Montreal’s Sommets du cinéma d’animation kicked off today with a masterclass by former Disney producer Don Hahn and an opening night screening of the French animated feature The Big Bad Fox & Other Tales.

The festival continues through Sunday with dozens of screenings, as well as networking sessions, gallery exhibits, talks, masterclasses, and special events. (Read Cartoon Brew’s recap of the 2016 edition.) “We think that our International Competition is quite exciting with many new films,” the festival’s artistic director Marco de Blois told Cartoon Brew.

But beyond screenings, the festival has a quirky side. Explained de Blois: “Our festival also likes to take animation out of the cinemas and put them in stage events. This is why we will have a performance mixing circus numbers and animation with the circus company Cirquantique on Friday and a rock show with indie animator Joël Vaudreuil and the rock band Cheval fou on Saturday evening.”