The special opens with Snoopy hearing some music. He follows it and finds a circus unpacking. He notices three poodles and immediately falls in love with the white one, named Fifi. The dogs' trainer, a girl named Polly, sees the beagle and pulls him inside the circus tent. The following day, Peppermint Patty telephones Charlie Brown and tells him that all the students at her school have been given the next day off to see the circus. Charlie Brown tells her that he won't be going to school the next day either and they decide to see the circus together.