It's a big day for Britney Spears [ tickets ]. She's celebrating her 27th birthday and the release of her new album, "Circus," plus she's announced the dates for her first arena tour in five years.

"The Circus Starring Britney Spears 2009 Tour" is set to launch March 3 in New Orleans and visit 27 cities across the US and Canada through late April. Special guests The Pussycat Dolls will open the shows, which are listed below. Spears has also booked June 3-4 performances at London's O2 arena.

Tickets for the North American jaunt go on sale to the general public this Saturday (12/6), and pre-sales are currently under way. Further details can be found at Spears' website.

The pop star will begin rehearsing for the tour next month with director and Emmy-winning choreographer Wade Robson, according to a press release. Spears gave fans a small taste of what's to come this morning (12/2) on ABC-TV's "Good Morning America."

The singer is making the talk-show rounds to promote "Circus," her sixth studio effort. The album's lead single, "Womanizer," set a record for biggest jump to the top of The Billboard Hot 100 chart after rocketing from No. 96 to No. 1, according to the magazine. The song is streaming at Spears' MySpace page.

"Circus" follows last year's "Blackout," which peaked at No. 2 on The Billboard 200 album chart and produced the hit single "Piece of Me," which scored three MTV Video Music Awards.

Spears, who in recent years has garnered more headlines for her personal troubles than her musical endeavors, made her live comeback last month with a cameo appearance at one of Madonna's stadium shows.