September 2010 in Review

September is a crazy month, balancing the beginning of the new school year with a busy event schedule is always a challenge, but a welcome challenge. This month we have seen more unseasonably warm weather as well as soaking rain storms, with the occasional fall day thrown in just for kicks.

Labor Day weekend is one of the busiest of the year for fairs and festivals. The Amazing Anastasini's continued their run at the Champlain Valley Fair under the big top as well as the Nerger's Lion & Tiger Show.

Labor Day weekend events typically open on Friday which saw some inclement weather in New England, but at least if the rain has to fall let it be on a weekday. The Spencer Fair in Spencer, Massachusetts opened on Friday with Vicenta Page's Royal White Bengal Tigers as well as a return of the Flying Pages trapeze act. In addition to bringing talent to the Spencer Fair we also create and place the advertising for this event which is the largest event of the year in Worcester County. The Fair Committee in Spencer is made up of all volunteers and they truly come together to put on a really great fair with every element a fair should have. The motor sports are always the most popular events at the fair but Spencer also has a great array of entertainment for young children, a tremendously popular Karaoke contest, great 4H animals and so much more. This year the fair was fortunate enough to receive a grant to cover some improvements to the fairgrounds such as more grandstand seating and a new roof for the exhibit hall.

On Sunday we paid a visit to the Three County Fair where Adam & Elaine Burck were presenting their tiger show which features 3 golden tigers and 3 white tigers including the magnificent Spartacus probably the largest white tiger I have ever seen. Over the summer Adam & Elaine welcomed to their family a litter of cubs, 2 white & 2 golden. Their names as Zeus, Zena, Isis & Ursula. This Northampton facility has really come a long way since the end of horse racing some years ago. The fair is growing in leaps and bounds and has also received a grant to remove and rebuild the stables and well as add an indoor horse show arena and there is a long term plan in place for many more exciting changes to the fairgrounds. Our heartfelt congratulations to Bruce Shallcross and his staff at the Three County Fairgrounds.

The second weekend of September seems to come so quickly, Labor Day comes and goes and boom we're into the second weekend in a flash. The Flying Wallendas made a return engagement for Atlantic Music Productions at the Franklin County Fair in Greenfield, MA.

We also had an open air showing of the Amazing Anastasini Circus in Westport, NY on September 10th to the 12th. The show played a rather last minute engagement to tie together an upcoming date in Pennsylvania with their appearance in Vermont. For a last minute appearance they had a respectable attendance and made some good connections with organizations in neighboring communities.

On Sunday the 12th the Big O opened in Oxford, Maine. The fair also known as the Oxford County Fair had a special Community Day event and then reopened for the remainder of the Fair run on Wednesday the 15th through Saturday the 18th. We visited the fair on Wednesday where the Flying Pages made a return appearance and new for 2010 was the Cannon Lady. Jennifer Smith Schneider has played in every state in the US, Canada and seven other countries.

On Friday night the 17th we went to Guilford for the premier of the latest addition of the Flying Wallendas Super Circus with special guests the Nerger's Lion & Tiger Show. This combined show is a fantastic attraction with the Flying Wallendas performing their famous pyramids over the cage of waiting tiger and Caesar the male African Lion down below. The crowds were terrific for this spectacle and we expect that this combined show will become a popular attraction in the years to come.

The Amazing Anastasini's brought their big top circus to Moscow,PA on September 16 to the 19th as a benefit for the Pocono Equestrian Center, a therapeutic riding program for special needs children as well as a horse rescue. The turnout was a little disappointing the Scranton area has always done well for family entertainment. The Anastasini's will look into making some changes before deciding whether or not to return.

The final weekend of September was a bit quieter with a corporate event in central Massachusetts. The event had a Renaissance theme and we had the ever popular Boris the Stilt-walker appear with his "King Richard" costume as well as his "Wizard" Costume. Boris has over 25 costumes to suit nearly any occasion. Also coming in from Ohio for the event was the enchanting "Dragon Scales & Faerie Tales" with the incredible "Enchanted Wagon" strolling act. Also coming in from Ohio was the jousting team of Hole in the Wall Farm. Jousting is a medieval form of martial arts that includes tournament style games on horse back, lance passes, as well as ground combat with swords and daggers.

Time to move onward and upward into the month of October. The events are beginning to wind down here in New England but booking for 2011 is really starting to pickup. Don't hesitate to call as we are starting to put together some routes for many of the acts not only here in New England but across the country. Now is a great time to explore entertainment options for the upcoming season.

September 2009 in Review

September has come and gone already. . . its been a whirlwind of events from coast to coast. We began September as we left off in August at the Champlain Valley Fair. The CVE as its known had a nice run of weather after a showery opening day. The fair was thrilled with both the Nerger's Tigers as well as the Anastasini Family Circus under the Big Top. A favorite of fair-goers at CVE was 3.5 month old Bengal Tiger Mazumi.

On Friday the 4th the Spencer Fair opened in Spencer, Massachusetts. Spencer is the quintessential New England Fair with a nice stage, grandstand area where the Demolition Derby rules, pulling events, family entertainment and tons of agriculture.

We have been working on advertising the fair for several years now buying their ads as well as producing the television, radio and print advertising. This years advertising them is "You'll Flip for the 121st Spencer Fair" to fit this years entertainment that featured an FMX Motorcycle show as well as the High Flying Pages trapeze act.

The following weekend we worked with Atlantic Music Productions to bring the Flying Wallendas to their first ever appearance at the Franklin County Fair in Greenfield, Massachusetts. The Wallendas were scheduled to play the fair Thursday through Saturday but after rainy weather modified some of the Wallendas show, Tino Wallenda generously offered the fair to stay an extra day (Sunday) to perform for the masses.

On Sunday the 13th we traveled up to Maine for the Oxford Fair where we had the High Flying Pages Trapeze family performing there for the first time ever. The Oxford Fair continues its growth, Suzanne Grover the fair manager their has done an amazing job over the past few years making upgrades to the fair including new buildings, bathrooms, betting parlors and adding days to the run to name a few. We were able to catch up with friends Stephanie and Jeff there who moved to Poland, Maine several years ago. It was their first visit to the Oxford Fair.

On the 19th Gordon attended the Massachusetts Agricultural Fair Association meeting which was held in the Massachusetts State Building on the grounds of the Big E on the second day of the Big E's run. We all took a ride out to visit the fair for the day, attendance that day was over 100,000 people. But it was especially nice to spend a little time with Mrs. Hanneford at the fair, whose show was looking great, not to be outdone by Mrs. Hanneford herself who celebrated a birthday at the fair, but she'd probably skin me if I told which one.

On Sunday the 20th we visited the Flying Wallenda's at the Guilford Fair in Connecticut. It was the 150th addition of the Guilford Fair to celebrate the Wallenda's put on a spectacular show featuring a Sky Walk between cranes by Tino over 100' long and 75' in the air. Also in the show were the Flying Cortez family and the Human Comet (JP's high fall on fire!).

Also on the 20th we had three acts booked into a corporate party held at Mount Wachusett. Western was the theme for the day, we had Tall Tex (Boris Koski on stilts), Cowboy Brian Dwyer also on stilts and the one and only Rattlesnake Dave Richardson and his West Texas Rattlesnake show. I hear all Dave's show had big crowds, people just love to be terrified by Dave's kids (the rattlesnakes).

The weekend of the 26th we had Dan Grady's Marionettes up at Mount Wachusett for their annual Kids Fest. This was a very nice event at the ski area with wonderful entertainment and samples for kids of all ages and their families. Saturday had big crowds during our visit, Sunday had some rain showers but Dan is so versatile he was able to modify his show and move from his outdoor stage (under a tent) to inside the ski lodge where everyone was able to stay nice and dry. Marionettes are really becoming a lost art, Dan's are among the best in the business, Dan had put a lot of work this spring into "renovating" some of his beloved marionettes which were created by Dan himself. Young children are just mystified by marionettes by they also go over well at arts festivals.

This year all of our acts have had to make the best of it at several events as we have had one wet summer which has continued into the fall! I have seen our acts go the extra mile this year to move shows inside or under cover or just get through it in adverse conditions all the credit goes to our amazing roster of acts who have sacrificed their comfort, their artistic integrity and sometimes their safety. The "Getting It Done" award goes to: Magically Medieval, the Flying Pages, the Flying Wallendas, the Nerger's Lion and Tigers and Dan Grady's Marionettes (I hope I didn't leave anyone out). The one good thing is audiences have been making the best of it and people as still coming out despite the weather, were all used to being a bit damp at this point.

On the 30th of September we had Johnny Gunn perform at Tommy T's club in Rancho Cordova California with special guest and his good friend Eddie Money. Johnny co-wrote many of Eddie's hits including Shakin', Johnny also played guitar on many of Eddie's albums.

September is also the month were we really get moving on booking for next season and this year has been very busy. Without giving anything away, I don't want to steal any one's thunder, I'll let the fairs and events make their big announcements, I can tell you what type of events are going to be "in" this year. We have had lots of requests for western events (back to celebrating the American heritage) both rodeos, bull riding and wild west shows. Animal acts are another very popular request as are tented circuses, music and aerial acts. Proposals are going out daily, contracts are coming in and there will be many, many repeat performances in 2010, which is already shaping up to be a very good and exciting year.