Circus Vargas

This is no Cirque Du Soleil Vegas show… But I paid for a half priced bleacher seat at $ 13, not $ 100 for a Las Vegas show. The audience was mostly full of children with their parents, the acts were tame, nothing too scary, but still entertaining.
The highlights to me were: the trampoline tricks (they flew pretty darn high and landed on ledges, jumped off a wall to get back down), the 2 guys running inside, outside and on top of the spinning wheel, and the near finale with 2 motorcycle riders in a cage that managed to ride in a circle without hitting each other.
Yes, snow cones are $ 8 each… So don’t buy one. (The poor dad in front of me shelled out for all 4 of his children). Parking right outside is $ 5 cash, but I chose to park at Madonna Inn and walk up. No alcohol sold at the circus itself, so visit the Madonna Inn bar first if you need an adult beverage. Also, no real bathrooms… Only porta potties, so go before you get there…

The first thirty minutes of the show had me wondering if I had just wasted $ 75… There were «crowd activities» that they started with, the limbo, balancing long feathers, etc. that seemed like time filler. Thirty long minutes… And then they started the real show, and it was very entertaining!
For some reason whenever I think of the circus, I think of abused animals, although that probably disappeared a long time ago. What you get now are acrobatics and stunts paired with lovely music and entertaining performers.
When the show first started, the place was barely half full, strange I’d think for a Saturday night. It was about ¾ full by the time the show was in full swing. Personally, i’d stick with bleacher seating (the cheapest) as even the last bleacher benches are close enough to see everything without straining your eyes. Maybe fifty feet from the edge of the ring.
Someone cruises around with a camera during the show and will take group/​family photos that they’ll sell you for $ 10 inserted into a paper/​cardboard frame.
They have a side area off of where the concession booths are for restrooms (port-​a-​potties), complete with washing stations, and there is a small table set up for baby changing with a pump bottle of hand sanitizer for when you’re done.
My only gripe was the concession worker was probably the slowest moving person I’d ever encountered.
Bring a lot of money if you’re going to get stuff there. A snow cone in a plastic LED-​lit cup costs $ 8. Cotton candy is $ 5, yadda yadda yadda. You can, if course bring your own snacks and stuff I’d assume. No one checked anything except for our tickets.
They encourage photos and videos, which is great since you don’t have to worry about psycho ushers trying to keep you down :)
Enjoy the show!

We got free tickets for the whole family through Big Brothers Big sisters of San Luis Obispo otherwise the cost would have been prohibitive. Not to mention the $ 8 shaved ice and all the glowing swords they constantly walk around trying to sell you.
They did a pre-​show where all the kids from the audience got in the ring and did hula hoops and balancing tricks.
Last time we went they had a family who rode motor cycles and did amazing tricks in a giant cage. That appears to have been replaced by «magic» act. As an adult the act is totally lame, if you don’t sit right in front where the main entrance is than you get the side view, which they took absolutely no care to make sure saw what the tricks were even about. Otherwise he basically covered each trick up with large scarfs and did them behind curtains. The kids liked it but otherwise… The only good «magic» act was the «quick change», where they dance around the stage, and change their outfits at a ridiculous rate.
The kids totally loved it. The husband and I enjoyed it. As long as we can get in free or very reduced we will come back again, otherwise they’ll have to switch things up to make it worth it.

I saw the pink tent from the highway and search on Google to check what it was. We look for the show times and went for the 1pm show. I initially felt the ticket was expensive, as the lowest cost was $ 25. Since it was not crowded we were able to were able to get a got view. If there is lot of crowd then I would recommend the more expensive seating as they are closer to the stage and also have more room for you to sit. This is a 90min show with 10min break at 50min, i did not know the length of the show before I entered, the price was worth it.

It truly is a magical thing to see a century-​old tradition of a real traveling circus kept alive by this troupe of entertainers — some 6^th and 7^th generation circus performers — who are all working together, some performing in the ring, some performing outside it working the rigging or making scene changes, but all focused on delivering a show to be enjoyed by everyone, without CGI or bad language or stuff you have to cover your kids eyes.
My wife and I attended last year, and this year attended again, bringing our son to his first circus. The performers are all warm-​hearted and real people, and it was a kick when we realized the guy who sold us a toy outside the ring was their star trapeze man, pulling off a triple somersault.
The performers made themselves available after the show to sign autographs and talk about the show, and they did 3 shows that day! Honestly I cannot think of a better way to spend an afternoon than under the big top with my family and this traveling band of gifted and giving performers.