The first Belle Vue Circus took place in 1922, but it was not considered a success. The next was staged in 1929, after the company negotiated a deal with the Blackpool Tower Company to provide acts and equipment for what subsequently became a regular Christmas event held in the Kings Hall. One of the first arrivals from Blackpool was ringmaster George Lockhart, known as "the prince of ringmasters". Lockhart became synonymous with the Belle Vue Circus, and his face was used on many advertising posters. Zoo superintendent Gerald Iles included some of the zoo's animals in the circus, in a feature called Noah's Ark.