What does a family night at the circus cost in Redwood City this month? It depends on which night you choose. The Zoppé Italian Family Circus is back in the Main Library parking lot at 1044 Middlefield Road from November 6 through 29, its 19th year in the city. The City's ticket table prices every show by week and by day of the week. The same seats cost less on a school-night evening than on a Saturday, and less in mid-November than over Thanksgiving weekend.
The first week is done. From today, Thursday, November 12, the lowest fixed prices left are on three 6:30 p.m. weeknight shows: tonight, Wednesday the 18th, and Thursday the 19th. The highest prices of the run are on the final Friday through Sunday.
The Price Table, Mapped to the Dates Still Ahead
The City's Admission & Tickets page lists the weekday and weekend prices separately, by week. Here is how they match up with the shows still on the calendar.
| Remaining dates | Shows | Front row, all ages | Adult, 12 and up | Youth, ages 2 to 11 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thu Nov 12, Wed Nov 18, Thu Nov 19 | 6:30 p.m. | $22 | $17 | $12 |
| Fri Nov 13 to Sun Nov 15 | Week 2 weekend | $27 to $33 | $20 to $26 | $15 to $21 |
| Fri Nov 20 to Sun Nov 22 | Week 3 weekend | $24 to $34 | $17 to $27 | $12 to $22 |
| Tue Nov 24, Wed Nov 25 | 6:30 p.m. | $25 | $20 | $15 |
| Fri Nov 27 to Sun Nov 29 | Thanksgiving weekend | $30 to $37 | $23 to $30 | $18 to $25 |
Take two adults and two children between 2 and 11. On November 18 or 19, that family pays $58 for regular seats. Over Thanksgiving weekend, the same four seats run $82 at the bottom of the City's range and $110 at the top. The Thanksgiving-week weeknights fall in between at $70. That's an extra $3 per ticket in every category over the earlier weeknights.
Week 3's weekend range also starts lower than Week 2's. Its floor of $17 for adults and $12 for youth matches the weeknight price. Front row is the exception there, starting at $24 that weekend against $22 on the weeknights. The ticket seller, Afton, shows live availability for each performance, and a time slot that no longer appears online is sold out.
What Each Week Still Has to Offer
The schedule thins out on weeknights and gets busier on weekends. That shapes which price tier you can actually use.
Week 2, finishing now
- Thursday, Nov. 12: 6:30 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 13: 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 14: noon, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 15: noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Week 3
- Wednesday, Nov. 18: 6:30 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 19: 6:30 p.m.
- Friday, Nov. 20: 4 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 21: noon, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 22: noon, 3 p.m. and 6 p.m.
Week 4, Thanksgiving week
- Tuesday, Nov. 24: 6:30 p.m.
- Wednesday, Nov. 25: 6:30 p.m.
- Thursday, Nov. 26: no shows
- Friday, Nov. 27: noon, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Saturday, Nov. 28: noon, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m.
- Sunday, Nov. 29: noon and 3 p.m., the final shows of the run
All the fixed-price weeknight shows start at 6:30 p.m. For daylight, you need a weekend, and Thanksgiving Friday is the only remaining weekday with a noon show. Both Friday evenings before Thanksgiving have a 4 p.m. show, the earliest start of those two days.
Saturday, November 21 has the most going on downtown. The City's November calendar lists ART on the Square's 11th Annual Holiday Show at 10 a.m. that day, ahead of circus shows at noon, 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. If you want a weekend show and a morning at the holiday art show, that Saturday works for both. It also falls in Week 3, the weekend with the lowest floor price.
A 6:30 Show Runs Past the Free Parking Window
The circus takes over the library lot, so the City's circus FAQ points ticket holders to downtown parking with longer meter limits, including the Box, Jefferson and Marshall garages.
Timing matters here. The FAQ asks guests to arrive 30 minutes early for the outdoor preshow, and the City describes the show as about two hours under the Big Top. That makes about two and a half hours parked before you walk back to the car.
The City's downtown parking page lists these garages:
- Marshall Garage, 750 Marshall: open 24 hours, first 1.5 hours free, then $1 to $2.50 an hour
- Jefferson Garage, 850 Jefferson: open 6 a.m. to 2 a.m., same 1.5 free hours and hourly rates
- Crossing 900/Box, 900 Middlefield: 5 p.m. to 2 a.m., $3 an hour
At Marshall or Jefferson, the free window covers the preshow and most of the first hour, so you'll likely pay for about one more hour at the posted rates. That's a small cost next to the ticket math above. If you're comparing a $17 weeknight adult seat with a $20 Thanksgiving-week seat, it's one more line in the budget. The City's parking page also says valid ADA placards allow free, unlimited parking in on-street spaces and surface lots, but city garages still charge.
How Tickets Are Sold
The City's ticket page sets these rules:
- Online sales through Afton stay open until showtime unless the show sells out.
- Beginning November 6, the box office at the tent sells tickets starting 45 minutes before the first show of the day and takes cash and credit cards.
- Once a show sells out, the page says no additional tickets are sold at the door.
- Bring the QR code confirmation for every ticket, printed or on a phone. Afton sends a confirmation email first and a second email with the tickets.
- There are no refunds or exchanges.
The last rule is the reason to choose your night carefully. You can't switch a Saturday ticket to a cheaper Wednesday later. Once you buy a 6:30 p.m. weeknight seat, that's the night you're going.
According to the City's FAQ, concessions include candy, popcorn, cotton candy, pizza, hot dogs, soft drinks and water, and food and drinks can be brought into the tent. The menu may change. For a 6:30 p.m. weeknight show, dinner can come from home. The FAQ also says the City provides a restroom trailer that includes an accessible portable restroom. There's no early entry to the tent, and seating starts after the preshow.
Why the Front Row Costs Only $5 More
Every seat in the tent is within 20 feet of the ring, according to the City's event page. Afton describes a one-ring show built around a story, with acrobatics, horses, clowning and audience participation. On the weeknight tier, a front-row seat costs $22, $5 more than an adult seat. In a tent that small, the front row puts you right next to the horses, the dogs and Nino the Clown's attempts to join the act.
Nino is the alter ego of Giovanni Zoppé, a sixth-generation circus performer who also directs the circus. The City's event page says he was inducted into the International Clown Hall of Fame in 2004 at age 32, its youngest inductee at the time. The family traces the circus back to Napoleone Zoppè and the circus he founded in Venice in the 19th century. Giovanni's father, Alberto Zoppè, an equestrian performer, brought it to America.
The family's ties to Redwood City go beyond the November booking. The City says Giovanni's son Julien was born at Sequoia Hospital and made his circus debut here at six days old. In its preview of the 2025 run, The Almanac reported that Alberto gave his final performance in Redwood City.
The Big Top comes down after the 3 p.m. show on Sunday, November 29. Until then, the lowest fixed prices in the run are $17 for adults and $12 for children on November 12, 18 and 19 at 6:30 p.m.
At Vision Real Estate, we keep track of the Peninsula's calendar, from the Big Top on Middlefield Road to Courthouse Square, the same way we keep track of its home values. If the holidays have you wondering what your Redwood City home is worth, ask us for a Free Property Valuation. We'll walk you through the numbers as carefully as this post walks through the ticket table.
