The Cirque du Soleil is once again setting up its tent in the Cultural District of L'Hospitalet, and it's doing so with one of the most acclaimed shows in its history: KURIOS – Cabinet of Curiosities, a show that is pure fantasy, adrenaline, and circus talent. From September 3 to October 18, 2026, the venue will be transformed into a universe of magic, steampunk aesthetics, and impossible acrobatics that demonstrate that, when imagination is given free rein, anything is possible.
The KURIOS universe and steampunk fantasy
Michel Laprise is the writer and director of KURIOS, the 35th production of Cirque du Soleil which, after premiering in Montreal, has already been seen by more than 6 million spectators in over 40 cities worldwide.
The idea for the show was born in a very curious way: Laprise observed the tent from the outside and imagined it as a gigantic primitive radio antenna. Together with set designer Stéphane Roy, he imagined an alternative reality inspired by 19th-century Industrial Revolution Paris, a time dominated by steam engines, the gramophone, and faith in progress. But he moved away from the Victorian style to give it a very personal retrofuturistic touch.
The plot of KURIOS invites us to step into the shoes of the Seeker, a mad and endearing inventor who is convinced that there is a hidden and invisible world just beneath the surface, the place where the craziest ideas and the grandest dreams reside. Upon opening his mechanical cabinet, a collection of extravagant characters burst into his workshop to turn his universe upside down with poetry and humor. Among them, the Mr. Microcosmos stands out, a person-machine who, in his own torso, has a tiny room inhabited by rotating characters like Mademoiselle Lili or Cosmolito.
Also not to be missed is Nico the accordion man, whose wrinkled origami-like suit mimics the bellows of an instrument and old cameras, or Klara the Telegraph of the Invisible, equipped with a hoop skirt that spins, capturing electromagnetic waves. All of this is accompanied by a detailed and symbolic wardrobe: it features more than 8,000 garments made and a record of 464 props (the highest number in the company's history).
Circus, acrobatics and live music
On the stage of KURIOS there is a live music group that will play jazz and electro swing (composed by Bob & Bill and Raphaël Beau) and that will be the soundtrack to the acrobatic acts. The show begins with the welcome party at a vintage train station (Chaos Synchro 1900) to then take us to the Upside Down World, where a formal dinner becomes a balancing challenge, stacking chairs to the ceiling to reach a lamp floating in the air.
There is also space for contortionists making impossible figures on a giant metallic hand, or the energy of the Acro Net, with acrobats dressed as sea creatures flying through the air.
The purest acrobatic acts are also not left out. A clear example is the contortion show, where four artists dressed as sea creatures twist, intertwine, and draw impossible figures on an impressive structure: a giant metallic hand weighing 340 kilos in the purest steampunk style that moves across the stage. Adrenaline completely soars with the Acro Net, one of the most powerful scenes of the show. Here, a group of acrobats propels themselves on a trampoline net to perform somersaults, twists, and deadly jumps at a dizzying height.
But there's more: an acrobat pedals and performs pirouettes on a bicycle suspended in the air, two artists glide with hypnotic elegance between aerial straps and the trapeze, and risk pushes the limit in the Rola Bola, where a pilot tries to stand on an unstable tower of constantly moving cylinders and boards.
The human engineering behind the Grand Chapiteau
Before the lights come on and the music starts to play, there is a story that deserves to be told. A show of these dimensions involves building an ephemeral city, whose nerve center is the Grand Chapiteau.
For its installation, 8 days are needed and the effort of a team of more than 100 people. The most spectacular moment of the process comes with the raising of the main canvas: a maneuver where more than 120 lateral support poles are pushed by hand to guide the structure to its final position. The main tent reaches 19 meters in height and 52 meters in diameter to accommodate about 2,500 spectators per show.
KURIOS is the new show from Cirque du Soleil that will remind us that our capacity for wonder remains intact. And sometimes, all it takes is closing our eyes and letting our imagination fly to open the door to a world of wonders.