My family and I had a great time at the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus DRAGONS performance opening night at the Patriot Center. There were elephants, tigers, amazing acrobats, kung fu warriors and clumsy clowns. We didn’t see many dragons, but this may have been because we needed to leave a little early due to a melting-down-2-year-old around 9pm. But honestly, after seeing How To Train Your Dragons Live at the Verizon Center last year, we have a pretty high standard for live dragon performances. But despite the lack of dragons, we really did enjoy the circus!
We arrived about an hour early to enjoy the pre-show, which included meeting and taking photos with performers, trying on circus costumes, learning circus skills and a special drawing to win a masterpiece painting by an artistic elephant.
Then we took our seats about 15 minutes before the show start time, and watched the first half of the show which included silly clowns, amazing acrobats and trapeze artists, elephants & tigers. The kung fu masters came out to perform amazing tricks and acts of strength. I wasn’t a big fan of the tricks involving the sharp spears against their throats, but my kids and husband didn’t seem bothered (I must be more squeamish than most).
Probably my kids’ favorite parts of the show included the animals (including dogs performing in the 2nd half) and the hilarious clowns.
Our performance started at 7pm, and unfortunately about 15-20 minutes into the second half of the show my 2-year old could take no more, so we had to leave before the final act. If you have toddlers or babies, I suggest you go to an afternoon performance versus an evening one like I attended. It’s a lot of visual and audio stimulation for little ones, particularly when it’s well past their bedtime.
Compared to other Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus performances we’ve been to as a family, I’d say this was equally enjoyable as past circus performances we’ve attended. In my experience, Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey always delivers a great show. There’s a reason why it’s called the “greatest show on Earth” 
You can catch Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Circus DRAGONS now through April 21, 2013 at the Patriot Center in Fairfax, VA. Click here to view show times and buy tickets.
Legal Disclosure: I am a Feld Family Ambassador, and in exchange for my time and efforts in attending show and reporting my opinion within this blog, as well as keeping you advised of the latest discount offers, Feld Entertainment provided me with complimentary tickets to see the show. Please know, I always aim to give you my honest opinion when writing reviews and sharing my experience at local events. To read my formal disclosure policy, please click here.
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