Circuses do a vanishing act this year

The days of acrobats and ball-swinging elephants may soon be a thing of the past, with the city set to experience its first winter without any circus.

The days of acrobats and ball-swinging elephants may soon be a thing of the past, with the city set to experience its first winter without any circus.

There was a time when the on-set of winter would see circus companies camping in the city greens to entertain kids and adults in the afternoon. But this year, only a single circus company had sought permission from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation KMC for putting up tents, but they were denied permission due to late application.

8220;This year, only Ajanta circus had put in its application, but they wanted the Park Circus maidan, which unfortunately had already been booked by others. After we informed them of its unavailability they have not sought permission to use any other ground,8221; said Faiyaz Ahmed Khan, Member Mayor in Council, Parks and Gardens.

The Park Circus maidan will be playing host to a couple of fairs this December-January, including the festival of College of Textile Technology, Serampore. Last year the only circus that put up a performance in the city was Nataraj circus.

8220;Even three years ago there would be at least three to four applications requesting permission for pitching their tents, however things have really deteriorated. This year there are chances that there may not be any circus in the city. Most of the circus companies have their own agents in the city who do the booking but till now no agent has knocked our doors,8221; said Khan.

Officials feel that the lack of appeal, especially among the younger generations, has spelled doom for the circus shows. For the last few years, apart from a single company there were no other circus companies in the city. This year, even the Howrah maidan, which has been the circus venue traditionally, is empty. Abhijeet Gooyee, a Kolkata-based businessman said although he had been taken to the circus as a kid, his own children were not too fond of a visit to the circus. 8220;They would rather go to a multiplex or play games on a computer at home. Performances of monkeys or elephants are too old-fashioned for them,8221; he added.