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Big Apple Circus will return to NYC under new owners

Here’s some big news for fans of the big top.

New owners have taken over the Big Apple Circus and announced Tuesday that the show will return this fall. The 40-year-old attraction canceled its 2016-2017 season last summer after it filed for bankruptcy following a failed $2 million fundraising campaign.

Compass Partners, a Sarasota, Florida-based investment firm, created a partnership called Big Top Works and offered a winning bid of $1.3 million for the circus last week.

“We look forward to presenting the circus everyone knows and loves, and honoring the legacy that has been built over the past several decades, while crafting a thrilling experience for today’s audiences,” Neil Kahanovitz, a spinal surgeon and former circus member who is one of Big Top Works’ members, said in a statement.

More details about the season will be revealed at a later date, but the owners said they hope to keep the show at its home at Damrosch Park in Lincoln Center, which had hosted the circus since 1980.