JEDDAH, 30 June — The "Big Top" tent roared into shouts and applause as international acrobats performed breathtaking acts one after another. Actors included trained dogs that played a soccer match in the World Cup style and a clown who kept the audience laughing non-stop with his antics.
And then there was a "well of death" performed in a metallic globe by three men on their motorbikes. They went round about and also crisscrossed each other as the audience watched them with bated breath. There was absolute silence as a 63-year-old Argentine performed trapeze acts.
All this happened over the weekend when the Big Top formally opened under the auspices of Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed, opposite Al-Azizia Panda supermarket, at Al-Andalous Road here.
The governor was seen clapping in appreciation of the acts. The circus is organized as part of the ongoing Jeddah Tourist Festival. The same organizers held the "Bolshoi On Ice" event during the last festival. The air-conditioned circus tent has been attracting young and old people since its opening, according to Mohammed A. Moumena, general manager of Moumena Entertainment which is organizing the event in cooperation with Phillip Gandey World Class Entertainment. The tent has 3,000 spectator capacity. It is being held at 9 p.m. from Sunday through Tuesday and at 7.30 p.m. and 10.30 p.m. from Wednesday through Friday.
According to Moumena, a variety of a dozen dazzling acts, all customized to suit the Saudi and Arab traditions, are packed into a spell-binding show lasting over two hours. Highlighting the show are special light and sound effects, all orchestrated by a specialized team of British engineers.
