The Fiesta Circus is coming to town, and Tom Hammill, Onalaska's OmniCenter manager said he's pretty excited about it.

”This is the largest circus production that has been in the OmniCenter to date.“

Hammill said there have been three or four circuses in the past, but they've all been much smaller then this one.

The George Carden Circus International - billed by the promoters as Fiesta Circus - will bring three rings of excitment to Onalaska on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, Oct. 17-19, starting at 6:30 p.m.

The two-hour show will feature Carden's pride and joy, his elephants, but will include many other animal acts.

Adam Burke will try to tame the Hawthorn Tigers. The Kambarov Riders feature Arabian horses from Russia.

The other acts that make the show ”international“ include the Russian Svetlanas - a magic act and the Iniakini - a juggling troupe and the Romanian Bilea Troupe of acrobats will be just a part of the performances.

Hammill said he believes this is the same show the Shriners had last year in La Crosse, and if that's the case, it should be a good show.

The circus is brought to the area by the Wisconsin Jaycees and the La Crosse Jaycees as a fund-raiser. A portion of the proceeds will go to the La Crosse Jaycees for community projects.

The Jaycees have distributed 5,000 free children's tickets to the La Crosse School District and other local child-care facilities.

Besides being excited about the size and scope of the show, Hammill said he is eager for its return and anticipates the circus being an annual event. He said a multi-year contract has not been signed, but he will look into that after the October performance.

Hammill said a circus is one of the easier events to set up. His staff will put up the seating and the circus will do the rest of the work.

And with this being a three-day event held during the week, it brings the added benefit of the center being used when it is normally idle.

But one big question - what do you do with three days of elephant, horse and tiger waste?

Hammill said the smaller circuses requested a small dumpster, but with a bigger show like this, he'll have to get a larger one.

Contact Tony Nelson at 786-6813 or tony.nelson@lee.net.

AT A GLANCE

WHAT: George Carden Circus International.

WHERE: OmniCenter, Onalaska.

WHEN: 6:30 p.m., Monday - Wednesday, Oct. 17-19.

DETAILS: A three-ring circus, this production will feature elephant, tiger, horse and other animal acts along with a variety of international acrobats and clowns. The shows will last about two hours.

TICKETS: Adults $12, children 1-12 $10 available at the OmniCenter.