  Intermediate mass black holes (IMBHs) may be the link between stellar mass
holes and the supermassive variety in the nuclei of galaxies, and globular
clusters (GCs) may be one of the most promising environments for their
formation. Here we carry out a pilot study of the observability of tidal
disruption events (TDEs) from 10^3 Msun < M_BH < 10^5 Msun IMBHs embedded in
stellar cusps at the center of GCs. We model the long super-Eddington accretion
phase and ensuing optical flare, and derive the disruption rate of
main-sequence stars as a function of black hole mass and GC properties with the
help of a 1D Fokker-Planck approach. The photospheric emission of the
adiabatically expanding outflow dominates the observable radiation and peaks in
the NUV/optical bands, outshining the brightness of the (old) stellar
population of GCs in Virgo for a period of months to years. A search for TDE
events in a sample of nearly 4,000 GCs observed at multiple epochs by the Next
Generation Virgo Cluster Survey (NGVS) yields null results. Given our model
predictions, this sample is too small to set stringent constraints on the
present-day occupation fraction of GCs hosting IMBHs. Naturally, better
simulations of the properties of the cluster central stellar distribution, TDE
light curves and rates, together with larger surveys of GCs are all needed to
gain deeper insights into the presence of IMBHs in GCs.
