Free circus tickets tumble into Aurora
It was a huge ol' bello-bration!
Roughly 100 sixth-graders at Aurora's Cowherd Middle School on Thursday celebrated the upcoming Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey "Bellobration" circus with their own festivities.
The circus is donating 10,000 tickets to underprivileged families throughout the Chicago area, including hundreds in Aurora.
The new show, called "Bellobration," features the comic-daredevil Bello, one of the most recognizable figures in the circus's history.
The Aurora party was held in the Cowherd gym, with Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White, Mayor Tom Weisner and East Aurora District 131 Superintendent Jerome Roberts on hand.
Entertainment included the Jesse White Tumblers, marching musicians and cheerleaders.
The kids donned foam replicas of Bello's orange hair as they learned the Bello dance, hand-balanced 3-foot-tall sticks and hung out with a 25-foot-tall inflatable Bello.
The city has received 750 tickets to distribute to charities, schools and other groups.
The rest of the 10,000 tickets were given to Chicago, Palatine and Gary, Ind.
Ringling Bros. Bellobration opens at Rosemont's Allstate Arena Nov. 1 and moves to Chicago's United Center Nov. 13.