"the whole circus" means a situation or event that is chaotic, confusing, or full of excitement and activity. It implies a lot of things happening at once, like a circus with all the performers, animals, and different acts. Full definition
The people who believe that the rapture is going to happen — that one day god will «beam up» all those who happen to believe the right flavor of Christianity, and they'll float up into the sky to be with God while the world is destroyed — are only marginally less kooky than the likes of Harold Camping, who set a date on the whole circus. (religion.blogs.cnn.com)
He was the one who started this whole circus. (justarsenal.com)
Acting like the whole circus was entirely the fault of the silliness of the international signing system is patently ridiculous, and requires you to ignore his extremely competent representation and years of experience dealing with contract negotiations. (sbnation.com)