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Cirque du Soleil leaves Bellvitge after eight years and looks for a new home in Barcelona
Cirque du Soleil is preparing to say goodbye to Bellvitge after eight years based in L’Hospitalet de Llobregat. The Canadian company will leave in October the large plot where it has set up its big top since 2016, while the City Council prepares a new phase for these grounds with green spaces and public facilities.
The farewell will have its own name: Kurios. Cabinet of Curiosities. The show will open on 3 September and remain on the bill until 18 October, becoming the last production by the company that can be seen at this site beside Travessia Industrial and the Estadi Municipal.
Over these years, the plot has become a regular stop for people arriving from Barcelona and other metropolitan municipalities to see Cirque du Soleil’s major productions. Productions such as Totem, Luzia and Alegría have passed through the big top, establishing L’Hospitalet as the company’s base during its visits to Barcelona.
Now the City Council wants to reclaim the approximately 19,000 square metres occupied by the circus. The land will be allocated to new public facilities and green spaces, bringing an early end to an agreement that originally allowed the company to remain there until 2030.
The departure does not mean, however, that Cirque du Soleil wants to leave Barcelona. The company is looking for another plot within the metropolitan area that can meet the needs of a production of this size: enough space for the big top, truck access, technical areas and the capacity to receive thousands of spectators.
There are already three possible locations on the table, although for the moment they have not been made public. The intention is to find a stable solution that will allow Barcelona to remain on the circus’s regular international-show circuit once the Bellvitge installation has been dismantled for good.
Before that change comes Kurios, a production with around fifty artists combining acrobatics, humour and a universe inspired by inventors and fantastic machines. Performances last around two hours and five minutes, including an interval, and tickets are already on sale.
The change leaves two questions open on either side of Gran Via: what form Bellvitge’s future public space will take and where the next great white big top will appear. Until 18 October, however, the scene will remain recognisable: lights, masts and spectators arriving in L’Hospitalet for a final Cirque du Soleil season on the plot it occupied for eight years.