What’s On Edinburgh: see some of the best circus, comedy & dance shows for first time in Europe from Québec
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From Chilly Gonzales to Cirque Kalabanté – prepare to be astounded at this year’s Québec@EdFests, which is on from July 31 to August 26.
Specially curated acts
Having supported some of the best and most popular shows at Edinburgh Festival Fringe over the past 15 years, the Québec Government Office in London is once again proud to present a brilliant selection of performing artists from ‘la belle province’ to perform at Edinburgh’s Festivals in 2024.
The annual showcase spans a varied and exciting programme including circus companies, comedians, dancers, musicians and playwrights taking work to Edinburgh stages, from returning favourites to new shows not seen in Europe before. With shows in both Edinburgh International Festival and Edinburgh Festival Fringe, artists from Québec are set to make a huge impact in the Scottish capital this summer.
What’s on
After a hugely successful run in 2023, Cirque Kalabanté return with Afrique En Cirque – back by popular demand! Inspired by daily life in Guinea, this spectacular show shares the beauty, youth and artistry of African culture. Acrobats execute gravity-defying moves and human pyramids to the contemporary sounds of Afro-Jazz, percussion, and kora, representing the strength, agility and life’s joys of young Africans. This unforgettable journey filled with colour can be found at Assembly’s Main Hall from 1-26 August (except 7, 14, 21).
Provocative, dysfunctional and tender N.Ormes is the circus show where duo Agathe et Adrien push the limits and expectations of their own bodies and gender norms. Skilfully combining acrobatics and dance with an original score by Simon Leoza, the two protagonists navigate between complicity and power struggles in a quest for friendship and fairness through power and fluidity. Prepare to question your own assumptions and face blurred preconceptions at Assembly Roxy - Upstairs from 31 July – 25 August (except 7, 14, 21).
Guinness World Record holder Maxim Laurin performs a spectacular duet with Guillaume Larouche on a spinning teeterboard in Machine de Cirque’s Ghost Light: Between Fall and Flight at Underbelly’s Circus Hub on the Meadows from 3-24 August (except 12, 19). Featuring a blend of breathtaking acrobatic feats and poignant choreography, Ghost Light takes a deep look into the synergy of two highly skilled performers as teeterboard propels them toward each other in the euphoria of flight, accompanied by the levity of weightlessness and the fatality of the inevitable fall.
Multi-award-winning touring circus clowns Les Foutoukours make their grand return to Edinburgh this August with NoVa at Assembly Roxy - Upstairs from 1-25 August (except 12, 19). Through an innovative blend of acrobatic clowning, the show celebrates laughter, hope and perseverance, bringing to life the essence of childhood innocence and the boundless creativity that accompanies it.
Still cycling his way around the world, Dion Owen, Canadian comedian and true Cyclopath, makes his annual stop in Edinburgh with his show Cyclopath – Stand-Up and Songs. His ever-popular mix of the polished jokes, cycling propaganda and improvised keyboard songs pops up at Laughing Horse @ The Counting House from 1-25 August. Contributing to the local cycling community, Dion will be arriving in Edinburgh in advance of the Fringe to build and repair as many bikes as possible for performers to use, in partnership with The Bike Station. At the end of the festival the bikes will then be distributed to members of the community that don't have access to this form of transport.
Award-winning Canadian playwright Jesse Stong presents Dead Animals at the Space @ Surgeons’ Hall from 12 – 24 August (except 18). In this lively and heartwarming new play, Jesse returns to the cottage he grew up in with a photo and a cardboard box – the land is just as he left it, and his grandmother is brash as ever, but why did it take him so long to come back?
MARIBÉ — SORS DE CE CORPS’ sensory and immersive experience RADIOMATON arrives in Dance Base from 18 – 20 August. Installed in an individual photo booth-type booth and equipped with headphones broadcasting local radio, RADIOMATON questions the construct of truth, media contamination, “fake news” and the role of the body in the perception of information.
At the prestigious Edinburgh International Festival, Québécois piano virtuoso Jason Beck – best known as Chilly Gonzales, brings his brand-new show, GONZO. Chilly Gonzales is as well known for his intimate approach to the piano through his Piano album trilogy as for his undeniable talents as a showman in concerts that combine his classical training with a natural comedic flair. A collaborator with the likes of Jarvis Cocker, Feist, Drake and Daft Punk, Chilly returns to Edinburgh to share his new show at the Usher Hall on Sunday 11 August at 8pm.
Émilie Monnet, from Québec, and Waira Nina, from the Colombian Amazon, are interdisciplinary artists who seek to forge links between Indigenous people of the northern and southern hemispheres. In the European premiere of Nigamon / Tunai , Monnet and Nina invite audiences into a mesmerising performance, a contemporary ritual inspired by solidarity for the protection of water and resistance against extraction of resources. This multi-sensory experience immerses the audience in the traditional knowledge of their cultures and the struggles that bind them together and will be presented at The Studio on Potterrow from 15 – 18 August.
Once again, the well-known Performing Arts market CINARS will be accompanying a delegation of Québec artists, companies and cultural professionals to attend the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this August. They will have the opportunity to meet key actors, take part in professional events, and familiarise themselves with the festival. The attending companies CADIX production, L’Illusion, Théâtre de marionnettes, FÔVE Diffusion, and L'Orchestre D'Hommes-Orchestre, will be in Edinburgh from 19 – 23 of August. Meet them on 20 August at Summerhall during a special industry reception.
Book your tickets
Tickets are on sale now and can be found on the website here.