The 24th annual High Performance Rodeo, Calgary’s International Festival of the Arts, begins this Thursday, January 7.

Running until January 31, the Rodeo is the largest festival of its kind in Western Canada and features theatre, music, comedy, dance, film, visual art and more.

With over 30 events, highlights of the festival include One Yellow Rabbit’s creation Kawasaki Exit. Inspired by Japanese social networking sites, this new play is performed in English and Japanese by the award-winning One Yellow Rabbit ensemble.

In collaboration with Alberta Ballet, Tubular Bells is performed by four world-class pianists – the German/Canadian Bergmann Piano Duo, the Netherlands’ Jeroen van Veen and 2009 Honens International Piano Competition laureate Evgeny Starodubtsev.

Fire and ice collide in the mind-expanding winter showcase Snowblower. This free event takes place in Olympic Plaza on January 16 and features audio from international electronic musicians Mr. Scruff (Manchester, UK), Pretty Lights (Denver, CO) and Beats Antique (San Francisco, CA) together with blazing fire performances and dazzling light displays.

Six dancers in Tono blend Canadian, Mongolian and Chinese cultures in a performance coming from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and en-route to Vancouver’s 2010 Cultural Olympiad.

Midway transforms the Centre Court of the Epcor Centre into a high-flying carnival with sideshow vaudevillians, shadow puppets, laptop virtuosos, gypsies and an eclectic array of indie musicians.Grandstand showcases Calgary’s hottest musicians as they team up with visual artists to create an unforgettable collage of sound and film.

Tickets are on sale and can be purchased on line at hprodeo.ca, by calling 403-294-9494 or at the Epcor Centre Box Office.