The 84th season of the Great Y Circus, themed “Saturday Morning Cartoons,” featured familiar favorites for audiences young and old, with classic cartoons like “The Pink Panther” and “The Jetsons” alongside newer additions like “Kung Fu Panda,” “Gravity Falls” and “Pokemon.”
Redlands News | May 14, 2026
Police also investigated overnight vehicle burglaries, recovered a live grenade and arrested a man wanted on a Riverside County felony warrant.
The 84th season of the Great Y Circus, themed “Saturday Morning Cartoons,” featured familiar favorites for audiences young and old, with classic cartoons like “The Pink Panther” and “The Jetsons” alongside newer additions like “Kung Fu Panda,” “Gravity Falls” and “Pokemon.”
The 84th performing season of the Great Y Circus presents “Saturday Morning Cartoons,” a familiar theme for big and small with classic cartoons like The Pink Panther and The Jetsons and newer additions like Kung Fu Panda, Gravity Falls and Pokemon.
The number of performers, volunteer trainers and volunteers have gone up this year from previous years. On stage are 310 performers, there are 125 volunteer trainers and 135 volunteers helping backstage with ushering, rousting, costuming, concessions etc.
The Great Y Circus is supported by Community Circus Arts Corporation.
“We are so grateful to have our audience today and see your smiling faces,” said circus director Emilie Watanabe at Sunday’s show. She began the performance with the voice of the mom, “Bye kids, I’ll be back in 3 hours. Don’t forget to do your chores.”
Large sheets covered the stage and as the music began to play the first act was revealed. The Shoot Thru Ladder was one of the strongest acts of the night, making the audience ooh and ahh on a Cirque du Soleil-worthy performance. It set the mood for the show, the attendees knew what to expect from the performers aged 3 to 75.
“My goal with this theme was to bring back the nostalgia of sitting down on Saturday morning and watching a cartoon marathon,” said Watanabe by email. “I am hearing from people that they are enjoying the cartoon theme and are remembering old cartoons and old popular commercials that they had forgotten about, which I am happy to hear.”
At the show, there were acrobats, wire, juggling, ladders, hammock, stilts, trapeze, lyra and more. A total of 40 acts showcased the skills and strength of each level from beginner to intermediate and advanced. Every performer shows their hard work with a smile on stage.
“The kids are so expressive on stage with the characters they are portraying,” Watanabe said. Each performer has worked since August attending circus classes at the Redlands YMCA to put this show together.
There were dizzying spins from people suspended in straps by their wrist, 12 people balance together on two bikes in motion, at the hanging perch, performers hang from the top of their feet. In between each act, clowns and dancers entertain the audience, making the show seamless.
“My main goal was to keep a cohesive theme with the acts and transitions,” Watanabe said. “The trainers and performers did a great job doing that.”
The show ends with an audience favorite, the teeterboard. Then the mom returns. “Hi kids. I’m home now. Good job cleaning up today, you must have worked so hard.”
Delivering the lines from the mom in the show is extra special this year for Watanabe. “I have had an incredibly eventful year, I got married since the last show season and we are now expecting our first child together, due just a couple of weeks after the shows end,” she said. “I am so blessed to have such an awesome circus program and cast, they are all so excited for us and my daughter will have hundreds of circus aunties and uncles.”
This year’s high school seniors of 2026 are Jackson Clemens, Lily McNaughton, Allie Munoz, Gavin Mitchell, Julia Swan Van Lent and Keegan Ver Steeg.
“I am so proud of the graduating seniors this year,” Watanabe said. “They are just outstanding students and performers.” Besides performing in multiple acts, the seniors also do sports. She added, “And they still manage to keep good grades while being so busy. I don't even know how they have time to sleep.”
The biggest challenge this year was rigging for the show and hiding the reveal of the first act. “We had to fit so much stuff into the air with enough room to have the Shoot Thru Ladders be able to spin safely in the middle of the stage,” Watanabe said. Each obstacle has been cleared as the show itself demonstrates. “I love hearing the audience's reaction to it every night.”
“Tickets are selling quicker this year, so I would suggest people get them sooner than later,” said Bjorn Madrid, marketing director at the Redlands YMCA. According to Watanabe more people have been to their opening weekend than in the past five years.
The Great Y Circus was founded in 1929 by Roy Coble, a former Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey performer. He worked as the YMCA director and brought circus classes to the Redlands branch. The Great Y Circus is the longest continuous and oldest community circus in the U.S.
The performances of 2026 will run from May 1 – 17.
Fridays at 7 p.m., Saturdays at 5 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.
Address: 500 E. Citrus Ave., Redlands, CA 92373.
Phone: 909 798 9622
Website: www.ymcaeastvalley.org/programs/circus/
Tickets: $24. Younger children are free if they can sit on an adult’s lap.
Tickets are available at the Redlands Family YMCA front desk.
All ticket proceeds benefit The Great Y Circus, supported by Community Circus Arts Cooperation.
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