Spring just wouldn't be spring in Baltimore without the annual tradition of "Lunch with the Elephants" at Lexington Market. Baltimore is the only city in the country treated to this unique tradition.
Every March when Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus makes its yearly stop at Baltimore's 1st Mariner Arena, the circus elephants, along with a gaggle of clowns, take a stroll up Eutaw Street to Lexington Market to enjoy a vegetarian buffet of elephantine proportions.
The annual lunch engagement at the oldest of Baltimore's six public markets includes 100 oranges, 1,000 apples, 500 heads of lettuce, 700 bananas, 500 carrots, 20 loaves of Italian bread and some very messy watermelons.
The pachyderm parade is always met with a host of onlookers, often schoolchildren on field trips, who greet the elephants with cheers. To add to the festive air, the Junkyard Saints play Ragtime and Dixieland tunes and one lucky school wins 100 tickets to the circus.
2008 Details
When: Wednesday, March 19, noonWhere: Lexington Market, South Parking Lot
