If our Friday morning guest, 'Godfather of the Grill' Ted Reader, inspired you to barbecue this weekend, check out his useful website for recipes, tips and more.
In An American Pickle, Canadian Seth Rogen plays two men: an immigrant to New York City and his descendant, Ben. Hard-working and faithful Herschel Greenbaum leaves his shtetl for a new life in America, but in 1919, he falls into a vat of pickles, emerging perfectly preserved 100 years later - only to start to meddle in Ben's humdrum life. Catch old world-meets-new in An American Pickle on Crave starting this weekend.
Montreal's italian Week kicks off Saturday. Take in a cooking class in person at Ateliers & Saveurs or gather the kids for a story, with teacher Marian Ghita reading a children's story online, Saturday at 10am.
The International Firsts Peoples' Festival is doing a mix of indoors, outdoors and virtual content this year. This weekend, catch mythical figures from Indigenous legends at the Quariter des spectacles, with pop up performances. The fest is also screening seven feature films daily at Cinéma du Musée, until August 13. The Festival's diverse programming continues until November.
Live Theatre! Tableau d'hote Theatre has just launched En Pointe a series of 10-minute episodic plays, all set in Pointe St Charles at different, secret locations. Writer and director Mathieu Murphy-Perron weaves in repeat characters, all people emerging ifrom various states of quarantine. The production teams reveals each location the day of the show by email and on social media. Catch the second episode this Sunday at 3pm. Masks are required, and if you can bring a chair if you need. Free, but donations are encouraged.
Bar de Courcelle hosts Episode 4 of The Epic Outdoor Open Mic Show, Sunday 5 to 10pm at Sir George Étienne Cartier Square in St Henri.
Bring your mask, buy a cocktail and don't dance! Cabaret Berlin in the Village hosts a club night called Homopop, with DJ Super Taste bringing together a mix of disco, pop, house, R&B and new wave, from Janelle Monae to Kylie Minogue to Robyn to Diana Ross. 50 people max, and no dancing. (Except in your heart!) Saturday, 7pm to 1am.
A swing music group called Tea For 20’s launches their second album today, a collection of traditional jazz swing standards. They will be performing live at Sainte-Cécile au Bic Church in Rimouski, at 1pm, 5pm and 6:30pm today, or you can watch it online.
Hot girl summer? How about A Summer of Beethoven! The Orchestre Métropolitain de Montreal has starts streaming the great composer's eight symphonies, as recorded at Bourgie Hall. Catch a different show every week! Each pass is $15, and you can stream it for 48 hours starting at 2pm on Friday.
The Festival des Arts de Saint-Sauveur has been presenting recordings of original dance works themed around solitude every Sunday. This weekend, catch dancer Sophie Breton working with choreographer Virginie Brunelle, with a score by Roozbeh Tabandeh performed by oboist Marcelle Mallette.
Sleeper Hollywood star Josh Hartnett playing Canadian investigative reporter Victor Malarek in new, real-life thriller Suspect Number One (also titled Most Wanted in some places). Malarek delved deep into a coverup that landed a Quebecer in a Thai jail after a drug deal gone bad. Look for a Malarek cameo, and comedian Jim Gaffigan as Glen Picker. Now available in theatres or video on demand.
If you are itching to get out of the house, the Botanical Gardens and the Planetariuam are open, with kids 17 and under getting in for free until the end of August. Visit the greenhouse collections and check the blooms of the week. (It's strongly recommended to get your timed tickets online.)
And at the Old Port, paddle boat rentals, the zipline and the pirate ship have been available for the past few weeks. Now they are joined by SOS Labyrinthe, with 2 kilometres of winding paths to get lost in. (New this year: a disco zone!)
If you were jazzed about the third and final Mars rover launch this past Thursday, visit the Montreal Science Centre, which reopened last week. They have a show on now called The Journey to Space. Look for the Apollo mission space helmet, and a glove used by Neil Armstrong himself while training for his moon mission.
The Comedy Nest is back, with socially distanced seating and smaller audiences. Catch headliner Derek Seguin Friday and Saturday, along with Jacy Lafonatine and Darren Henwood and others.
The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts has a new show: Paris in the Days of Post-Impressionism: Signac and the Indépendants includes 500 paintings and works from a private collection. Escape from the everyday with lush, colourful works by Money, Seurat, Pissarro and Degas, to name just a few of the artists. And a new public art piece inspired by the Signac show is now available for viewing. Sailboats, created by Collectif Escargo, uses linear flower gardens and shimmering paint to evoke the seascape. See it on Du Musée Avenue. And take a family-friendly walking tour of the Museum's 30-item sculpture garden. Reserve your spot here.
The McCord Museum has a retrospective of the work of cartoonist Serge Chapleau, a talented counterpart to Aislin in franco circles.
The Satosphere dome has extended SatFest, a series of immersive digital shorts, with a showing on Friday at 6pm and 7:30pm (extended until August 31). And the Domesicle series continues its weekly DJ night, with MUTEK taking the helm this week, plugging in DJs like Daura and Flabbergast. Attend in person, 9pm to 2am, or stream on Zoom. or you can enjoy at home or at the theatre. The SAT has also reopened its delicious Labo Culinaire, if you are peckish.