“Clowning pushes boundaries, challenges expectations, and displays vulnerability, honesty, imagination, and empathy,” maintains Vanessa Rigaux, the visionary behind the Montreal Clown Festival.
Rigaux is a Montreal-based performer, teacher, and artistic director whose work has spanned avant-garde performance art collectives in Europe and across Canada. She co-founded the Montreal Clown Festival in 2016 with Kendall Savage, a Toronto artist and clown expert. “She was writing a blog about clowns and featured a video I made,” Rigaux recalls. “She had a brilliant idea to start a festival of clowns.” Now in its eighth edition, this year’s Montreal Clown Festival runs from April 4–12, 2025 and promises to charm, disrupt, and uplift audiences across Montreal.
Rigaux’s own journey into clowning reads like a fated adventure that she “stumbled upon”. After moving to Paris to study at the renowned Jacques Lecoq school, she shifted paths. “I still wanted to train in physical theatre and being in Paris was already inspiring, but I trusted my impulse and instead decided to attend a smaller school in the same tradition, and study with Philippe Gaulier (also in Paris at the time).” It was there, in a studio filled with international students and wild creativity, that she had her breakthrough. “Gaulier said that one does not choose to be a clown; clowning (and the audience) chooses you.”
Since embracing that choice, she has become not only a seasoned performer and teacher, but also a vocal advocate for clowning as a serious, boundary-pushing art form. Her perspective is expansive and deeply rooted in relationships: “Connecting with a global community continues to inspire my work as the director of the festival.”
“Our festival celebrates the vast worlds and styles of the Clown,” she says. “We welcome performers of all genders, cultures and identities. We are dedicated to cultivating a bilingual, multicultural program, welcoming French, English, and nonverbal clown language and physical comedy.”
That vision is fully realized with eight dynamic events over eight days, spanning diverse areas of the city, like Gesù Theatre in the heart of downtown Montreal, Mile End, and Villeray–Saint-Michel–Parc-Extension. “This year, we’re shaking things up by bringing the festival to new neighbourhoods across Montreal,” Rigaux explains. “The idea is to meet audiences where they are and make clowning accessible to more people.”
The venues themselves speak volumes about this year’s intent to blend the unconventional with community. Take La Toscadura, for example, a Spanish social club turned performance space. “We are hosting a #WildClownParty there on April 11th for the Grand Imbécile, with Canada’s Drag Race star, Uma Gahd, as our MC and a DJ after the show… People can run upstairs to grab some tapas and bring plates down to snack on during the show.” It’s all part of Rigaux’s mission to “bring communities in, reach across disciplines (theatre, circus, mime, drag), and encourage our audience to come together in laughter.”
Opening night on April 4 features the popular Gala Cabaret, directed by Krin Haglund and hosted by the legendary René Bazinet, internationally renowned clown seen at Cirque du Soleil, Cirque Roncalli, and Berlin’s Wintergarten. The lineup includes talents such as Dik & Mitzi, 1-Man No-Show, and Bébée Jasette. The much-loved Le Grand Imbécile returns on April 11th, hosted by Uma Gahd (of Canada’s Drag Race). The talent show brings together Montreal’s arts community by welcoming performers from diverse disciplines to showcase their top talents, captivating both the audience and celebrity judges in hopes of being crowned the “Greatest Fool of the Night.” “We looked for well-rehearsed, exceptional shows that represented our community…” offers Rigaux, reflecting on the curatorial process. “It never fails to impress me to see all the wild and talented theatre and circus clowns out there.This idea of a fancy gala with CLOWNS at the centre is not something you see everyday. Expect the unexpected,” she adds.
The festival presents two free shows especially for families, presented in partnership with La Maison de la Culture Claude-Léveillée: Pour la Science! on April 9th and Amârrable on April 12. Rigaux sees these offerings as more than just programming but a view to the future. “Part of Quebec’s identity is the role of arts and culture… Get ‘em while they’re young, and hopefully they will continue to grow with us!” she enthuses.
And while the laughs are loud and the antics grand, Rigaux is equally passionate about carving out space for thoughtful dialogue. Panels such as “Is Clowning Dangerous?” and “Transmitting Knowledge, Pathways, and Pedagogies in the Art of Clowning” delve into the craft. “Sharing knowledge and experience is so important,” Rigaux notes. “I think it is really important to feature the elders of our community and hear about the past, talk about the present, and dream towards a future.”
At its heart, the Montreal Clown Festival is a love letter to the absurd, the honest, the vulnerable and above all, the wildly human art of clowning. “Comedy is not easy!” Rigaux reminds. “The risks these artists are taking should not be taken lightly.” And if anyone can elevate clowning into something truly unforgettable, it’s her.
Catch the full lineup and reserve tickets at montrealclownfest.com.
© Arpita Ghosal, Sesaya Arts Magazine, 2025
