Cirque Italia: Traveling Water Circus

Cirque Italia: Traveling Water Circus has finally found its way to Baton Rouge Louisiana! Cirque Italia is an amazing traveling circus which features never-seen-before acts including acrobatics, dance, contortion, and so much more! Performers from around the world come together and perform their acts in select cities  nationwide, and we were lucky to attend one of their breathtaking shows!

We received passes to the Saturday show at 4:30. Since the circus was in the mall parking lot, we were easily able to find a parking spot and we didn’t have to pay to park. The ticket booth was very easy to find (to the right of the tent) and the lines weren’t very long. We were able to redeem our tickets within five minutes of arriving. Before entering the big top, there was a smaller tent with refreshments. I was very impressed with the food and snack selection. The choices of hot dogs, funnel cakes, corn dogs, and nachos really gave it an authentic carnival feel. Surprisingly, the lines were not very long and we were able to get our food and drinks fairly quickly.

In the same tent as refreshments, Cirque Italia offered a face painting booth as well as tons of souvenirs. There were character options as well as the basic carnival souvenirs such as light up wands, books, and bubble guns. We ended up selecting two light up fans for the kids. Compared so similar live action shows, I found that Cirque Italia was MUCH cheaper. We spent under $50 on food, drinks, and souvenirs for all four of us. The only line I found to be “too long” was the face painting line and that was simply because entire families were waiting to get done.

Once we got our goodies, we made our way to our seats. Unlike regular a regular circus, Cirque Italia has assigned seating. I found this much more convenient than arriving early and snagging whatever seats are available.  The ushers at the front of the tent quickly helped us find our seats. As I looked around, I realized that everyone in the tent had fairly decent seats. The way the seats and the stage are set up, everyone is able to get a great view.

We noticed immediately that it was HOT under the big tent. Louisiana is always hot, so the inside of the tent had us sweating. My suggestion would be to dress according to the weather in your town. If it is hot that day, wear shorts. If it is cold, wear pants. Since the tent is fairly closed with no air conditioning, the temperature inside reflects the temperature outside.

Once the show started, we were greeted by a nice man who reminded me a lot of a clown. He grabbed people out of the audience and performed extremely silly acts in between set changes. The kids were so excited to get involved and run around the stage!  The first act we watched was a quick BMX routine. I do wish this routine would have been a bit longer, however it was a great opening act. After the BMX routine was over, we were quickly greeted by two SUPER realistic dinosaurs. Some of the children were a bit scared,  however they did a very great job of calming everyone down and breaking the ice with some funny little tricks. My daughter was extremely pleased with this part and talked about it well after they left the stage. My kids also loved the Bubble Princess who came on stage directly after. She performed a beautiful bubble routine and even pulled a few kids out of the stands to help! 

After the first few little performances, Cirque Italia performed a large number of acrobatic routines. These included a super cool performance with two lovely mermaids. These acrobatic acts were my personal favorite. Every acrobatic act had their own theme and it didn’t feel repetitive.  There was also wonderful contortionist who had all of us in complete shock! I have no idea how she could twist her body around like that!

For intermission, the kids were invited on stage to take photos with the dinosaur and the mermaid. Of course we couldn’t pass this up, and got our picture taken with Melody the Mermaid ($10 and picked up after the show).  After intermission, the remainder of the show went by fairly quickly ending with a high-speed skating act.

Overall, Cirque Italia was breathtaking.  All of the acts were absolutely amazing and kept us on the edge of our seats! My daughter was almost in tears when the last act came on the stage because she wasn’t ready for it to end. This performance is perfect for children of all ages. Everything was very family-friendly.  We are so excited to see if they return to Baton Rouge again in the future!

Visit the Cirque Italia Website

*Cirque Italia can be found on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Google+, and YouTube. For showtimes and ticket information, please visit the Cirque Italia website. Tickets are available and start at $25. Tickets can be purchased on the Cirque Italia website or by phone (941-704-8572). Remaining showtimes for Baton Rouge Louisiana include Sunday April 23rd at 1:30pm and 4:30pm. Cirque Italia will be visiting Alexandria Louisiana on April 27th- April 30th as well as Shreveport Louisiana on May 4th-May 7. To see if Cirque Italia is coming to a city near you, check out their tour schedule.*

This review was brought to you courtesy of Cirque Italia. I received complimentary tickets to the show in return for this review. 

*I received the products mentioned above for free in return for an unbiased review. I only review and recommend products or services that I have used personally. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255: “Guides concerning the use of endorsements and testimonials in advertising”.  The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own.*