On 28 October 2012, as part of the 25th edition of Festival Circa, the new Centre d'Innovation et de Recherche Circassien (Le CIRC) was officially opened in Auch's Quartier Espagne.
Le CIRC is a new creation centre for contemporary circus, managed by CIRCa, with three principal elements: Le Dôme de Gascogne, a permanent chapiteaux that can be reconfigured for in-the-round or front-on performance and that will be used for circus, dance, theatre and music performances; les écuries, a long line of chalet-like buildings converted from a line of old military stables and comprising 6 appartments for visiting artists (all in all: 18 bedrooms and 36 beds), the CIRCa offices, a restaurant (Le Cant'Auch), workshop and storage spaces, and a 480m2 rehearsal studio; and L'espace chapiteaux itinérants, two wide open spaces at either end of the site that can receive visiting tents and caravans.
The opening of the new centre was attended by Aurélie Filippetti (the French Minister for Culture and Communication), Martin Malvy (Président of the Région Midi-Pyrénées), Philippe Martin (Deputy President of the Conseil Général du Gers), Franck Montaugé (Mayor of Auch), and Christophe Blandin-Estournet (President of CIRCa), all of whom were serenaded from the stable rooftops by members of Circa Tsuica's brass band.
The Le CIRC project cost around 6 million Euros, drawing funding from the State (Pôle d’Excellence Rurale), the Midi-Pyrénées region, and the Conseil général du Gers et la ville d’Auch, as well as sponsorship from the E.Leclerc supermarket chain.
Following the festival's activities, the next circus companies to perform at the centre will be La Muete, in the Dôme de Gascogne, and Cie Carpe Diem, in the Salle de Répétition, on 10 & 12 February 2013.