Step Right Up! The Travelling Carnival in Canada

Weaving visitors through 150 years of the history of the travelling carnival

Step Right Up!: The Travelling Carnival in Canada will weave visitors through 150 years of the history of the travelling carnival, from its origins in both travelling entertainment and agricultural societies to its genesis at the 1893 World’s Fair and the developments through the 20th and 21st century that made it one of the most popular forms of entertainment in the country.

Select artifacts, posters and photographs from The Carnival Museum’s collection will be on display behind reader rails which weave a narrative of the history of the carnival to North American culture. A separate set of didactic panels focus on carnival lingo, a dictionary of words created solely for use by the showmen and carnies who traveled across North America.

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