The Garden Bros. Nuclear Circus is in Raleigh until Sunday and we have all the details from our visit on Friday night, July 17, 2021! If you’re planning on going this weekend, read below for information you’ll want to know before you go!

This Show is HOT!

Like, for real, it’s HOT! This circus is legit under the big top like in the olden days! They have setup a huge tent in the parking lot of the fairgrounds so there is no air conditioning. For some reason I thought this was going to be in the PNC center so we were not prepared for the heat! They do have some fans under the stands to blow in outside air, but at the 4:30pm show at 90 degrees it just wasn’t helping much. Lots of people were walking down to stand in front of the fans to get a little relief. I’m not so sure how it will be during the 1pm shows on Saturday and Sunday. 🥵 Be sure to pack lots of water and dress appropriately to sweat your buns off! I was wearing jeans, which I don’t recommend in the slightest! Luckily we packed lots of water from home because I didn’t really see a place selling water and who knows how much it would cost!

Extra Costs

The show is awesome, but it’s definitely a money pit. First off, parking is $20 for the lot right by the tent or $15 for a little bit of a walk. We were one of the first cars in the gate and opted for the longer walk since it really wasn’t that far.

Once inside the circus tent you can pay to upgrade your ticket to VIP. Regular tickets includes general admission seating in metal bleachers. It’s first come, first served, although our show wasn’t sold out and there were plenty of seats to choose from without getting too crowded. The VIP upgrade includes sitting ring-side in a metal folding chair with a padded seat. VIP tickets were also the ones who the performers interacted with and chose to go onstage for some acts.

We didn’t attempt to upgrade, but it may be worth it for some of you to get closer to the action. I felt like we had great seats on the bleachers in general admission, but we got there an hour early to make sure we got a good spot. I’d say if you have those nice stadium seats that give you a back rest, bring those for extra comfort!

Kids Activities before the show

If you arrive an hour before the show starts there will be fun kids activities like a bounce house, face painting, and pony rides. In my mind I thought that was all included in the ticket price, but each ride and activity has an extra cost. It works like the fair where you can purchase tickets for each ride. During intermission they also brought out extra activities like horse rides in the main circus ring, plus pictures with the performing poodles. I’m not sure how much the tickets or activities are since we stayed far away those to save a bit of money!

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They will also really push the toys and trinkets as you enter, so be prepared for your kid to scream “I want that!” the whole way in! We saw light-up swords and spinning gadgets, bubble machines, and even something that looked like a paintball gun! The staff almost put it right in our kid’s hands as we walked in so it was very tempting, but we didn’t give in. I’m not sure how much these toys all were, but brings some extra cash if you think you’ll want one!

Concessions

The concessions were also extremely expensive in my opinion, but maybe I’m just a cheapskate. A bucket of popcorn is $15, and big cups of lemonade or a strawberry smoothie is $10. I saw other people with funnel cakes, cotton candy, and snow cones, but I’m not sure of the price on those. Luckily we packed snacks and water bottles in our bag so we didn’t need to purchase a lot of food. It was so hot that we did end up getting a smoothie to help us cool off an dur whole family was able to share it.

Entertainment

On to the show! Honestly, I was super impressed with the circus show itself. They had lots of acrobats, aerial stunts like the man in the rotating metal cage and the human cannonball, plus your typical circus contortionists, motorcycles in a spherical cage, horse riding stunts, and performing poodles. We were oohing and ahhing at the performers right from the start, and the comedic duo between acts kept us entertained with their antics while the stage was reset. My son loved the motorcycles and dogs, while my girls liked the aerial acrobats and the human cannonball. The first act with the man in the rotating metal cage had me on my toes and gasping in fear! He was doing some pretty impressive stunts and as a mom I was scared for his safety, but all of the performers did an amazing job and are very talented at what they do!

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The only thing that took me back a little was the backup dancers in thongs. Call me old-fashioned, but it felt a little weird to have seductive dancers showing their butt cheeks at a family-friendly show. 🤷

Purchase Tickets

All of that to say, I definitely recommend attending the show, as long as you are prepared for the heat and expensive add-ons. It’s possible to have a great time for a decent price, or you can go all out and spend hundreds of dollars for an amazing time. It helps that kids get in free, but you’ll spend money on extras! Check out our previous post for ticketing information.