There are so many hopeful things happening in 2022 and one of them is Cirque du Soleil in Seattle again! Alegria just opened in Marymoor Park and my family was invited to this spectacular show on Media Night to go check it out. We are in a bit of a spike (that will hopefully be over soon) in Seattle so it was good to know that proof of vaccination was required to attend. And because food and drink can be consumed in the Cirque du Soleil tent it is important to know that people will not be as masked as they might be in other places in Seattle. But seeing the show back in Washington State again is so comforting. We so need all the performing arts like this to heal our weary hearts and this is truly a special performance. My family had a fabulous time.
Is Cirque du Soleil good for kids?
I’ve been asked this a lot since we went. My guys are 13. We first took them to a Cirque du Soleil show with friends in Australia when they were 7. Because they enjoyed it so much, this was the biggest reason I agreed to check out the Alegria Cirque du Soleil in Seattle this past week. My kids like the acrobatics, the aerialists and the fire- just watching the whole show unfold in all it’s excitement is something really incredible to take in.
The show starts at 8 and is over two hours long with a twenty minute intermission. We had to leave a bit early because of school and soccer the next day-I didn’t want to get home at midnight on a weekday with my guys. There are matinees and weekend nights and these times might be better suited to families. (I think there might be a family pack for tickets too.)
I was asked if I would bring kids under 5 who don’t have vaccinations yet-we’ve been more on the very cautious side with our kids and when they weren’t vaccinated we didn’t do very much at all-this production is in a tent but it isn’t really an ‘outdoor’ event. The seats are packed together tightly and masking isn’t 100%. The event can hold more than 2600 people. My family wore N95’s and kept them on throughout the entirety of the show but my kids are double vaccinated and boosted and at this point in time and this was a big reason why we chose to attend.
There are also booster seats available if you need more height at your seat. We noticed a big stack by a Purell stand as we entered our section so I’m not sure if these are everywhere but I think we were in section 104.
And are there real bathrooms at Cirque du Soleil or are they portable?
I am always thrilled when there is an event like this and there are real bathrooms. These are tight and a little porta potty like but fancier than porta potties because they actually have running water. So this is a very good thing. So technically I think these are portable toilets but they are more like “real” bathrooms.
There is also food for purchase.
If it wasn’t raining we probably would have looked into this a little more, but we just wanted to keep our masks on the whole time while we were indoors. Lady Yum, a local favorite dessert and macaron company has created a really cool macaron to celebrate Alegria so I’m going to make sure to stop by Lady Yum at some point in the next couple months too. Alegria runs until the middle of March.
There is only one parking lot
I was told that parking for Cirque du Soleil in Seattle was cash only ($25) but we might have seen a credit card option as we drove in but I would not count on it. We also saw a bunch of cars parking way outside Marymoor Park on the streets and near businesses and I would not count on this parking either. There were a lot of “don’t park here” signs so I don’t think this is the best option. But this means that parking will add time and walking distance to both arrival and leaving because this will be everyone going into the event and everyone coming out. We arrived around 7:30 and were able to get parking and find our seats with a bit of time before the show.
How far from Seattle is the Cirque du Soleil tent?
Cirque du Soleil in Seattle is actually in Redmond in Marymoor Park. This is where my kids have soccer games sometimes and it’s a great place to bike, and if you go there now you will see the big blue and white Cirque du Soleil tent. This tent is a “village on wheels” that includes not only the Big Top but everything else needed to set up the whole Cirque du Soleil extravaganza. This village travels in about 70 trailer trucks and and the setting up takes about 8 days. I was curious about how the Big Top handles wind and I read in my press materials that it can withstand 75 mph winds which is pretty impressive too.
How about what to wear to Cirque Du Soleil?
I’ve had a few people ask me about what I wore to Cirque Du Soleil. While the event is completely indoors, it’s still not heated so what you wear really depends on the weather outside. It was raining lightly the day we went but not too cold so my family wore our regular winter jackets with comfortable clothing underneath-for me it was a Boden jersey dress and tights with boots and I didn’t take my jacket off. Some other audience members were wearing fancier clothing and some were very casually dressed, some people near me were even wearing wings-most attire seemed more like concert fashion than going to the theatre.
And if you’re from out of town and looking for where to stay near Cirque Du Soleil
If you’re staying in Seattle, I’ve stayed at a few hotels like the Motif, Hilton, Loews or the Hyatt Regency and all of these are about 30ish minutes from the Big Top. In Bellevue we love the Hyatt Regency Bellevue too and that is only a 15 minute drive to the Cirque du Soleil venue.
And if you have any more questions about Cirque du Soleil feel free to message me in the comments below or through my instagram and I’ll do my best to help out. As always the opinions on my blog are mine and I was invited to check out this event for review.
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)