The Redwood City Parking Lot an Italian Circus Calls Its Second Home

In October 2021, a reporter from Redwood City Pulse stood in the Redwood City Public Library parking lot on tent day. Crews were raising a blue-and-white big top. Lights were going up, poles were being hammered down, and children were playing hide-and-seek among the half-tied ropes. Silver Avion travel trailers sat beside the tent, and they were home for the Zoppé family during the run.

The same lot fills up again soon. The City of Redwood City lists the Zoppé Italian Family Circus at the Main Library Parking Lot, 1044 Middlefield Road, from November 6 to 29, 2026. The City calls this the circus's 19th year in town. After that many falls, the circus has been fitted to Redwood City in very practical ways. The tent is sized to this lot. City staff kept the show going when nothing else could run. The run itself has moved and grown on the city's calendar.

A tent cut to fit one lot

The Zoppé tent was designed with the library lot in mind. According to the same Pulse story, Giovanni Zoppé and his father, Alberto, designed it themselves, with dimensions worked out around a large pole in the middle of the library lot. Giovanni calls the lot the family's second home.

He gave the paper a shorter version:

"It was the last lot my father was ever on. First lot my son was on. When we get here, I breathe easier."

The family's history reaches back well before Redwood City. The City's circus page traces it to Napoleone Zoppè and the ballerina Ermenglida, who met in Budapest and started a circus in Venice. Their great-grandson Alberto brought the tradition to America and appeared in Cecil B. DeMille's The Greatest Show on Earth. The Zoppé family's own history page puts the founding in 1842.

Giovanni is the sixth generation. He directs the circus and plays Nino, the clown at the center of the show. The City notes that he was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 2004. He told the San Mateo Daily Journal, "My clown is me." In the same interview he described clowning as being "about the heart."

The single ring and the tent's footprint shape what you see inside. The City says every seat is within 20 feet of the ring.

The parks department that kept a circus running

Redwood City's parks staff have brought the circus back for years. Pulse reported that Giovanni first came to Redwood City through a friend who introduced him to Lucas Wilder, then the city's Assistant Parks, Recreation & Community Services Director. Wilder has championed the circus ever since.

The clearest example came in 2020. With Wilder's support, the company ran a drive-in circus for seven weeks at the Port of Redwood City. Cars parked in front of a 23-foot LED screen showing the live performance, including a horse vaulting act and a trapeze artist, and the sound came through car radios. Giovanni told Pulse, "During the pandemic, we were the only circus in the world working. And they were the only city in the world that had a circus." He described Wilder as someone who "really wants the best for his town. And we're one of those items."

The show is still run through the City. The tickets, the FAQ and the parking directions all sit on redwoodcity.org, under the Parks, Recreation & Community Services events pages.

The run kept moving later on the calendar

The dates show how the arrangement has grown. City listings and the circus's tour archive record a run that got longer and moved later into the fall.

In 2017 it was a two-and-a-half-week October visit. It now opens in November and runs through Thanksgiving weekend, and the City advertises "special holiday showtimes." The longer run means more nights in the lot. In 2026 the City calendar has performances on most Wednesdays through Sundays and several Tuesdays, from opening night Friday, November 6, through a final pair of matinees on Sunday, November 29. There is no show on Thanksgiving Day, November 26.

How a night at the lot works this November

Because the City runs the show, the logistics are spelled out on its FAQ page. Here is an evening in order:

1. Buy ahead. Tickets are sold online through Afton up to showtime. Once a show sells out, no more tickets are sold at the door. Starting November 6, the tent also sells tickets in person, cash or card, beginning 45 minutes before the first show of the day. All sales are final, with no refunds or exchanges.
2. Park in a garage. The library lot is the venue, so the City points ticket holders to longer-meter spaces in the Box, Jefferson and Marshall garages. The Redwood City Caltrain station is downtown.
3. Arrive 30 minutes early. There is an outdoor pre-show in front of the tent. Seating is general admission, and the tent opens right after the pre-show, so there is no early entry.
4. Plan for about two hours. Concessions include popcorn, cotton candy, pizza and hot dogs, and food is allowed inside the tent. Pets are not.

Prices go up as the run goes on. The City's 2026 ticket table lists weekday prices for weeks one through three at $22 for front row, $17 for adults and $12 for youth. Weekday shows on November 11 and in week four rise to $25, $20 and $15. Weekend prices are higher, with front-row seats reaching $37 later in the month. Youth tickets cover ages 2 to 11, and adult tickets start at age 12. The least expensive seats are on weeknights early in the run.

On the animals, the City says the circus uses only domestic animals that are the owners' personal pets, and that some dogs in past shows were rescued from shelters by the Zoppé family. The 2026 lineup listed on the City page includes acrobatics, horses, dogs, live music and Nino. Last year, The Almanac listed Patrick McGuire as ringmaster and the theme as "Legacy."

Before the matinee or after the late show

The tent sits downtown, and the City's FAQ suggests pairing the show with a meal nearby. A few newer places fit around showtimes:

• Con Azucar Café, 871 Middlefield Road. This is the closest of the group, on the same street as the tent. It serves Mexican coffee drinks, pan dulce and sandwiches. It soft-opened in May 2025, and Redwood City Pulse reported hours of 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily when it opened. Confirm before a late visit.
• Sushi Kinsen, 2074 Broadway. A chef-curated omakase that opened October 1, 2025. Pulse reported seatings at 5:40 and 8 p.m. on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays through Sundays. The 5:40 seating works after a Saturday or Sunday 3 p.m. show.
• Sushi Ai, 2432 Broadway. A reservation-only, 17-course omakase that opened in January 2025, with seatings at 5:30 and 8:15 p.m., Wednesday through Sunday, according to Pulse.

The circus also overlaps with other events on the City's November calendar. On Saturday, November 7, a free art project at Magical Bridge Playground at 1:30 p.m. sits between the noon and 3 p.m. circus shows. Día de los Muertos is at 3:30 p.m. on Sunday, November 8, and Science Fun Fest opens at 10 a.m. on Saturday, November 14. ART on the Square's 11th Annual Holiday Show starts at 10 a.m. on Saturday, November 21, two hours before that day's first circus matinee. Two weeks after the tent comes down, Hometown Holidays brings a parade and the tree lighting downtown on Saturday, December 12.

Opening night is Friday, November 6, at 6:30 p.m.

Downtown Redwood City shows up in a lot of plans to move down the Peninsula, and people often ask what an ordinary November weekend there looks like. If you're thinking about trading a city condo for a home within reach of Middlefield Road, Leslie Bauer and the Highrises2Homes team can walk you through how the move would work. Schedule a Consultation.