Carnivà le Lune Bleue Recreates Depression-era Carnival

Authentic 1917 ferris wheel (Pam McLennan/Epoch Times)Pam McLennan/Epoch Times

Step right up ladies and gentlemen, to the most authentic 1930s-style carnival in North America! Carnivàle Lune Bleue, located in the Kars Fairgrounds near Manotick, is a portal into the almost mythical past of travelling carnivals during the Great Depression.

The carnival atmosphere was charming and authentic. It was possible to suspend disbelief and become immersed in the magical carny ambience. On a fine summer evening, you can purchase a ticket from an old-fashioned ticket booth, and pass beneath the lighted Carnivàle archway. Then stroll along the grounds festooned with strung lights, ride a 1917 Ferris wheel or a watch a whirling 1936 three-abreast wooden carousel. You could also try your luck at games of chance that offer prizes such as reproduction teddy bears, or test your strength with a wooden mallet.

But other wonders beckon. A fortuneteller sits at a table beneath a canvas tent waiting to reveal secrets of the past, present, and future through tarot cards. In the background is a restored 1936 school bus that was converted into an illustrated carnival caravan. Hand-painted period signage throughout the site offers glimpses into the wonders available under the canvas of the Big Top or the striped tent housing the Ten-in-One Show.

Kars resident Wayne Van De Graaff, the executive director of the carnival, is a transplanted American from Utah who was inspired by family trips to Disney World and travelling side shows experienced in his childhood. The soft-spoken entrepreneur wanted to recreate a carnival world that is long gone but not forgotten. “When you walk through the gates I want you to feel the magic of the carnival from another era” he said. Van De Graaff hopes to stage this unique show here again next year and in the future take the act on the road.

Cirque de Maroc, performed under the Big Top combined elements of the carnival, circus, vaudeville, and burlesque shows with contemporary touches. Two sprightly clown acrobats introduced a troupe of six beautiful female acrobats who performed on apparatuses including chairs, hoops, a circular metal contraption, trapeze, aerial ropes, and an aerial hoop. It was not surprising to learn that the highly skilled troupe included Cirque du Soleil and Ringling Brothers-trained performers.

The Great Snakes of the World act featured an “eccentric snake hunter” of the 1930s and a female assistant who displayed a variety of potentially lethal snakes including a 20-foot Rock Python.

While the entire family could enjoy the first two shows, the Ten-in-One Carnival Diablo Show was billed as “not for the faint-hearted”. This period show featured Nikolai Diablo, a bizarre yet compelling host with cat’s eyes and a booming baritone voice. He performed stunts including drinking boiling water, swallowing razor blades, hammering a nail up his nostril, and purportedly piercing his tongue with a hook and using it to lift a basket of rocks. His sidekick was an amiable moustachioed strongman named Leviticus who bent steel bars, acted as human dartboard, and allowed himself to be strapped into an authentic electric chair and have 100,000 volts of electricity course through his body. Daring sword swallower Istvan Betyar amazed the crowd by swallowing a sword two inches longer than the human esophagus.

Carnival fare included the expected candy apples from the Carny Kitchen but also the unexpected – a gourmet cookhouse that offered main courses and desserts popular in the 1930s.
For someone like me, who avidly watched the Home Box Office series Carnivàle, which ran for two seasons from 2003 to 2005, a visit to Carnivàle Lune Bleue was a delight. My greatest disappointment was that I didn’t have time to tour the carnival museum, Congress of Wonders. Jim Conklin, son of the renowned “Patty” Conklin of Conklin Shows, the biggest amusement provider in Canada since the 1920s, donated the circus artifacts. Maybe next year!

Carnivàle Lune Bleue is open from 6 pm to midnight, Tuesdays through Saturdays. For more information visit the website at CarnivaleLuneBleue.com.