Here to snap you out of your winter doldrums, the 25th edition of Montréal en lumière has fully kicked off, with a selection of gastronomic offerings, live performances and a rocking outdoor site at Place des Festivals. (Hang out with the members of Montreal’s PWHL team on Friday, 5pm at the ice rink!)
But the highlight this weekend is the 21st edition of Nuit blanche, a smorgasbord of over 100 events, much of them free, from sundown Saturday to early Sunday! The metro and bus lines will be running through the night (look for the mystery metro car!) There are few ways to plan your night: opt for the “pôles” by choosing one of eight neighbourhoods you’d like to visit, including downtown, Old Port, Hochelaga and Mile End. Or choose a theme, like dance, storytelling, music or creation. Museums like the CCA, Chateau Ramezay and Pointe à Callière will also be open all night.
Here are some Nuit blanche highlights:
Some other selections from Montréal en lumière programming: Kid Koala and his team perform their whimsical touring show, The Storyville Mosquito, which folds in animation, film and music for a wondrous tale for kids and adults alike. Saturday, 3 and 8pm and Sunday, 3pm at Cinquieme Salle, 8pm. On Friday, see Acadian superstar Lisa LeBlanc performs a symphonic-style concert, 8pm at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, or folk-country singer Sara Dufour, 8pm at MTelus.
See your fave heroes and heroines in Disney on Ice: Magic in the Stars. See characters from Frozen 2, Encanto, Aladdin, The Princess and the Frog and Moana. Multiple showings, in French and English, until Sunday evening at Place Bell in Laval.
Plan your next vacation at the Montreal RV Show, where dealers, outfitters and vacation destinations will be tabling. At Palais des congrès until Sunday.
You have a week left to get caught up before the Oscars. If you want to really corner one category, try the short films! In addition to feature contenders Poor Things and The Zone of Interest, Cinema du parc is screening all the nominees in the live action, animation and documentary categories. Various times.
Explore the beauty and diversity of our natural world in Root for Nature. This new, 90-minute show is a “nature hike” indoors, conceived as a powerful piece of edutainment inspired by the COP15 biodiversity talks hosted by Montreal in late 2022. This collaboration between National Geographic and OASIS Immersive Studios will take place in the same location as the UN conference, at the Palais des congrès.
The Horizon of Khufu: A Journey in Ancient Egypt is a virtual reality experience that brings you into the giant pyramid in Giza, a 146-metre high pyramid built nearly 3,000 years before the Common era. Noted Egyptologist Peter Der Manuelian will be your guide. Studio PHI has brought in this for a North American first. Until May 31, in the Old Port at 2 rue de la Commune.
Aussie company Gravity & Other Myths present The Mirror, an exploration of entertainment and self-representation. The show delighted sold-out crowds last summer at the city’s circus festival, but now’s your chance to enjoy this acrobatics-heavy show, which careens from sombre to sexy to flirtatious. The show uses selfie sticks, an electric proscenium arch and an analog radio to amplify its impressive stunts. It’s a cheeky show! At La Tohu until Sunday.
Dora Wasserman Yiddish Theatre presents Toyt Fun A Seylsman, Joseph Buloff’s translation of Arthur Miller’s 1949 classic drama. Travelling salesman Willy Loman confronts his feelings of failure and ideas of success in pursuit of the American dream. In Yiddish with English supertitles, Sunday, 2pm at the Segal Centre Studio.
IWS Wrestling marks a quarter-century of wrasslin’ with Unfnsanctioned, Saturday, 8pm at the Olympia.
Friday’s music picks: LA pop singer-songwriter Ryan Beatty at Beanfield, 8pm. French soul singer Ben L’Oncle Soul at Le Studio TD, 8pm. Ile Sonique presents Aussie DJ Blanke at Fairmount Theatre, 10pm.
Saturday’s music picks: Electronic music duo Thievery Corporation at MTelus, 8pm. Aaron Pritchett at Beanfield, 8pm. The “World’s Greatest Pink Floyd Show” brings PULSE, their homage to the band’s Division Bell tour, with a selection of classic tracks: catch Brit Floyd, 8pm at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier.
Rafael Payare and the Montreal Symphony Orchestra spotlight the fiery music of Spain for their Éclat series, with compositions by Enrique Granados and Manuel de Falla… with flamenco dancing and guitar! Saturday, 9pm at Maison symphonique.
Sunday’s music picks: Andalusian singer Rocìo Vadillo performs with her band Chiito, 9pm at Club Balattou, part of Nuits d’Afrique continues its series of weekend concerts, Les Cabarets Acoustique. Folk trio Ruby Creek and Kristen Martell perform at Casa del Popolo, 8pm.
It’s an All-Star Stand-Up weekend at The Comedy Nest, with nine comics in 90 minutes, including Joey Elias, Heidi Foss, David Pryde, Ben Walker and more! Friday and Saturday, 8 and 10:30pm.
Several shows on tap at Montreal Improv in St Henri, including a short-form spoof on the glitz and absurdity of award ceremonies, The Henri’s at Sunday 7pm..
At burlesque headquarters The Wiggle Room: Cabaret is the time Friday, 9pm , with Joy Rider, Lily Monroe, Roxy Torpedo and Mia Culpa hitting the stage. Saturday is a glamorous Nuit blanche special! Lineup includes Lou Lou la Duchesse de Rière, Miss Booty Jones, Rose de Flore and KyKy Delavega
Ahead of Autism Awareness Day in March, On the Spectease: A Neurospicy Show will showcase performers who will undress and also unmask their experiences with neurodivergence in a “sexy and informative way”! Eldritch Mór, Jaqq Strapp, Kaya Koko, Amethyst, Rosie Bourgeoisie and Olivia Killjoy will perform Sunday at 7:30pm.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts explores how nature inspired two great artists of the 20th cnetury. Georgia O’Keefe and Henry Moore: Giants of Modern Art is an exhibit curated by the San Diego Museum of Art; it recreates both artists’ studios down to minute detail. Admire O’Keefe bodacious flowers and landscapes, contrasted with Moore’s sculptures inspired by stones and bones, and his Helmet heads. Until June 2.
The Arsenal hosts Immersive Disney Animation, which spotlights House of Mouse characters and music, including movies like Frozen, The Lion King and The Little Mermaid. At Arsenal Contemporary Gallery until May 4.
Visit the ongoing 14th edition of Luminothérapie, a display of outdoor light installations in and around Place des Festivals, including the larger-than-life flower installation Astera. Bring your skates (or rent a pair) for a turn around the refrigerated rink at Place Tranquille. The rink has an interactive projection nightly at 6:30pm: Au Bord du Lac Tranquille captures the flora and fauna of the St Lawrence, playfully moving along with your feet.
Dreaming of Asia is a stunning exploration of Chinese and Japanese culture, making its North American premiere at OASIS Immersions. French digital art studio Danny Rose has crafted four different experiences, including a look at shadow puppet theatre. On now at Palais des congres.
Still time to visit the city’s newest museum: Centre des Mémoires Montréalaises promises to capture the metropois’ history and citizens. Check out the vintage neon signs at the entrance, and look for the colourful balls that once decorated Ste-Catherine in the Gay Village. There are two exhibition up now: a lookback at the 90 years of Le Chaînon, the women’s shelter and resource centre, and Détours, which focuses on hidden corners of the city. Located at 1201 St Laurent.
The McCord Stewart Museum’s excellent and informative Indigenous Voices of Today: Knowledge, Trauma, Resilience. The show profiles the 11 nations living within the borders of Quebec, with testimonies and carefully curated objects. Two of the McCord’s current shows include Becoming Montreal is about the depictions of the city in the 1800s, and Wampum: Beads of diplomacy, which displays over 40 wampum belts from different collections, underscoring their symbolism and history.
