Live events are making their way back to Prince George in a big way this summer.
During the Canada Day long weekend, Cirque du Soleil will be gracing the CN Centre with their bug themed show, OVO.
“Any Cirque du Soleil is a big show for us,” said CN Centre Manager Glen Mikkelsen.
“They travel with more trucks than any others, it’s twenty-plus trucks, and so just the size and scale of putting the Cirque du Soleil show into the CN Centre is challenging, but as we’ve seen by the reaction from the people around, it’s definitely worth it.”
Tourism Prince George CEO Colin Carson added that OVO first premiered in Montreal in 2009, and has been performed in more than 30 cities in six countries.
“OVO is also the largest flying act undertaken by Cirque du Soleil, and to support this act, there are 80 cables which have to be installed for the performance,” Carson explained.
Mikkelsen said a Cirque du Soleil rigging expert came to measure the ceiling of the CN Centre, and that some changes will need to be made in the arena for the show, including removing some lighting fixtures, and taking down the centre ring digital screen on the score clock.
“He asked me in fact, ‘is your ice going to be in or out?’, and I said out,” Mikkelsen said.
“I thought ‘why would that matter?’, well it actually matters because it gives them an extra inch-and-a-half. That show is so tight to fit into our space, that that inch-and-a-half makes a difference.”
Tickets for the show will go on sale, starting Monday, April 11th.