Circus cancelled after air conditioning issues at NRG

ByLauren Lea KTRK logo
Friday, July 29, 2016
Air conditioning goes out at NRG
An air conditioning failure forced the cancellation of a circus performance at NRG Stadium. Could something similar happen on Super Bowl Sunday?

HOUSTON (KTRK) -- Fans are certainly hoping the circus goes on as planned Friday morning at NRG Stadium, after last night's event was canceled.

Thursday night's performance of the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Baily Circus XTreme at NRG was cancelled overnight after some mechanical issues. The next performance is scheduled for 10:30 Friday morning.

According to the circus, technical issued cause a shutdown of all air conditioning inside NRG Stadium. NRG spokesperson Nina Jackson says they check all of the systems before big events.

Jackson said there was some issue with condensation, but they didn't have many details beyond that on why the AC went out.

"We have a system of preventive maintenance in place right now, so it's part of our standard operating procedure," she said. "At this point, I don't have any indication it's going to affect any other performances."

No word on whether the AC is fixed at this time. Jackson did say they did not expect the AC failure to impact other performances.

All customers who bought tickets at the NRG Stadium box office or through Ticketmaster for the Thursday night's performance may exchange tickets for tickets of equal value to any of the seven remaining performances, or they can request a full refund.

"They said they don't know if the air conditioner will be fixed or not, so they exchanged the tickets, but right now they're not sure if there's even going to be a show tomorrow," said Quiana Fuqua. She woke her daughters at 4:30am to go to work with her before tonight's show. They got new tickets for Friday's show.

"She's especially upset because she likes to sleep in and she's going to have to get up and go to work with me again."

"We were a little bit disappointed. We came all the way from Huntsville," Lacy Wilkinson said. She and her kids drove two hours in the rain to get to the show.

"We had about 14 people we were bringing today but we rescheduled for Saturday so we'll make it then."

Customers should visit their original point of purchase for exchanges or refunds.