Life is a circus in Montreal, Canada

Summer means festival season in Montréal, Canada's French and English speaking city.

Right now, the circus is very much in town with big tops and circular buildings replete with athletic action.

Coming up are the Jazz festival and Comedy festival (Just for laughs) and in August is the Montréal World Film Festival that will keep Montréalers entertained throughout the summer months.

On top of that Québec's largest city, part of an archipelago on the Saint-Laurent river,  has a fine gourmet culture, quaint cobbled streets with a lovely array of boutique shops for the discerning shopper.

If you have ever dreamt of running away to the circus but never got round to it then now's your chance.

Montréal's first ever circus festival Montreal Completement Cirque is in town from now to the end of July. Flash acrobatic performances crop up around street corners while big top shows entertain with sensational performances.

Troupes are made of more than 100 circus artists from around the world including Russia, Belgium, Czech Republic, Spain, Wales and of course Canada.

Around Montréal's northwest neighbourhood of Saint-Michel, an official circus region, you can immerse yourself in circus culture and find that contemporary circus is a far cry from the lion tamer and Co Co the Clown.

Thanks to Cirque de Soleil and other pioneers such as the National Circus school circus and the City of Circus Arts La Tohu, a Quebecois expression meaning pandemonium, circus has been turned into cabaret, theatre, and dancing shows.

Cirque du Soleil offer a Big Top sophisticated and highly polished spectacular, Les 7 Doigts de La Main entertain with their cabaret style performances and Cirque Eloize's ID show is vibrant and energetic comprising hoodys and rival gangs where brinkmanship means dare devil acts are entwined into an edgy story.

At La Tohu the audience stands in a circular performance hall custom built for circus arts, while the show goes on above behind and all around them.

The world famous Cirque du Soleil was founded in 1984, two years after Montreal's National Circus School, with a handful of 20 street artists, but now employs 4000 employees including 1000 artists who put on around 20 shows a year around the world.

More Circus

Visit the elegant McCord Museum to see the Dream Weavers Costumes by Cirque du Soleil up close. Costumes are outstlandish and intricately designed and were actually worn by the performers. Entry costs C$13 (around £9).

Learn to trapeze with Cirque Carpe Diem. During the festival the company is running the Trapezium Flying Trapeze Centre in Montréal located Tohu in the circus districts. Just C$5 (just over £3) buys you a few minutes of tuition and a unique trapeeze experience that sees you swinging through the air like a real trouper!

Get fit with a Jakari Fit to Fly class at the MAA, a new gym experience from Reebok and Cirque du Soleil. The choreographed class will see you suspend, bounce and swing your way through a heart pumping workout. Your teacher may well be Nathalie Lambert, a former speed skater who won 4 Olympic medals and numerous world champion titles.

Sight seeing

Take a hike up the 234 metre high Mount Royal. The surrounding Mount Royal park was landscaped by Frederck Law Olmsted, who was also the creator of New York's Central Park. Views from the top take in much of the city and especially the 1976 Olympic stadium - now a casino.

A legacy of the olympics is the Gilles Villeneuve F1 race track that envelopes the casino, and for those who long to have a crack at those chicanes, fee free to get on your bike, your car, skate board or roller skate and break a leg!

For something less racey Montréal's answer to Kew Gardens, its Botanical Gardens is nearby on the corner of in Masonneuve Park. A staggering 185 acres comprising thematic gardens and greenhouses.

Museum lovers should arm themselves with Museum Card (around £27). It is valid for three days and it gives access to 34 city museums. Options include the Montreal Museum of Archaeology and History  and the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, the Museum for Contemporary Arts

Getting around

Montréal has a fabulously successful automated Bixi bike hire system and this is a popular alternative to public transport. Anyone can hire a bike for 30 minutes or for the day and it is operational 24/7 from May to November. Pick one up from any Bixi station and leave it any any Bixi station. Payment is by credit card. Charges are C$5 a day and the first 30 minutes are free.

Lunch at...

Schwartz's deli is a familiar sight in Montréal and regarded as an institution. It has existed since 1928 as an American-style diner offering  the city's staple lunch time treat - smoked meat. Sandwiches come deep filled with slab of smoked beef (prepared, they say, with a secret recipe). They don't look pretty, but taste absolutely delicious.

Dine at...

La Fabrique. 3609 Rue Saint Denis
French cuisine is served in this bistro style restaurant. Relax in a rustic backdrop with exposed brick work and lots of wood decor. The menu offers  French cuisine with a twist. If you have ever tried Jos. Louis, a Quebecker's favoured snack, you will love La Fabrique's version: a chocolate fondant, filled with a pastry cream and rich chocolate sauce ($9).

Retail therapy
For exclusive shopping head for Rue St Paul for a fine selection of exclusive designer boutiques. Many have fine arts of work by local artists on sale too.

Or head downtown Rue Ste-Catherine for a host of international chain stores.

Get there

Air Canada and British Airways both fly from Heathrow to Montréal every day.

Where to stay

InterContinental, 360 Rue Saint-Antoine Ouest. This centrally located hotel offers casually chic accommodation with spacious rooms and a cosy wine bar. Doubles from C$220 (£147), excluding breakfast.

Find other hotels in  Montréal

More information

* Montréal tourism 

* Montréal Completement Cirque

* Cirque du soleil

* Cirque Eloize:

* Les 7 Doigts de la Main

17 July 2010