It takes about two days to put together the 3000 pieces that make up the 96-year-old Famous Spiegeltent.
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But owner David Bates always leaves the task of putting the final piece in place, the centre of the dance floor, to the same person – his 10-year-old daughter Persephone Bates d'Arbela, who has been travelling the world with the tent since she was two.
The canvas and wooden Spiegeltent – Dutch for "mirror tent" – will sit outside the Canberra Theatre Centre in Civic Square for close to a month of music, comedy, cabaret, burlesque and a mix of all in the headline show La Clique.
Although the Spiegeltent is held together by hinges and pins, with no nails or screws required, don't be fooled by its portability.
It would take more than a gust of wind to blow away the 28-tonne antique, which was specially designed to stand solidly on soft or hard surfaces.
"Each piece can be carried by one person … it's like an IKEA modular building, but it doesn't use an Allen key," Mr Bates laughed.
Inside the Belgium-built tent feels like an "art deco European cafe", Mr Bates said, with a bar, stained-glass windows, mirrors and velvet canopies.
"It has a sense of permanency about it when you're inside and it only takes two days to build," he said.
Depending on the show, audiences will sit in intimate booths, in theatre-style seats or stand up like a nightclub before the Spiegeltent's crew spend about a day packing it up into two 40-foot shipping containers to hit the road for its next gig, which this time is at the Melbourne Comedy Festival.
But it could be back in the ACT soon.
"We're trying to create an event in Canberra, whether yearly or biannually, they may merge into a festival – a Spiegeltent festival," Mr Bates said.
La Clique is on at The Famous Spiegeltent at Civic Square, outside Canberra Theatre Centre from February 19 to March 14. Bookings: canberratheatrecentre.com.au or 6275 2700.