate production numbers. The scale of the show was itself part of the proposition: the circus presented a temporary city of performers, animals, staff, equipment, concessions, and transport infrastructure. The organization changed substantially after the middle of the twentieth century. In 1956, it discontinued the traditional big-top format for a period and moved toward arena presentation. This enabled the company to perform in established venues and reduced some of the logistical challenges associated with erecting and moving a large tent, although the brand continued to use circus spectacle as its central identity. The transition also reflected the growing influence of television, automobiles, sports venues, and other forms of mass entertainment. In 1967, Irvin Feld and his partners acquired the circus from the American Broadcasting Company. Feld Entertainment later became the controlling corporate home of the property, with Kenneth Feld taking a leading role after Irvin Feld’s death. Under Feld ownership, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey remained a prominent American touring show and became part of a broader live-entertainment portfolio. Animal performances became the defining controversy of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. Animal-rights and animal-welfare groups argued that circus training, confinement, transport, and performance were incompatible with acceptable standards of animal care. The company disputed many of these criticisms and maintained that its animals received professional veterinary care and regulated treatment. Litigation, protests, regulatory scrutiny, and changing consumer sentiment contributed to the decision to retire elephant performances. The final elephant performances took place in 2016, ending one of the brand’s most recognizable traditions. The circus presented its final traditional performances in May 2017. Feld Entertainment cited declining attendance, rising production costs, and the commercial impact of the elephant controversy. The closure ended the long-running touring operation but did not eliminate the brand, trademarks, archives, or creative concepts. Feld Entertainment subsequently explored ways to return the property in a form that would not depend on animal acts. In 2022, Feld Entertainment announced plans for a new Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey production. The announced concept retained the brand’s emphasis on scale, spectacle, and touring while shifting the performance foundation to human acrobats, aerialists, stunt performers, comedians, dancers, and technical production. The revival represents a strategic attempt to preserve the cultural value of a historic entertainment name while adapting it to contemporary expectations about animal welfare and live-event production.

• 2022

  Feld announces a human-performance revival

  [4]Feld Entertainment announcement on the circus returnfeldentertainment.com

  Feld Entertainment announces plans to bring back the brand in a new format without animal acts.

• 2017

  Traditional touring circus closes

  [7]Traditional touring circus closesfeldentertainment.com

  The final Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey performances take place in May, ending the long-running traditional touring operation.

• 2016

  Elephant performances end

  [6]Elephant performances endfeldentertainment.com

  The circus ends its Asian elephant performances following years of public controversy and changing expectations concerning animal use in entertainment.

• 1967

  Feld acquires the circus

  [2]Feld Entertainment company historyfeldentertainment.com

  Irvin Feld and partners acquire Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey from the American Broadcasting Company.

• 1956

  The circus shifts away from the traditional big top

  [1]Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circusen.wikipedia.org

  The organization moves toward arena presentation, changing the logistics and venue strategy of the touring show.

• 1919

  The two circus operations are formally combined

  [1]Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circusen.wikipedia.org

  The Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus operations are combined, creating the brand commonly known as Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus.

• 1907

  Ringling interests acquire Barnum & Bailey

  [1]Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circusen.wikipedia.org

  The Ringling organization acquires the Barnum & Bailey circus, although the operations remain partly separate before later consolidation.

• 1887

  Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth emerges

  [5]Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth emergesen.wikipedia.org

  P. T. Barnum and James Anthony Bailey develop the large-scale circus enterprise that becomes the other principal predecessor of the brand.

• 1884

  Ringling Bros. Circus is established

  [1]Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circusen.wikipedia.org

  The Ringling brothers establish a touring circus in Wisconsin, beginning the lineage that later becomes part of the combined brand.

Mass-market, family-oriented live entertainment built around spectacle, theatrical production, circus skills, and touring scale. Historically positioned as the premier American circus and “The Greatest Show on Earth”; the current revival emphasizes human performers and contemporary production rather than animal acts.

• Live entertainment · 1919

  Historic touring circus

  The brand’s traditional product was a large traveling circus presented under a big top and, later, in arenas. Programs combined acrobatics, aerial performances, clowns, equestrian displays, animal acts, music, costumes, and theatrical production. The scale of the touring operation, including rail transport and extensive equipment, was a central part of its appeal.

• Live entertainment · 1956

  Arena spectacular

  From the mid-twentieth century onward, Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey increasingly used arenas and other fixed venues. This format preserved the brand’s sequence of circus acts and theatrical spectacle while adapting the production to sports and entertainment buildings, with reduced reliance on the traditional traveling tent.

• Live entertainment · 2022

  New Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus

  The announced revival is designed as a contemporary circus centered on human performers. Its intended components include aerialists, acrobats, stunt performers, comedians, dancers, choreography, special effects, and digital or technical production. The new format is explicitly differentiated from the earlier show by its absence of animal acts.

• 2014

  Animal-welfare controversy and litigation

  The circus faced sustained criticism from animal-rights organizations over the treatment, training, transport, and use of elephants and other animals. The dispute included protests, public campaigns, regulatory attention, and litigation involving the company’s animal-care practices and its critics.

  Source

Read more

• 2017The Greatest Show on Earth farewell campaign

  United States

  The final touring season used the historic “The Greatest Show on Earth” identity to communicate the closing of the traditional Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey operation and to encourage audiences to attend the last performances.

  Outcome. The campaign supported the final season before the circus closed in May 2017.

  Source

• 2022

  Develop an animal-free revivalProduct launch

  Background

  Feld Entertainment sought to reactivate a valuable historic brand while addressing the animal-welfare objections that had contributed to the earlier show’s decline.

  Action taken

  The company announced a new Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey production based on human circus skills, theatrical production, and technology, without animal acts.

  Aftermath

  The announcement repositioned the brand for a contemporary touring market while preserving its historic name and spectacle-based identity.

  Source

• 2017

  Close the traditional circusStrategy

  Background

  Feld Entertainment cited declining attendance, higher operating costs, and the commercial impact of the prolonged elephant controversy.

  Action taken

  The company ended the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey touring operation after its May 2017 performances.

  Aftermath

  The brand’s legacy assets and intellectual property remained with Feld Entertainment, which later developed plans for a new animal-free production.

  Source

• 2015

  Retire elephant performancesStrategy

  Background

  Public controversy, legal disputes, operational costs, and changing attitudes toward animals in entertainment affected the viability of the elephant program.

  Action taken

  Feld Entertainment announced that Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey would end its Asian elephant performances, with the final performances taking place in 2016.

  Aftermath

  The decision removed one of the circus’s most recognizable historic attractions but did not resolve the broader commercial pressures facing the touring operation.

  Source

• 1956

  Move toward arena presentationStrategy

  Background

  The traditional big-top model faced logistical demands and increasing competition from other mass-media and live-entertainment formats.

  Action taken

  The circus shifted away from its regular traditional tent format and developed arena-based presentations.

  Aftermath

  The change enabled performances in established venues and became an important part of the brand’s twentieth-century operating model.

  Source

1. 1Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circusen.wikipedia.org
2. 2Feld Entertainment company historyfeldentertainment.com
3. 3Feld Entertainment leadershipfeldentertainment.com
4. 4Feld Entertainment announcement on the circus returnfeldentertainment.com
5. 5Barnum & Bailey’s Greatest Show on Earth emergesen.wikipedia.org
6. 6Elephant performances endfeldentertainment.com
7. 7Traditional touring circus closesfeldentertainment.com
8. 8Retire elephant performancesfeldentertainment.com