"Le Grand Cirque" at Grand Boulevard [photos & video added]

Grand Boulevard in Miramar Beach will be the summer home of an international entertainment production that could draw thousands of extra visitors to Northwest Florida.
The "Le Grand Cirque" is setting up shop at Grand Boulevard for the entire summer, with the premiere shows coming Memorial Day weekend.
Tourism officials are hoping Le Grand Cirque will make South Walton a more permanent home.
It's like nothing this area has ever seen before.
Simon Painter is the Creative Producer for the ?Le Grand Cirque? and says the show combines the best talent in the world for a show that is sure to take your breath away.
"We have the most incredible acts on earth. We have contortionist to trapeze artists to incredible guys who ride on this 'Wheel of Death'; Tumblers, people that climb poles, dive off poles and people that fly over the heads of the audience" Painter says of the action-packed show.
The edge-of-your-seat, 2-hour extravaganza known as Le Grand Cirque is entertainment for the entire family.
"The ?Wheel of Death? is going to be my favorite act because it's just so scary. You can't believe what they're doing. They're like 45 ft. In the air riding on top of this amazing death trap blindfolded with skip ropes. It's just ridiculous. If they fall there's no safety mats, there's no wires. It's just an incredible death defying act? Painter says.
Local officials announced Le Grand Cirque's impending arrival Monday morning, saying this area was lucky to snag the world-renowned production.
"We were in competition with many other places. They were looking at venues in Mexico and the Caribbean and other places in North America. So we feel pretty good that we here in Northwest Florida were able to win this location for them" says John Heiser.
Heiser is the Executive Vice President of the Howard Group. The Howard Group deals primarily with property development investment brokerage. He says this new entertainment addition will add to the excitement and all that this region has to offer.
Painter agrees.
?For them, it's not hard to persuade the performance team. You're gonna be in Florida the entire summer and it's absolutely beautiful with white beaches and turquoise blue sea. They're like 'Great, sign me up'. So it was an easy one to persuade them to come and do" says the creative producer and one of the masterminds behind Le Cirque.
Grand Boulevard is currently in the process of building this "Grand Arena" venue.
It?s a series of Italian-style air-conditioned fabric structures that can accommodate up to 11-hundred people.
"So our hope is that ultimately we'll phase out of these fabric structures into a permanent performing arts center here at Grand Boulevard" says Heiser of the future plans.
Those plans coincide with a performing arts center feasibility study, requested by the TDC and approved by county commissioners earlier this month.
The production is expected to be a huge economic boost for the area, and will create at least 30-local jobs.
The multi-million dollar Le Grande Cirque' became the biggest selling show in the history of the Sydney Australia Opera House.
Tickets for the summer shows go on sale next week.
For prices and show times go to Le Grand Cirque Destin | Home