09/06/2026
One of the many people to fall in love with with Sarasota, FL
For much of the twentieth century, when winter came, the greatest show on earth packed up its trains and headed for a single Florida town. 🎪 The Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus made Sarasota its winter home, and each year the sleepy Gulf coast city filled with elephants, acrobats, and clowns.
Circus magnate John Ringling moved the winter quarters to Sarasota in the 1920s, and it transformed the town. Performers rehearsed new acts, trained animals, and repaired the gilded wagons while curious locals and tourists came to watch the spectacle up close. Ringling grew fabulously wealthy and poured his fortune into Sarasota itself, building a grand bayfront mansion and an art museum that still anchor the city today. The circus and its people became woven into the community, with many performers settling there permanently.
That deep circus heritage never left. 🐘 Sarasota still celebrates its big top history, and the traditions of those winter quarters live on in local schools and shows that keep the acrobatic arts alive. There is something magical about imagining a whole town waking up to the sound of circus animals each winter. Did you know the circus once called Florida home?
