Get Ready to Party! Ringling Bros. and Barnum and Bailey® returns in 2026 with NEW Show
Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey® is about to make history again when it debuts its new production of the “Greatest Show on Earth®” right here in Tampa Bay, kicking off its next ALL-NEW national tour at the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa, Jan. 2-4, 2026.
They’re debuting a NEW party theme and NEW awe-inspiring acts, featuring a cast of 64 performers from 13 countries. We got a SNEAK PEEK during rehearsals this week, and it's AWESOME, y'all! (Pictured above.)
And all of it has been taking shape in Tampa Bay at Feld Entertainment headquarters in Palmetto. This is where we sat down with Feld CEO and producer of the Barnum & Bailey Circus, Juliette Feld Grossman. We’re finding out more about what’s in store for guests at this year’s show, what it’s like to be part of this legacy, and how her own three kids influence the show.
But first…how to get Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus tickets
You can pick up tickets for the Benchmark Arena show through Ringling.com. There's a Cyber Week sale happening now with the code CYB35. Here's the best part: there are no bad seats, since this is a circus, no matter where you sit, you'll have a great view.
2026 Circus show dates and times:
- Friday, January 2, 2026: 7 pm
- Saturday, January 3, 2026: 11 am, 3 pm, 7 pm
- Sunday, January 4, 2026: 11 am and 3 pm
- Get your tickets here.
Now onto the interview with Juliette Feld Grossman about the 2026 Ringling circus!
TBPM: The last season was the big relaunch of the reimagined Ringling circus. How did it go?
JFG: It was fantastic. We relaunched Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey in the fall of 2023, and candidly, there was a lot we had to learn … about how the show operates in the new era, and we have a lot of operational changes, going from being on the train to going on buses and trucks.
And we also had a lot to share with our audiences, a lot of educating on what Ringling is now, what Ringling is altogether. We've taken all that learning from a very successful first season and applied it towards not only this new tour, but also the broader franchise plan and strategy that we're putting together to bring Ringling into families' lives 365 days a year.
TBPM: You’ve reimagined the show once again as The Greatest Party on Earth! What can we expect during the new tour?
JFG: This whole show, the whole theme, the whole energy of it is around parties. Because what's more universal, what's more fun, what gets something that you just know is going to be a good time in your mind faster than the word “party”? So we embraced it.
It was actually an idea that came from somebody not within our production team, but another person who was helping us work on the development of the show. She said, ‘kids love parties,’ and we all embraced it because it was simple, straightforward, easy to communicate, and really captured the essence of the feeling that we want you to have when you come, that you're here, you're part of it, we're hosting you, and you're here to enjoy.
You're here to have a good time and take away really fantastic memories.
TBPM: What are you most excited about with this new Ringling tour?
JFG: Oh, I'm just thrilled to get an audience in. I'm thrilled to get to open Jan. 2 here in Tampa right after the new year and see the reaction. It's going to be a lot of fun.
We've got all this contemporary music. We have a DJ. You can see him in the center stage there with his mobile DJ unit, and we know music drives energy. And so he'll be able to adapt on the fly and to really respond to the audience.
So every show will have spontaneous elements within it. We're bringing the cast more into the seats, connecting with guests and engaging them. And it's just a really fast-paced, energetic, thrilling show.
We call our performance an ultimate playground. Throughout the production, all of these elements are moving and changing position … so there will be elements that are close to you, no matter where you're sitting.
TBPM: You are expanding on a really cool character you introduced during the relaunch of Ringling last year, Bailey Circuit!
JFG: Bailey Circuit is our robo puppy, and she is so endearing and charming. We created her before the last tour, and she was immediately embraced and loved by kids and families. And we're doing even more with her now, so you'll see her in the show.
She's got a lot of fun moments with Nick Nack, who is the caretaker of Ringling. And then she also is starring in her own series on YouTube and YouTube Kids called “Bailey's Dog House,” where she interviews kids and performers, Monster Jam drivers, and she's funny and clever and just really, really lovable.
We think Ringling is a vehicle for play. It's a vehicle for family togetherness. And so we want to create those moments that are co-viewing, the kinds of things that I want to sit down and watch with my kids, not the kind of things I want to put on and leave the room.
And so we were very intentional in creating the kind of content not only in the live show, but also on YouTube that brings the family together.
We also introduced her within the Monster Jam world. We created a Bailey Circuit truck, which is a competition truck that we debuted and actually performed here in Tampa last summer. And having the truck and having Bailey in the Pit Party, we immediately saw kids responding, reacting, families taking photos with her.
In Tampa, a little girl — they took a picture with the family — and as they were walking away, the little girl just hung back a beat and whispered to Bailey, “I love you.” It broke my heart wide open to see that a character we created immediately had this kind of bond with kids and was immediately loved.
TBPM: Feld Entertainment isn’t just a business that develops content for families, but it’s also a family business with a lot of history. How does it feel knowing you are a part of such a storied legacy in entertainment?
JFG: It's humbling. Nov. 11 was the 58th anniversary of my family's acquisition of Ringling from another storied family. It's a humbling legacy to carry on. The thing that drives me is knowing that Ringling, through every generation, has had to be reinvented.
We couldn't possibly make the same show they had at the turn of the century. And so in every generation, this product has been reinvented to be relevant for today. And that's what we’re continuing to do.
TBPM: What’s pretty incredible is that this is all being developed and rehearsed right here in Tampa Bay at Feld Entertainment headquarters in Palmetto.
JFG: It's a great place to raise a family. And it's a great community, business community, a wonderful place to be and to live, and we have fantastic associates to help create and drive this business.
TBPM: And they rehearse Disney on Ice here, too!
JFG: All of our tours for Disney on Ice are launched. We have eight tours of Disney on Ice, but they all start right here. We're building the sets. We're doing our rehearsals here and developing the costumes and every aspect of Disney on Ice in this facility. That's kind of our commitment to being in this community in this area, and it's been great.
TBPM: Thank you, Juliette! We can't wait to see the show!
More to experience from Feld Entertainment in Tampa:
- Monster Jam: Feb. 28-March 1, 2026, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa
- Disney on Ice: Mickey’s Search Party: March 5-8, 2026, at the Benchmark International Arena in Tampa