For some old-fashioned family fun come to the Zoppe’ Italian Family Circus, an exciting new feature of this year’s annual Wheat Ridge Carnation Festival. The first performance is 1 p.m., Saturday, Aug. 18 at Anderson Park, 4355 Field Street, Wheat Ridge.  Performances continue through Aug. 26. Tickets go on sale on June 1^st. Watch the website wwww.thecarnationfestival.com for locations and discount opportunities at.

The Zoppe’ Circus has been a family business since the 1800s and includes acrobats, clowns, horses and dog acts.  If you’re an early riser, come at 7:00 Friday morning to watch 15 men erect the 63-foot tall tent. It seats up to 800 people and is designed so that no audience member is further than 20 feet from the performance ring.

In addition to the circus, this year’s festival will include an Italian Village with events such as wine tasting, authentic food and Italian vendors selling their crafts and wares.  Many Italian organizations will share their culture in areas such as language, travel and games.

The Zoppe’ Circus has an interesting history. In 1842 , a young French street performer, Napoleone Zoppe’, wandered into a plaza in Budapest, Hungary, looking for work. There, he glanced upon a beautiful equestrian ballerina, Ermengilda, who captured the crowd with her grace and showmanship. She also won Napoleone’s heart.

However, since Napoleone was a clown, Ermengilda’s father saw him as beneath her and disapproved of their relationship. The two ran away to Venice, Italy, and founded the circus that still bears their name. Over the generations, the circus survived wars and political upheaval in Italy and the rest of Europe.

Alberto Zoppe’, Napoleone’s great-grandson, inherited the circus almost 100 years later.  A grand equestrian in his own right, Alberto toured Europe with the circus since his youth, forging many unique friendships along the way including one with famed actor/director Orson Welles.

Welles, who was working in Rome at the time, persuaded Alberto to take a role in a small film about the circus being shot in London.  Alberto was then offered a job by John Ringling North of Ringling Brothers fame, who was putting together the circus acts for Cecil B. De Mille’s Oscar-winning film, The Greatest Show on Earth.  Alberto was hesitant to leave his family circus in Italy for America., but North was persistent and offered to loan the family circus an elephant for the show as long as Alberto worked for him.   He obliged and was prominently featured in the film.

Alberto would remain in America, producing circuses for Ringling and started his own family.  Together with his wife Sandra, Alberto ushered in a new generation to continue the family tradition. Their children, Giovanni, Tosca and Carla, along with their spouses have all been active at one time or another in the family business. Giovanni revived the Zoppe’ Family Circus in America 11 years ago, and has since been building its reputation with audiences and critics as an enchanting exhibition of traditional European circus.

For more information, go to www.thecarnationfestival.com and click on the Zoppe’ Italian Family Circus link.

. . . Shuttle and Parking  information coming soon . . .

]]> http://thecarnationfestival.com/shuttle-and-parking-information/feed/ 0 http://thecarnationfestival.com/2012-festival-food-vendors/ http://thecarnationfestival.com/2012-festival-food-vendors/#comments Mon, 19 Mar 2012 18:52:24 +0000 webmaster http://thecarnationfestival.com/?p=853  (Subject to change)

Enjoy our food! 

Pappy’s Hillbilly Concessions: Hamburgers, Cheeseburgers, Bacon Cheeseburgers, Sloppy Joes, Hotdogs, Chili-Cheese Dogs, French Fries, Chili Cheese Fries, Nachos, Soft Pretzels, Breakfast Burritos, Biscuits & Gravy, Cotton Candy, Popcorn, Candy, Slushies

D & T: Funnel Cakes, Tater Twisters, Cheeseburgers, Hamburgers, Italian Sausage, Bratwursts, Hot Dogs, Snow Cones, Nachos, Cotton Candy, Candy, Chips, Energy Drinks

Dragonfly/Dragon Sauces: Dragon Sauces, BBQ Pulled Pork, BBQ Beef Brisket, BBQ Bourbon Balls, Turkey Legs

Desserts Only: 8 Flavors of Ice Cream, Cappuccino and Fruit Blasts, Root Beer Floats, Iced Cappy, Pepsi Products

Culinary Wave: BBQ Steak, Chicken or Pulled Pork Sandwich; Jumbo Steak or Chicken Kabob; Steak or Chicken Burrito; Subs: Italian, Turkey and Swiss, Ham & Cheddar, Veggie; Gyros; Hamburger, Cheeseburger, Veggie Burger; Hot Dog, Corn Dog, Nachos, French Fries, Cheese Fries, Green Chili Fries; Chips, Candy, Gum, Cookies, Energy Drinks

Maui Wowi: Fruit Smoothies, Hawaiian Kona Coffee drinks, Brewed, Iced and Frozen. Ghirardelli Hot and Frozen Koko

La Hacienda: Beef, Chicken or Pork Tacos; Chorizo, Ham or Bacon Breakfast Burrito; Chicharrones; Fresh Fruit Cup

My Pie: 8” pizzas, Chicken Wings, Cinnamon Pie, Cheese Bread

Tropical Island Delights: Funnel Cakes, Fried Twinkies, Fried Candy Bars, Corn Dogs, Popcorn

If you are a new vendor or one who has displayed your goods and services at many fairs and festivals, here are some helpful tips for selling more and attracting festival-goers to your booth:

Stand in front of your display. Set up your product behind you and along the outside perimeters of your canopy. Standing behind your display sets up a barrier and decreases sales.

Stand and greet people with a smile. If you sell jewelry or clothing, wear it. Remove chairs.  Sitting down in your booth will decrease the energy that draws people to you. A chair should be used for periods of rest only.

Create a powerful, succinct message (no more than 25 words) about what your business does and why they should do business with you.

The more interactive and exciting you make your booth, the more people will be drawn to you so that you can sell products/services. Sitting out a bowl of candy does not bring people to your booth.  A wheel of fortune, basketball hoop, moving the cup around, drawings and giveaways (no raffles) or providing balloons will improve your foot traffic.

Always pretend you are hosting your own party. You have invited all these guests to your home.  Treat them like they are long-time friends. By following these guidelines, you will be sure to realize your goals from our Festival.

Please call us if you would like to brainstorm any ideas you have for energizing your booth. We love hearing from you!

The Wheat Ridge Carnation Midway and Vendor Committee

Food Vendors:  SOLD OUT for the 2012 Festival.

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Merchandise & other Vendors: Application page here.
Plenty of merchandise vendor space still available.

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1st place Green: Salsa’s
2nd place Green: Dayna Justice

1st place Red: Tim Berland
2nd place Red: Pam Goff

The Chili Cook Off had 16 entrants with three restaurants (La Fonda, Texas Roadhouse, and Salsa’s) and three fire departments: Wheat Ridge Fire, Arvada Fire and Denver Fire.   One entrant was 14 years old!

There were 9 Green chili entrants and 7 Red chili entrants total.

Hello 2011 Parade participants,

The Carnation Festival Committee sincerely thanks you for your great showing this year – the Parade was a colorful and lively event! We do appreciate each of you as you work to make the Parade so enjoyable each year. The 2011 Parade award winners are listed as follows:

Carnation Festival Grand Marshal Award – Wheat Ridge Parks and Recreation
Carnation Festival Count Award – Duane Chesley and 1940 Tractor
Carnation Festival Countess Award – Ciorcal Cairde Irish Pipe and Drum Band
Mayor’s Youth Award – Wheat Ridge 5-8 (formerly Wheat Ridge Middle School)
Parade Chairman Award – Peterson/Leyba’s Rubber Stamps
Best Decorated Float Award – Disguises Superstore
Best Marching Unit (Non-musical) Award – Wheat Ridge High School Varsity Cheer
Best Marching Unit (Musical) Award – Wheat Ridge High School Marching Band
Best Equestrian Award – Westernaires
Best Vehicular Award – El Jebel Shrine
Best Business Award – TIGAR Gymnastics
Best Community Award – Stober Elementary School
Best Use of Carnations Award – Sons of Italy Denver Lodge 2075.

I very much look forward to seeing you in next year’s Parade, and please contact me in the meantime if there are questions and comments.

Best regards,

Steve Keller

Carnation Festival Parade Chair