14 pics from the opening night of Montreal's outdoor circus festival (PHOTOS)

You’re not wrong to picture the circus inside a classic giant tent but Montreal, as usual, does things a bit differently.

The Montreal Circus Festival, known as LA RUE COMPLÈTEMENT CiRQUE, brings all of the big top flair to the streets, turning the city into an open-air circus ring.

Using the streets, parks, and sidewalks of the Quartier des Spectacles as stages, LA RUE COMPLÈTEMENT CiRQUE turns an urban landscape into a spectacle of colourful and high-flying performances.

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With the pooled support of Cirque Éloize, Les7 doigts de la main, Cirque du Soleil, and the National Circus School, LA RUE COMPLÈTEMENT CiRQUE has become the first North American outdoor international festival dedicated to circus arts.

The festival includes tightrope walkers, trapeze art, balancing, and trampoline acts, fire art, jugglers, gymnastics, live music, human pyramids, and participatory activities for all ages as these master street performers use the city’s landscape as their stages.

The festival kicked off its 10-day run last night and if you didn’t get a chance to check it out, here’s how the streets of Montreal looked during opening night.

La RUE COMPLÈTEMENT CiRQUE dangles around at the Quartier des Spectacles until July 14.

 

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A post shared by Manoela Selene (@manoela_selene) on Jul 3, 2019 at 8:09pm PDT

 

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A post shared by Benoit Z. Leroux (@benoit.z.l) on Jul 5, 2019 at 12:22am PDT

 

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A post shared by 𝙹𝙵𝚂𝙰𝚅𝙰𝚁𝙸𝙰 (@jfsavaria) on Jul 5, 2019 at 6:10am PDT

 

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A post shared by Félix Bernier (@felix_bernier) on Jul 5, 2019 at 6:26am PDT

 

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A post shared by ipat8 (@ipat8) on Jul 4, 2019 at 9:41pm PDT

 

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A post shared by ipat8 (@ipat8) on Jul 4, 2019 at 10:21pm PDT

 

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A post shared by Marie Cadoret (@mcadoret) on Jul 3, 2019 at 3:21pm PDT

 

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A post shared by Ahmed Labidi (@ahmedlabidimtl_) on Jul 5, 2019 at 6:20am PDT

 

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A post shared by André Querry (@andrequerry) on Jul 4, 2019 at 8:28pm PDT

 

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A post shared by Contrastimage.com (@eddymontreal) on Jul 4, 2019 at 2:40pm PDT

 

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A post shared by Chatime St-Denis (@chatimestdenis) on Jul 4, 2019 at 7:04pm PDT