Cirque du Soleil Returns to Melbourne With OVO, Beginning Today

The first visible sign of the return of Cirque du Soleil and its live production OVO in Melbourne is the raising of its trademark blue and yellow Big Top and the Cirque du Soleil village. The event, which took place today at Melbourne Docklands, marks the return of the trademark Big Top after a 4 year absence. A team of 60-plus men and women hoisted more than 100 steel poles from the ground up to raise the Big Top tent.

The Melbourne season of OVO commences tonight, January 17 2013.

A few technical facts about the Big Top and the Cirque du Soleil Village:
• The Big Top stands 20 metres high and is 50 metres in diameter;
• The 4 masts stand at 24 metres tall each;
• The entire site set-up takes 8 days. This includes the installation of the entrance, hospitality and rehearsal tents, box office, administrative offices and kitchen.
• More than a thousand pegs are required to hold the Big Top firmly to the ground; each of these pegs measures about 1.5 metres.
• The Big Top seats more than 2,500 people;
• The Big Top, the VIP Rouge and Artistic tents are all climate controlled with air conditioning in warm seasons and heating for colder seasons;
• OVO travels in Australia by train, via 80 containers, carrying more than 775 metric tons of equipment for the tour.

Tickets are available and can be purchased online viawww.cirquedusoleil.com/ovo for more details.