If you’re looking for some Memorial Day weekend merriment, the family-run traveling Circus Vazquez is back in town. The traditional circus features a live orchestra and performers from Italy, Chile, Spain, Czech Republic, Mexico and Ukraine.

“It’s very exciting for the circus people to go in the ring — as soon as you get into the ring and you feel all the circus magic, you just feel alive,” said ringmaster Memo Vazquez. “Circus is for children for 1 to 100 years [old]. … Circus has no borders and no language, and this is a very, very nice thing.”

Five brothers started Circus Vazquez in Mexico City in 1969, and the circus has made the Chicago area one of its stops for more than 20 years. For most of its history, the show has been conducted in Spanish, but the pandemic prompted the circus to make a change.

“We are known for the Latino community for more than 20 years here in the States,” Vazquez said. “At the beginning, we did the show only in Spanish, but after the pandemic, Ringling Brothers closed, Cirque du Soleil closed, a lot of shows closed. So we were getting audiences from all over and we decided … to do the show in English.”

Vazquez is a member of the third generation of his family to be part of the circus.

“Everything started with my grandparents,” Vazquez said. “My mother and my father both came from a circus family. It started in 1969 over there as a very small circus and started to grow and grow. And now we’re here and we are considered one of the best circuses in the world.”

Circus Vazquez is in Gurnee through May 29 and moves to Schaumburg from June 2-11. Ticket information is on the Circus Vazquez website.