Circus fun at Skylands Stadium

AUGUSTA — Hundreds of Sussex County families streamed into Skylands Stadium this weekend to see the Circus Maximus All-American Thrill Show and Commerford Educational Petting Zoo presented by Toyota World of Newton.

Clear skies and a beaming sun held through all three days of the show, which was largely attended by local residents and families guiding around flocks of kids.

Attending the show with her friends was 17-year old Becca Andrews, from Newton, who said, "We weren’t planning on coming at first. We just found out about the show a couple of hours ago, and we figured that the weather was so beautiful we just had to come.”

The circus acts started at 7 p.m., but the gates opened at half past five, allowing showgoers the opportunity to see the petting zoo, which offered elephant, horse and camel rides.

Rosalind Hershaw of Hopatcong, while watching her grandchildren Jamie, 9, and Shannon, 8, ride an elephant said, ”With school coming to an end and now that the kids are going to be around soon, I thought, why not bring them out and get a start on summer?”

The circus show included daredevil acts featuring trapeze artists, a man performing balancing tricks on the high-wire, and aerialists swinging by their necks from ropes while spun in circles by a motorcyclist.

There were crowd-pleasing feats of skill involving acrobats and jugglers. The circus featured performing poodles, horsemanship tricks, and a particularly clever clown who got the crowd going by taking volunteers from the audience and performing comedic musical numbers with them.

The entertainment lasted about an hour and a half and ended just as the sun began to fade, with a climactic finish by the troupe’s Sky Cycles.