Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week is only just getting underway at Lincoln Center, but when the fashion community finishes its convention on September 16, the new tent complex in Damrosch Park won't disappear immediately. The Big Apple Circus will take over the Upper West Side spot in October and is reconfiguring the current structure to incorporate a big-top tent for its show and, for the first time, additional venues for event rental. To develop the site, dubbed the Event Tents, the Big Apple Circus tapped Roy Braeger of Roy Braeger Events, who will manage the spaces and provide on-site design and production.

The Event Tents will be available from October 21 through January 9, 2011, in the area of the Lincoln Center campus where the venue known as the Tent at Lincoln Center goes up in the spring.

There will be several spaces within the Event Tents complex, including areas for receptions and seated functions. Aside from the main circus tent, the largest of these is the Rotunda, the 10,000-square-foot room that currently serves as the lobby to the Fashion Week tents. Adjacent to this will be three small lounges, which range in size from 400 square feet to 1,200 square feet. The key section for private events is the 7,500-square-foot Gold Room, which will offer a blank, open-plan space.

The Event Tents will also be available for private, corporate, or nonprofit functions. Group packages will include the circus show and dinner or cocktails and hors d'oeuvres with circus entertainment followed by dinner.