Summer in Montréal, poutine and beer, music drifting down cobble-stoned streets and thanks to  Montréal Complètement Cirque festival–which is in its 8th year– circus everywhere you turn. The savvy public of Montreal may find it quite normal to see droves of circus students scaling a tower or gliding across high wires two stories up but they still delight in the endless street shows and international performances that pop up every July. Perhaps that is because they feel quite at home surrounded by circus culture as Montréalhouses the Cité des Arts du Cirque (a triad of the Cirque du Soleil headquarters, the professional circus school École nationale de cirque and TOHU the world class circus venue). It is also home to several notable circus companies such as Cirque Éloize and 7 Fingers. Still, for 10 days in summer (this year from July 6th-16th), the circus ramps up for the festival, drawing an international crowd of fans, performers and circus talent scouts looking to find the perfect shows for their venues abroad. As if that weren’t enough, this yearMontréalis going above and beyond the usual summer fanfare to celebrate its 375th birthday, which translates to even more circus-going opportunities and there will be an International Market of Contemporary Circus taking place midweek to give circus professionals the opportunity to network and program their shows. To help you see it all, we’ve created a cheat sheet for the newcomer who is interested in taking in as much as possible for the festival.

  INDOOR PROGRAMMING Tabarnak by Cirque Alfonse, Canada Festival opening show and WORLD PREMIERE July 5 to 11 TOHU The bearded darlings of Quebec circus are back with a new show, this one mashes up rock with religion and circus in what will surely be a thrilling mix. Vice and Vertu by Les 7 Doigts, Canada WORLD PREMIERE July 10 to 16 and July 18 to 23 Society for Arts and Technology   In what promises to be one of the mos...