At the end of the holidays, it was not chocolates or New Year gifts that visitors to the Val de Garonne tourist office were looking for. No, their first requests are the last places in the 9th edition of the Mondoclowns festival which will be held this year not over three, but four days, from February 6 to 9. A crazy gamble from Thierry Planès and his team, who, this winter, decided to immerse spectators in a tale with Kazaam, a magical formula, inevitably, invented for the occasion.
Six performances
“The clowns will discover an imaginary world thanks to great illusionists and will try to become magicians… It will be funny, mysterious and poetic,” promises the director of the show, without revealing too much. To do this, he invited a host of artists.
The best known of them, the Italian clown Carillon, returns for the fourth time. “This year he will be with his daughter, Nox, who will create an aerial acrobatics number expressly for the festival, while singing,” describes Thierry Planès, his eyes still sparkling.
In terms of acrobatics, the festival also welcomes Xavier Bouyer and the common thread will be provided by a local couple: Erick Lantin and Valérie, to whom we owe the organization, for several years, of a magic festival in Barbaste.
Jimmy Delp, whose antics recall Jim Carrey in “The Mask,” will also appear in the show. The Toulouse native, nicknamed The Orange Magician, took part in the show “America’s got talent”.
Several artists involved in Cirque du Soleil will be present for the six performances of the event: the Ukrainian Anatoli Akerman who participated in the show “Ka” in Vegas, or the American Joel Baker, who contributed to “Love” , about the Beatles.
-We have opened an additional date because many people do not dare to come and see clowns
So many international names which tend to change the minds of those who are resistant to clowns. “Even if the shows are full from Friday to Sunday, we opened an extra date, because many people don’t dare come to see clowns,” admits Thierry Planès. Firstly because the cinema has made monsters of them (Editor’s note: starting with Stephen King’s “It”, which terrorized an entire generation) while their goal is to make people laugh. Then, it must be said that some circus clowns, of average quality, give a bad image. » These are not those chosen by the festival team which strives to integrate each performer into a very specific story.
Behind the scenes of the 2024 edition.
Thierry Breton / SOUTH WEST
And for those who are not ready to pay out of pocket, the director challenges them to come and admire the big parade on Saturday, which returns to its usual route, the work on Place Clemenceau completed. Another free event: an Urban Game on Saturday and Sunday, designed by Olivier Clercy, founder of the Musée des Mystères. Through an adventure in the streets of Marmande, you will have to solve puzzles to free illusionists, locked in a cupboard.
Prices: from 20 to 29 euros. Reservations at the tourist office and on 05 53 64 44 44. www.mondoclowns.com
