Big Top Parade
& Circus Celebration
June 13, 2026
Downtown Baraboo
On Saturday, June 13 the the Baraboo Area will come alive with events and activities as the Big Top Parade returns to downtown Baraboo. This weekend will feature live entertainment and circus-themed events.
The main event — the Big Top Parade — steps off at 11 a.m.
Local veterans will lead the parade as Grand Marshals.
“Our parade is a patriotic spectacle every year, but we’re taking it up a notch for 2026,” said Nanci Jenks, co-chair of the Big Top Parade Committee. “We couldn’t be happier to honor local veterans for their service to our country.”
The parade will feature nearly 90 parade entries – from marching bands to clowns to community floats – will delight thousands of spectators along the streets of downtown Baraboo. Like Circus World’s big top show, the parade’s theme is “Jubilee”.
WEEKEND: Festivities begin with the June 11 installment of Concerts on the Square, which will feature Professor Stich’s Original Circus Band. The Al. Ringling Theatre will offer tours and shows.
PARADE DAY: On parade day, Forward! Marching Band and the Wild Rumpus Circus will entertain the crowd before the parade steps off at 11 a.m. Circus World’s collection of antique wagons will take to the streets. The Ringling Brothers Bell Wagon returned to Baraboo last year after a decade-long absence and won Best Overall Entry.
CIRCUS WORLD: “We love showcasing Circus World’s unparalleled wagon collection in the parade,” said George Althoff, Executive Director of the Baraboo Area Chamber of Commerce. His organization works with the Big Top Parade Committee to present this unique event. “Once again we’ll hear the bells of freedom ring downtown,” Althoff said.
POST PARADE: After the parade, all are encouraged to visit Circus World and see the “Jubilee” show at 1:15 and 3:30 p.m.
2026 Parade Grand Marshal
Our Local Veterans!
2026 Celebrity Judges
The judges will choose the parade’s top overall entry, as well as the best commercial and nonprofit entries.
Circus Wagons
Circus World is a key partner in the parade, lending its unparalleled collection of historic wagons to the event. Circus Wagons History
Ringling Bros. Bell Wagon
The Bell Wagon is unique among them all and is believed to be the last remaining circus bell wagon in the world.
The Ringlings commissioned the Ringling’s cousins, Baraboo-based H. Moeller & Sons Wagon Works to construct the wagon for the 1892 season. This 10,380-pound rolling musical instrument Wagon was the gem of the Ringling Circus Parades for many years. This wagon along with three other wagons arrived in March from Florida, where they’re owned by Feld Entertainment,
Also making the 1,440-mile trip from Feld were the Hagenbeck-Wallace Lion’s Bride Tableau Wagon, built in 1905 by the Cincinnati-based Bode Wagon Co. for the Carl Hagenbeck Trained Animal Show; the John Robinson Bandwagon No. 1, often referred to as the Lion and Gladiator Wagon and believed to have been built by Sullivan and Eagle Wagon Co. of Peru, Indiana, for Howe’s Great London Circus; and the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Hippo Cage Wagon No. 73, believed to have been built in 1903 and which, through the years, has housed black-tailed deer before being retrofitted to hold lions and, in 1943, a pygmy hippo.
The wagons are on loan from Feld for at least the next four years
Kids Fun
BOUNCE HOUSES
Courthouse Lawn – 9:00am
BADGER BAND
On the Square – 10:00am
Eat Street
EDWARD’S ICE CREAM
Cones, Corn Dogs, Lemonade
LOCO SNO
Shaved Ice
SUGAR RUSH TRUCK
Frozen Sweet Treats
Circus Celebration
Post parade head on down to Baraboo’s treasured Circus World open from 9:00am – 5:00pm
Big Top Performances
1:15pm Big Top Circus
3:30pm Big Top Circus