Cirque du Soleil Raises Grand Chapiteau in San Francisco

The first visible sign of the arrival of Cirque du Soleil and its live production TOTEM in San Francisco is the raising of the blue-and-yellow Grand Chapiteau (Big Top) and the set-up of the Cirque du Soleil Village. This event took place today at AT&T Park in San Francisco where a team of 60-plus men and women have hoisted more than 100 steel poles from the ground up.

About the Grand Chapiteau and the Cirque du Soleil Village:
* The Grand Chapiteau seats more than 2,600 people.
* The entire site set-up takes 8 days. This includes installation of entrance, hospitality and rehearsal tents, box office, administrative offices and kitchen.
* The Grand Chapiteau stands 19 meters high, 51 meters in diameter.
* The 4 masts stand at 25 meters tall each.
* 550 pegs are required to hold the Grand Chapiteau firmly to the 4,500 square meters of asphalt.
* The Grand Chapiteau, the Tapis Rouge and Artistic tents are all climate control with air conditioning in warm seasons or heating for colder seasons.
* TOTEM travels via 65 trailers carrying more than 1,200 pounds of equipment for the tour.

Box office
Also as part of Cirque du Soleil village, a box office will be set up at the front of the Grand Chapiteau. Regular box office hours are from 2 hours prior to show time to 30 minutes after beginning of the show. The box office is closed on Mondays.

Tickets can also be purchased at all time online via www.cirquedusoleil.com/totem.