The circus has come to town.

As clowns, elephants and tightrope walkers arrived in Watkinsville Sunday to prepare for upcoming shows, few people probably noticed the dozens of behind-the-scenes workers setting up camp.

While The Cole Brothers Circus tent went up, Bill Dundee, marketing director for the circus – and the clown known as The Professor – paid a special tribute to those who work behind the scenes and make the shows possible.

“People think the circus is chaotic and there is not much organization,” Dundee said. “But there are people who plan for the circus months ahead of time.”

From grounds-keepers who make sure the lot is safe, to marketing directors who travel ahead of the show to promote it, many people are involved in the non-glamorous life that comes with the circus.

“It’s a major job,” Dundee said.

The day the circus rolls into town, a team of men called the 24-Hour Men work through the night to set up the big tent.

“It takes six hours for the tent to go up and be finished to go for the show that day,” he said. “The last show will end around 9:30, and then it takes about three hours to take the tent down. At midnight they travel the three to four hours it takes to get to the next town and start all over again.”

Each workday is long, and so is the tour.

“The performers are the same every show. The tour began in March and won’t end until the end of November. They work seven days a week,” Dundee said.

Many of the entertainers are sixth-generation circus performers. The Cole Bros. Circus features several children under the age of 14 who perform dangerous acts twice a day, every day.

“[These kids] are raised up around the circus and have been performing all their lives since they were old enough to walk,” Dundee said.

And their parents are involved in performing, taking care of the animals and selling tickets.

“It’s a different lifestyle than the average person. It’s not a 9 to 5 job. It takes a lot of work,” Dundee said. “I was 15 when the circus came to town, and off I went to join the circus as they say. I quit for 40 years and here I am. It’s in your blood. I enjoy the travelling and the people. It’s a people business.”

The Cole Bros. Circus is the oldest tent circus still in existence and it is also the largest travelling circus under the big top, seating 2,000 guests per show.

Some of the most dangerous acts performed under the tent can be found here.

“We have four guys on the wire, two guys on their shoulders, and an 11-year-old boy doing a handstand on their shoulders,” Dundee said.

Not to mention the motorcyclists doing loops in a 12-foot circumference gerbil ball, the dancers who hang from their hair and the man who gets shot from a cannon at 70 miles per hour.

“We keep the tradition alive,” the Professor said. “Any one of our acts is well worth the cost of admission.”