Clown Week Celebration at Showmen's Rest

If you grew up in any of the collar towns along the western edge of the city, you may remember hearing the legendary tale of the Great Circus Train Wreck of 1918. As the story goes, just before 4am, on a warm June night outside of Hammond, Indiana, the dozing conductor of an empty troop train barreled into the rear of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus train, which derailed and caught fire. An estimated 86 big-top employees perished and were later interred in Showmen’s Rest, a plot in Forest Park’s Woodlawn Cemetery. If you listen closely late at night outside the gates, you can still hear the pained cries of the circus elephants calling out for their lost companions.

Even if that last bit seems a little hard to swallow, especially considering the proximity of Brookfield Zoo, the stone elephant and roustabout statues that mark the performers’ graves provide a fitting backdrop for the International Clown Week celebrations. Presented by Woodlawn Cemetery and the West Suburban Clown Club, the family-focused celebration kicks off with a clown parade, which is followed by the laying of flowers and talks on the history of the Hagenbeck-Wallace Circus and Showmen’s Rest, which now has 750 plots. Meanwhile, there’s revelry to be had: mingle with clowns, munch on hot dogs off the grill, and compete in games like bozo buckets and pin the nose on the clown.

Bittersweet, like the—ahem—tears of a clown, the afternoon’s incongruous themes serve as a poignant reminder of an important moment in Chicagoland history.—Martina Sheehan