Was it a scam, a misunderstanding or just one big circus act?

Posters advertising a “Family Fun Circus” showed up overnight and without explanation at many Powell businesses, claiming the businesses had free children’s tickets available inside on Monday.

All that was known about the circus was what was printed on poster — that a “circus of magical wonders” was going to be held at a Northwest College auditorium on July 5. Tickets were being sold by calling the 907 area-code number, which was printed on plain paper and taped onto the poster.

“We were trying to find out where they came from — everyone had the posters, and nobody knew where they came from,” said Powell Police Chief Roy Eckerdt. “Nobody knows how or why they showed up.”

A similar poster showed up in Jackson last week, claiming a circus was going to be held at the Jackson fairgrounds on June 22, though no circus was scheduled, according to the town of Jackson. That event also had ticket sales done over the phone, and the community of Jackson was alerted that it was a scam and requested any sightings of the posters be reported to law enforcement personnel.

Powell Police spoke with Northwest College staff on Monday and found that Candy Land Circus had requested the auditorium space but hadn’t paid a deposit, Eckerdt said.

“It was really similar, actually the same tickets Jackson was reporting for their fairgrounds,” Eckerdt said, noting the difference here was NWC knew an organization wanted to do something, but nothing was official.

“It is showing up almost everywhere in the state,” Eckerdt said. The circus showed up in the western end of Wyoming first, and ticket sales were reported in Byron, Greybull and Meeteetse.

“It was apparently for a ‘magic show,’ and they sought to rent the Nelson Performing Arts Center,” said Mark Kitchen, vice president for public relations at the college.

When the Tribune called the number on the Powell poster, Chuy Castillo spoke on behalf of Candy Land Circus and said they were a traveling act from Sarasota, Florida.

The posters in Powell were put up prior to finding out about the permitting requirements, which was why the show was canceled, Castillo said.

The city of Powell has ordinances requiring circuses and carnivals to get permits, but nobody contacted the city for a permit, Eckerdt said.

“It heightens our concerns when they want to buy tickets over the phone with a card for an event we can’t confirm is coming,” Eckerdt said. “On the remote possibility it is legit, they need to go through the channels to let the community know they are coming.”

The college charges a nominal rental fee to cover utilities and custodial costs, but Candy Land hadn’t paid the fee, nor did they sign the liability waiver, Kitchen said.

“Those things, coupled with the Police Department’s posting of the potential scam” led to the college deciding to not allow the group to rent the auditorium, Kitchen said.

The college often receives requests to use facilities from people outside of the area and from for-profit organizations, but when they find out about the fees and parameters for usage, the college doesn’t hear from them again, Kitchen said.

Eckerdt said he searched for Candy Land Circus’ phone number and it came up as a different group. He was unable to locate other Wyoming-based events with the same phone number.

“It all comes down to about the scam thing. If they don’t want it, there’s nothing we can do about it,” Castillo said.

He also said the circus performed in other towns and put up similar posters beforehand without problems.

The circus group’s performances have been documented as legitimate in other communities. On July 23, 2015, the Pierce County Tribune reported on Candy Land Circus’ performance in Rugby, North Dakota.

Castillo said Candy Land Circus does not have any plans to reschedule a performance in Powell.

“The show will go on somewhere else,” Castillo said. “It’s like a vehicle going down the street — you can’t stop.”

Anyone who purchased tickets for the circus that never came to Powell should call their card company and stop the charge, Eckerdt said.