Top Hat Sideshow will perform at Drake Day: CIRCUS on Sunday, August 11th.
TITUSVILLE, Pa. (EYT) — Drake Well Museum and Park is pleased to announce the return of its popular circus event during this weekend’s Oil Festival in Titusville. Drake Day: CIRCUS will take place at the museum and on the grounds on Sunday, August 11.
The event will take place from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.
On Drake Day, the museum annually celebrates Edwin Drake’s oil discovery on August 27, 1859 in Titusville. The commercial success of Drake’s well sparked an oil boom in the region and established today’s global oil industry.
“This year is the 165th anniversary of Drake’s Well, so we wanted to make Drake Day extra special,” says Sarah Goodman, Drake Well Museum’s educator. “We decided to revive the circus event that was very popular at our location before COVID-19.”
The museum hosted Drake Day: CIRCUS every year from 2013 to 2016. The last circus was held in 2018, and another was scheduled to take place in 2020 but was put on hold due to the pandemic. The event’s main attraction is the Top Hat Sideshow, a traveling circus act reminiscent of those from the 19th century.
Top Hat will be putting on two shows on the day of the event: one at 11am and another at 2pm on the day of the event. There will be a variety of acts including juggling, aerial acrobatics, magic and more. The event will also feature a fortune teller, who was also popular in traveling circus shows during the Drake’s Well era.
In addition to Top Hat, daytime activities include a performance by the Tree Family Party Piggies from Cochranton and 40 Whacks Axe Throwing from Erie, a mobile axe throwing attraction. Fun games like Cow Patty Bingo and smaller games and activities for children will be offered. There will also be a bounce house game, courtesy of the Titusville YWCA.
Food vendors such as Deets’ Sugar House, Bodien’s of Franklin, Wally Sue’s Lemonade and Venango Snow will be on site throughout the event.
Regular Drake Well admission prices apply to the event: $10 for adults, $5 for children ages 3-11, $8 for seniors. Friends of Drake Well members receive free admission. Admission includes access to the Drake Well Museum and its indoor and outdoor exhibits, as well as access to the circus acts and most of the children’s games and activities. Additional fees apply for axe throwing, cow patty bingo, food vendors and some other smaller activities.
The Drake Well Museum and Park is located on Route 8 south of Titusville and is within the Oil Region National Heritage Area and the PA Route 6 Heritage Corridor. Hours are Wednesday through Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The Drake Well Museum and Park is managed by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission in cooperation with Friends of Drake Well, Inc., a nonprofit community organization, and is part of the Pennsylvania Trails of History® (www.PATrailsofHistory.com).
