A CIRCUS TREAT EN ESPANOL.

Byline: Sandra Barrera Staff Writer

Senoras y senores, ladies and gentlemen, ninos de todas las edades, children of all ages ... you might notice something different about the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus when it pulls into the Los Angeles Sports Arena.

Beginning Aug. 2 and running through Aug. 6, the circus gives L.A.'s contingent of Spanish speakers a circo - as they call it - of their own. With Mexican clowns, a celebrity ringmaster and strolling mariachis at intermission, this could be the start of a new tradition for the circus that prides itself as ``The Greatest Show on Earth.''

Just how different is a bilingual circus? Not too different, explains Brian Bouquet, who came up with the concept.

Audiences will simply hear announcements in Spanish first. Guest ringmaster Roberto Miguel, a Mexican actor and singer, will be presenting the circus in Spanish followed by ringmaster Michael James McGowan, who will be presenting in English.

``People are not going to miss anything if they go to the Spanish performances,'' says Bouquet, marketing and sales manager for Ringling Bros. ``You're still going to see death-defying feats every three minutes.''

The bilingual performances were inspired by a series of shows that Ringling Bros. did a few years ago in L.A.

Bouquet says the turnout was phenomenal.

``We did about 25 percent of our total business in one day,'' he says. ``So just looking over the numbers, it made sense that we go after a campaign that targets the Latino market.''

On opening day, the circus will kick off its L.A. performances with a free parade along Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard complete with elephants, high school marching bands and vintage horse-drawn circus carriages.

The procession, which begins at 3:30 p.m., travels westward on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, heads south on Menlo, goes east on 43rd and makes its way north on Hoover before disbanding in the parking lot of the L.A. Sports Arena.