TOHU

If you decide to take a jaunt to Montréal’s circus mecca in its working-class St-Michel district, be prepared to be wowed. This innovative complex TOHU (which comes from the French expression tohu-bohu, for hustle and bustle), includes an arena designed only with the circus arts in mind, Cirque du Soleil’s international headquarters and artists’ residence and the National Circus School. Moreover, it was built on the sight of North America’s second largest waste dump and the whole complex is now powered completely by methane gas from the landfill garbage beneath it.

You can visit the complex on your own (via guided audio tour), or on a guided 90-minute tour. TOHU also hosts special exhibitions and outdoor activities (like petanque tournaments and bike rallies), and you can catch live performances here throughout the year. Visit the website or contact TOHU. You can get there by taking the blue metro line to d’Iberville station and then hopping onto bus 94 north (or walking 1km north-west up Rue d’Iberville).