Circus thrills despite setbacks

Ruapehu Bulletin, Volume 14, Issue 663, 19 November 1996, Page 1

Circus thrills despite setbacks

There is nothing quite like a circus coming to town and the Weber Brothers Circus over the weekend at Waiouru was no exception. Laser lights probed the night sky impressing locals and luring nearly 1000 people to the central site for what was promised inside. For two hours crowds were thrilled, amazed and tricked by a variety of magical and acrobatic acts that impressed even the second-time goer. After four performances at W aiouru the circus has now moved to Avalon Park in Lower Hutt.

Harry Weber told the Bulletin that hopefully tightrope walker Yibi Gomez would have recovered from his weekend fall during Saturday evening' s performance in time for opening night. Mr Gomez fell and dislocated his shoulder, consequently the tightrope act didn' t make it to the Sunday shows. The circus people also had trouble putting up the main tent and Friday night' s show had to be cancelled due to high winds. At 5am Saturday morning there was a lull in the wind and they whisked up the marquee, in the space of two hours. Turn to Page 2

Circus FROM PAGE 1 The ground was also very ' soft so precautions had to be taken, parking trucks on the tent lines as anchors, Mr Weber said. Patronage was about 50 per cent of expected numbers so next time the circus is in town there will probably only be two performances. Mr Weber said that the Australian-based troupe would probably tour New Zealand for another two years and present an entirely new programme.