The coming havoc from the Formula E Race (and the closures it entails) might have you wanting to hole up in a blanket fort this weekend.
But if the promise of free rides on the STM and by Bixi can coax you from your pillows, a treasure of fun events await you!
(PS there are still tickets available for the Formula E... you can say you were at the inaugural race around Montreal!)
One-day punk love-in 77 takes over Parc Jean-Drapeau on Friday. Named for the year punk really crystallized as a genre, the lineup includes headliners Rancid and the Dropkick Murphys. Montreal-based all-girl garage rock band Pale Lips is also on the lineup.
This is your last weekend to check out Just for Laughs. See a big gala, with hosts the likes of Jane Krakowski (Friday) and Laverne Cox (Saturday), or see Judd Apatow at the 5ieme Salle. Or see storytelling and theatre in one of the Plateau's black box spaces, like Brit David Baddiel and Eugene Mirman (Bob's Burgers, Archer) at Theatre La Chapelle, or the witty Sarah Millican at MainLine Theatre. Sugar Sammy also hosts his international gala Friday at 9:45pm. And whether or not you shell out for a ticket, take a stroll around the Quartier des spectacles and jump on a ride, outdoor activities and grab some paella, wine or vegan hot dogs at the outdoor food court, Bouffons.
Fantasia Film Festival continues: on Friday, see Japanese film Innocent Curse, a film about haunted children. Also that night, there’s a free tribute screening for recently deceased filmmaker George A Romero: they are going to show his 1973 masterpiece, The Crazies, where a small town is besieged by a manmade virus. And on Sunday afternoon, take in the North American premiere of Geek Girls, a look at what it is to be female and a geek. Quebec City native Stephanie Harvey (one of the smartest people in Canada, game designer and pro gamer) is one of the many women who talk about the intersection of feminism, misogyny, science and fandom.
England is on stage at the fireworks, Saturday at10pm. Gunpowder and Greasepaint will have music from musicals like West Side Story and Cats.
The month-long street theatre festival, We’re Acting Out!, wraps up with flying angels! Acrobats for Places des Anges will take to skies filled with white feathers over the Place-des-Arts esplanade on Saturday and Sunday at 9:45pm.
There are a few more shows left for What's in a Name? at the Segal Centre. I loved this international hit and comedy of errors, which is transposed from a trendy neighbourhood in Paris to the hipster enclave of Mile Ex in Montreal. A bunch of old friends get together for a night of wine and drink... and the fun starts when one of them announces he's going to name his kid after one of the worst humans of the 20th century.
Shakespeare in the Park’s Much Ado About Nothing visits Huntingdon and Benny Park in NDG.
And the Wiggle Room stages a tribute to the creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Dr Horrible and Firefly, Joss Whedon. Here’s hoping for an Avengers number at the show on Friday night.