More contemporary circus - Orit Nevo 22-24 February

If you're a fan of contemporary circus, if you're curious, if you saw Knitting Peace, or if you regret not having seen it, here is another event that you should not miss. It's called Somewhere and Nowhere and it's about immigration. This production is a collaboration between Marseille based Archaos and Orit Nevo, an Israeli circus performer. It's a combination of theatre, circus and dance. Highly recommended.

It's at CREAC at 8:30pm on 22nd and 23rd and 4pm on 24th and it costs 16€. You can book via the MP2013 website or take a chance and pay when you get there. If you're using public transport, there's a bus leaving outside CREAC ten minutes after the performance to take you back to Bougainville metro.

More Modern Circus - take a circus tour 1 and 2 February

After seeing that marvellous performance about knitting peace you will no doubt be looking for some more circus. The theatre Le Merlan is offering a circus tour in central Marseille with three different forms of circus performance in three unexpected places.

The tour costs 25€ (for the three performances and soup or tea) and the itinerary goes like this:

• 5:30 - 6:00pm Saint Charles campus, a welcoming vin chaud
• 6:00 - 7:00pm The company l'Immediat will entertain and challenge you with "Jubilation"
• 7:00 - 8:00pm Guided walk (30 mins), with a stop off for soup or tea, to the next destination
• 8:00 - 8:30pm Opus Corpus by trapeze artist Chloé Moglia at the Protestant Temple in rue Grignan
• 8:30 - 9:30pm Guided walk (5mins) with a pause to enjoy food provided by La Boite a Sardine
• 9:30 - 10:30pm De l'autre côté by Cirquons Flex at Société Marseillais de Crédit, Estrangin

If you dont want to do the whole tour you can go to see the performances separately (prices between 5 and 20€).

Circus Performance by Cirque Eloize 8 December

The Montreal circus troupe Cirque Eloize has a a new production, Cirkoplis, which pays tribute to Bandes Desinées (cartoons). They promise to be as impressive as ever with their spectacular choreographed acrobatic performances.

They're at the Silo, an impressive venue for an impressive troupe, on Saturday 8 December at 8pm. Tickets are from 33€ to 44€, available on line from the Silo website.

Circus with a difference 26 - 30 September

After the success of their previous performance "Psy", the company Les 7 Doigts de la Main is returning to the Merlan theatre with a new performance "Traces".  They are a Quebec based company of performers who combine circus and theatre in a way that is thrilling and amazing. "Traces" is a mix of urban culture and acrobatics described as poetic and explosive, humorous and thoughtful.

Performances are at 8:30pm Wednesday to Saturday and 3pm on Sunday.

We're giving you early warning of this event because it is likely to be popular. You can book via the theatre's website, where you can also reserve a seat on the special bus from central Marseille, or register for car sharing.

You'll find more details of the performance on Les 7 Doigts de la Main Website

Festival Time Le Panier 15 & 16 June

It's in the open air. It's free and the sun is shining. Cant think of a reason not to go to Le Panier and see what's going on. They have art, music, boules competitions and processions. On Friday at 9:45 it the Panier's time to celebrate lighting the fire of Saint John (le feu de Saint Jean) accompanied by Irish/Celtic band Phoçair. On Saturday there's a Sardinade at lunchtime and Susheela Raman (Tamil/UK) and Tchanelas (festive Rumba) in the evening. Go along and enjoy. Details are on the Fete du Panier website

Setting the Panier alight - December 16

On Friday 16 December, there's a festival of light, starting at 5:30 at the Accoules Bell tower (behind the Hôtel de Ville), with a torchlight procession, lighting up the bell towers, fire-eaters, jugglers, fireworks and a concert in the Eglise Saint Laurent with the Angelos Chroale. What more could you wish for on a dark winters eve?

Circus at the theatre Le Merlan 19 to 23 October

The Quebec circus performers "Les sept doigts de la main" (the seven fingers of the hand) are presenting PSY a performance about sanity and madness - as far as we can tell from the web site. Performances start at 8:30pm (apart from the Sunday which is at 3pm).

The theatre is not in the city centre but there are buses (navettes) that you can book at the same time as tickets (full price 20€). For more information see our website.

You can see a taster video and buy tickets on Le Merlan's website.