When the circus can’t leave town: French family show stranded in Belgian carpark

Floye Dubois, 19, a juggler at the Zavatelli Circus owned by the French family Dubois, practices in a parking lot where the circus, together with two other Armanzo and Anderland, also owned by the same family, has been maintained under lockdown for about a year, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Gembloux, Belgium November 26, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

GEMBLOUX, Belgium — The exotic animals are confined to small paddocks, the acrobats have been grounded, and the clowns aren’t able to make an audience laugh anymore.

The coronavirus has brought the curtain down on the Zavatelli Circus, at least for the time being.

Unable to travel or perform across Europe, the French family-run operation is waiting out the pandemic in a car park in the southern Belgium town of Gembloux – and quickly running out of funds to feed its animals.

“For us, the confinement is very difficult because we are not working. We have no cash flow,” said circus director Kevin Dubois.

The Zavatelli Circus typically pitches its 600-seater Big Top in 30 cities each year. But since March, when COVID-19 cases began rising in Europe, it has only been able to perform with a reduced capacity, or not at all during Belgium’s spring and autumn lockdowns.

A performer at the Zavatelli Circus owned by the French family Dubois, walks in a parking lot where the circus, together with two other Armanzo and Anderland, also owned by the same family, has been maintained under lockdown for about a year, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Gembloux, Belgium November 26, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

The show features jugglers and acrobats, a conjuror, clowns, and a tightrope walker, and a menagerie including camels, llamas, buffaloes, and ponies.

Now the staff are living in trailers in the car park, stopping their skills from going rusty with outdoor practice sessions in the crisp Autumn air.

The animals are kept in enclosures under red-and-white striped awnings, with straw strewn over the car park’s ground.

“Frankly, it is becoming an issue because we have 60 animals to feed,” Dubois said.

The cost of food for animals runs to about 500 euros ($600) per week. There are also 23 circus staff to support.

“We don’t know how to make ends meet,” he said.

An employee of the Zavatelli Circus owned by the French family Dubois, walks with a camel in a parking lot where the circus, together with two other Armanzo and Anderland, also owned by the same family, has been maintained under lockdown for about a year, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Gembloux, Belgium November 26, 2020. REUTERS/Yves Herman

The Zavatelli Circus is one of three family operations that date back to 1800 and was once known as the Cirque de Paris.

The two others, Armanzo and Anderland, owned by the same family, are also on the rented site in Gembloux, about 50 km (30 miles) south of Brussels.

While the circus could return home to France, it would not be permitted to perform there either.

Belgium, like France, is under its second lockdown since the coronavirus epidemic hit Europe in February. Although shops are expected to reopen soon, cultural operations such as circuses in Belgium must remain closed until further notice.

Dubois lamented the lack of state financial support.

“We have not received any financial assistance (from the authorities). A lot of people gave us bread, carrots, they bring us seeds, hay. But in terms of money, we did not get anything,” Dubois said.

($1 = 0.84)