Next August, the famed troupe Cirque du Soleil returns to the Bay Area for the first time in three years with the production of Corteo, a carnival-like show that centers a clown imagining their own funeral in a space between heaven and earth. 

The largest contemporary circus company in the world, Cirque du Soleil last appeared in San Francisco in 2019-20 for Amaluna, a sort of feminist reworking of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Corteo will consist of three short residencies across the region, starting at San Jose’s SAP Center before moving on to the Oakland Arena and San Francisco’s Chase Center.

Known for its spectacular and dizzying acrobatic displays, the troupe was founded in Quebec City in the 1980s and toured the U.S. for the first time in 1987. The multimedia entertainment company now employs nearly 5,000 people, with shows across 300 cities and six continents.  

With Corteo, for the first time in the Quebecois company’s history, the performance venue will be divided, with audience members sitting on either side of the production—a set-up similar to our own homegrown Dear San Francisco at Club Fugazi. 

Tickets are available exclusively to Club Cirque members beginning Monday, Dec. 12, with general ticket sales starting Monday, Dec. 19. 

The production will come to three Bay Area venues—the SAP Center in San Jose, the Oakland Arena in Oakland and the Chase Center in San Francisco—in August 2023. 

Corteo

📍SAP Center, San Jose 
🗓️ Aug. 9-13, 2023

📍Oakland Arena, Oakland 
🗓️ Aug. 17-20, 2023

📍Chase Center, San Francisco 
🗓️ Aug. 23-27, 2023