Toulouse. It’s the most anticipated cultural event: everything you need to know about the return of the Minotaur to the city

It is one of the most anticipated events on the streets of Toulouse in 2024. After the unforgettable urban show of 2018, the company La Machine will come back October 25, 26 and 27 in the city center of the Pink City, with a new urban opera called “The Gate of Darkness”. A free show, open to all.

In the first Opus, these are 900,000 people who had followed the show over 4 days. This year, François Delarozière, the artistic director of the Machine, and Jean-Luc Moudenc, the mayor of Toulouse, hopes for as much over three days.

A third giant machine

To do this, he has gone all out to renew his traveling show. Firstly by completing his squad of machines with a third machine. Toulouse News told you about it, this third machine was presented on Tuesday July 2, 2024.

Ten meters high and weighing 38 tons, this machine made with the face of a woman and the body of a scorpion, will wander with the Minotaur and theSpider in the streets of Toulouse, as announced by Jean-Luc Moudenc and François Delarozière this Tuesday morning.

“She will be at the center of the plot. She is a Cerberusa character who will decide to give you the right to go to hell. She is also there to go and get the damned souls and take them to hell,” explained François Delarozière, who specified that the construction of this machine took three and a half years in the Nantes workshops.

Video of the manufacturing of the new machine in Nantes

Participants of the Hellfest Festival discovered it a few days ago. After its visit to Toulouse, it will be positioned, year-round, on the site hosting the festival, in Clisson, which has become over the years a real place for locals to stroll.

Mystery about the show

If the third machine of the future Toulouse show has been unveiled, the content of the show remains deliberately a mystery. It will remain carefully guarded by the company La Machine until the show. Just like the sites where the three machines will roam.

“Three machines allow us to be in constant motion in the city. We will not announce the routes beforehand. That is the worst thing that could happen, because people would then settle in like at the Tour de France and miss the essence of the show. We will tell the story as the days go by,” assured François Delarozière, this Tuesday morning.

Only in the city center

The only thing that is certain is that the show will take place entirely at downtown.

“The city centre is an area accessible to all, easily accessible for families. We work on the scale of the city centre to bring the people of Toulouse together and tell our story,” explains François Delarozière.

Under the sign of accessibility

The organizers have been working on this event for many months. For example, a plan B is already ready in case of bad weather.

“In 2018, it was the first time that such a show took place in Toulouse. We are going to organize things better this time, in order to inconvenience the residents of the city center as little as possible. We are working with all the services. We know how to do it,” assures François Delarozière.

An even more accessible show

This year, special attention will be given to disabled people who wish to attend this show.

Jean-Luc Moudenc, the mayor of Toulouse, assured us, “this edition will be placed under the sign of accessibility. The event will be as inclusive as possible. We will reserve specific areas to accommodate people with disabilities. PMR platforms will be installed near the 20 fixed stages, and there will be vibrating vests to transcribe sensations in the form of vibrations. We will also call on sign language interpreters. We will also use the audio description that we have been developing for years at Toulouse city hall.”

You will have to register via online service, with access that will be opened at the end of August on the Métropole website. Tisséo will also be specifically involved with the Mobibus service. You will have to register on the Tisséo website.

Show financed by the Metropolis… and patronage.

This new show will cost more than 2 million euros to the community, as for the first edition.

But this year, for the first time, the community is turning to patrons to help finance this show.

This Tuesday, Jean-Luc Moudenc announced that 128,000 euros had been collected through this means.

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