
Circus Historical Society Convention 2025
Hurry! Hurry! Hurry! Don’t delay! Step right up and register today for the amazing 2025 Circus Historical Society Convention in fabulous Las Vegas from October 22 to 25!
Program
This year’s convention will feature the rich circus history of Las Vegas and include an exciting competition performance of the Vegas Variety Circus Festival! The convention will begin at 3:00pm on Wednesday, October 22 and end on Saturday, October 25 after the 1:00pm performance of the Vegas Variety Circus Festival. Click here for the Vegas Variety Circus Festival website.
There will be an opening reception with jurors from the festival, sixteen circus history presentations on a wide range of topics, our annual banquet and auction, and a screening of historic Max Fleischer circus cartoons featuring Koko the Clown and Betty Boop presented by Fabulous Fleischer Cartoons Restored.
The convention will end with attendance at the first-round competition performance of the Vegas Variety Circus Festival under the beautiful Marinelli Bros. Circus big top in Craig Ranch Regional Park. You will not want to miss this exciting convention!
Click here for the preliminary schedule of activities. Please note that the Convention schedule is subject to change as we finalize event details.
Registration Rates
CHS Members and their guests/spouses can register at a rate of $250 per person through September 15, 2025. CHS Members must log on to our Back Yard (members-only) site to access the member registration rates. Click here to log on to the Back Yard.
The Non-member rate of $310 per person through September 15, 2025 includes a one-year membership and subscription to Bandwagon. Registration rates will be higher after September 15, 2025.
The full-time Academic rate is $150, and the full-time Student rate is $125.
Registration includes admission to the reception, presentations, banquet, auction, and the first-round competition performance of the Vegas Variety Circus Festival.
One Day Only rates are also available to anyone who wants to attend only one day of the convention, and a Virtual rate of $50 is available to attend the October 23 presentations online via Zoom.
Cancellation / Refunds: 50% through September 15. No refunds after September 15.
To register, click either the Green REGISTER button at the top left of the announcement or the Blue REGISTER button on the website page. CHS Members who are not logged on to the CHS Back Yard (members-only) site will need to authenticate to register at the Member Rate. To register by mail, click here to download the mail-in registration form.
Convention Hotel
All convention presentations and events, except for the performance of the Vegas Variety Circus Festival, will take place at Sunset Station Hotel & Casino at 1301 W Sunset Road in Henderson, Nevada 89014. This 457-room hotel and casino features a large gaming area, eleven restaurants and lounges, a 72-lane bowling center, and a luxury Imax theater.
To encourage camaraderie among the attendees, we reserved a block of rooms at the convention hotel from October 21 through October 25. The hotel rates in our room block vary depending on the day of the week.
The Circus Historical Society group rate, which includes the hotel service fee, averages out to only $135 per night, plus taxes, over the course of the convention!
Click here for room reservations or call the hotel at (888) 786-7389 and use code SCICHSC. The CHS group rate will only be available until September 22, 2025 or until our room block is filled, whichever comes first. The group rate includes free parking and internet service.
If you also want to reserve a room at the convention hotel either before or after the convention at the prevailing rate, we suggest that you call the hotel at (888) 786-7389 as soon as possible, ask about any available discounts, and request that your reservation be linked to your CHS group rate reservation.
Cirque du Soleil and Absinthe Discount Tickets
To give attendees an opportunity to attend other circus shows on their own while they are in Las Vegas, we did not schedule any convention activities after 6:00pm Thursday through Saturday evenings. If you would like to attend a Cirque du Soleil performance on your own, click here for showtimes and convention discounts. Information about discount tickets for Absinthe will be posted here at later date.
Auction Donations - Advertising - Sales Information
Contact Brian Hollifield at info@freedomauctions.com to donate items for sale at the convention auction.
Contact Bruce Hawley at president@circushistory.org for advertising, sponsorships, and sales table rental information. Click here for advertising and sales table rates.
We are looking forward to seeing you at the 2025 CHS Convention!