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On the 11th, at 10:30 a.m., Busan City Hall held a signing ceremony with Canada’s ‘Cirque du Soleil Group’ and a domestic organizer, marking the agreement to bring the global performance intellectual property (IP), ‘Cirque du Soleil’, to Busan. The contract was signed with Mast International Co., Ltd.
Founded in 1984 by 20 street artists from Quebec, Canada, ‘Cirque du Soleil’ has garnered over 200 million spectators in 450 cities across 60 countries, solidifying its status as the most successful global performance intellectual property (IP) in the history of cultural and artistic performances.
This agreement is part of the city’s initiative to create an international tourism destination by attracting renowned global intellectual property rights (IP).
The signing ceremony was attended by Busan Mayor Park Hyeong-joon, the General Vice President of the DUNCAN tour at Cirque du Soleil Group, the intellectual property holding company, and Kim Yong-gwan, CEO of Mast International Co., Ltd., the domestic organizer.
The agreement outlines various cooperative efforts, including the regular hosting of ‘Cirque du Soleil’ performances in Busan from 2024 to 2030 and discussions regarding participation in global intellectual property (IP) leisure clusters. The key highlights of the agreement include:
‘Cirque du Soleil Group’ and Mast International Co., Ltd. committing to hold regular performances in Busan from 2024 to 2030, with the city of Busan providing administrative support for their success.
The participating organizations actively promoting the Busan World Expo 2030 and establishing Busan as an international tourism city through Cirque du Soleil.
Discussing the construction of a permanent performance venue for Cirque du Soleil as part of the city’s future plans for a global intellectual property (IP) leisure cluster, similar to those in Las Vegas.
The ‘Cirque du Soleil’ performances scheduled to take place in Busan by 2030 will mark the first time the show is held outside of Seoul in Korea.
Starting from January next year, the ‘Cirque du Soleil Lucia’ performance will be presented in Busan, attracting an estimated annual audience of over 200,000 people. This is anticipated to become a key tourism attraction during the winter season in Busan.
Recognizing the relatively limited winter tourism content in Busan, the city plans to actively leverage this partnership for marketing purposes, attracting both domestic and international tourists. Furthermore, there are plans to develop related tourism products through collaboration with Cirque du Soleil by 2030.
The show is presented under a big tent to provide a circus atmosphere to each show.
Speculation in local media is that a 3,000 seat tent space will be built on the existing outdoor parking lot at Shinsegae Department Store in Centum City.
