Cirque du Soleil returns to T.O. September 2009!

In the wake of its great success with KOOZA and Saltimbanco

CIRQUE DU SOLEIL RETURNS TO TORONTO IN SEPTEMBER 2009

An entirely new touring show will be premiering next fall

Montreal, October 20, 2008 - After its most recent successes in Toronto, KOOZA (2007) and Saltimbanco (Arena Tour 2008), Cirque du Soleil is delighted to announce it will return to the Port Lands at Cherry Street in Toronto with an entirely new touring show, beginning in September 2009. Toronto will mark the last stop of the Canadian leg of its journey before the troupe continues on to the United States. The tour will be sponsored by Desjardins Group.

As fate would have it, Cirque 2009 (working title) will be Cirque du Soleil's 25th show in 25 years, i.e. since the company came into being in 1984. The year 2009 is thus an important year for Cirque du Soleil, and this all-new performance will be one of the highlights of the celebrations.

Dates and tickets
Cirque 2009 will be playing at Toronto's Port Lands starting September 3. Tickets for all performances can be obtained from Cirque du Soleil's website at www.cirquedusoleil.com.

Price of tickets (taxes included):

$65 to $125 for adults;

$45.50 to $87.50 for children 2 to 12 years old, inclusively;

$58.50 to $112.50 for children 13 or older (with valid I.D.) and seniors on weekdays only.

There is also a TAPIS ROUGE Package available. This includes a seat in one of the best sections of the big top, a pass for the TAPIS ROUGE lounge an hour before the performance and during intermission, and an exclusive multimedia presentation in the TAPIS ROUGE lounge. The cost for this package (taxes included) is $250 for adults and $175 for children aged 2 to 12 inclusively.

For group reservations of 20 or more, call the Cirque du Soleil box office at 1-800-450-1480. You can also make reservations through the Cirque du Soleil website at cirquedusoleil.com/tapisrouge.

Sponsors
Cirque 2009 is a presentation of Desjardins Group. CGI, Wyndham Hotels and Resorts, Infiniti, Panasonic and Delta Air Lines are the official sponsors.

Cirque du Soleil
From a group of 20 street performers at its beginnings in 1984, Cirque du Soleil is now a major Quebec-based organization providing high-quality artistic entertainment. The company has close to 4,000 employees from over 40 different countries, including 1,000 artists.

Cirque du Soleil has brought wonder and delight to almost 80 million spectators in over 200 cities on five continents. In 2008, Cirque du Soleil will present 17 shows simultaneously throughout the world. The company has received such prestigious awards as the Emmy, Drama Desk, Bambi, ACE, Gˆ©meaux, Fˆ©lix, and Rose d'Or de Montreux. Cirque du Soleil International Headquarters are in Montreal, Canada.

For more information on Cirque du Soleil, visit www.cirquedusoleil.com.

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ONE DROP Foundation
The ONE DROP Foundation is a non-profit organization born from of the dream of Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Lalibertˆ©, to fight poverty worldwide by ensuring that everyone across the planet has access to water, now and in the future. To find out more about the One Drop Foundation, visit www.onedrop.org.

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