For one week every July, downtown Montreal becomes a circus celebration and a gathering place for industry professionals through Tohu’s International Market for Contemporary Circus (MICC). In this review, performer and teacher Jackie Houghton takes us through two and a half jam-packed days at MICC 2023… including the amazing shows in its roster.

Montréal in the summer has a special sort of feeling about it. The streets thrum with the energy of people enjoying the multitude of events that the city hosts throughout the warmest months of the year. Avenues are closed to traffic, and cafes and restaurants spill out onto the roadways. Festivals of all kinds fill the theatres and the streets with activity. Many will come for the comedy or the jazz, but we are here for the circus!  The Marché international de cirque contemporain (MICC)—for us Anglophones, the International Market for Contemporary Circus—is presented by Tohu and embedded as a four-day professional event within the Montréal Complement du Cirque festival. It is an international gathering of circus artists, presenters, producers, and other circus professionals, all descending upon Tohu and the surrounding area for various panels, workshops, networking events, and to catch some shows,...