Circus located in Santa Maria drainage basin forced to leave early due to rainstorm

SANTA MARIA, Calif. -- A rainstorm on Monday forced a traveling circus that was temporarily located in a Santa Maria drainage basin to pack up and leave earlier than planned.

American Crown Circus was scheduled to hold the final show of its four-day Santa Maria stop on Monday, March 28 at 7 p.m. at Minami Park.

However, after rain poured during the early morning hours, and with more rain expected to arrive several hours later in the afternoon, circus ownership decided to cancel the show.

"Unfortunately, that's the way it is with the circus business," said Ringmaster Roberto Osorio. "Sometimes you get sun. Sometimes you get rain. Sometimes you get wind. We even got snow in Reno a couple of years ago."

The circus' large bigtop tent is located at Minami Park, which also serves as drainage basin for the city.

"In the morning, I was asleep and all of a sudden I started hearing the sound of my guys walking around and I knew even before I had my eyes open that we got flooded, so yeah, it got pretty serious," said Osorio. "You just have to go with the flow in life. That's it. Unfortunately, you lose a day, tomorrow you gain. That's the way life is."

During periods of wet weather, the park can fill up with water, making it essentially impossible to hold a large-scale event on the same day as a rainstorm.

As rain fell lightly during the late morning hours, workers were quickly breaking down the tent and packing up as the circus began preparations for its next stop, in Clovis for a five-day performance.

"We'll be back next year with a brand new show," said Osorio. "Every year we bring a brand new show, like this year, it was a brand new show, and next year it will be a new show guaranteed. People from literally all over the world, we bring to Santa Maria."