The Rock 'n Roll marathon goes on... sort of. You may have heard that the marathon is cancelled because of the high temperatures, but the 10K and the half-marathon are still on this Sunday. There is also the newly-added 5K run at 8:30am on Saturday at Lafontaine. IYou could head downtown to cheer on the runners, and then check out David Usher and Moist perform a free show at 11:30am at Lafontaine Park. The Canadian indie rock legends celebrated 25 years of music this summer. They will be joined by other groups like Kit Katz, War Call, Snooze+ and les Belles et les Bêtes. Full program here.
The perfect event for families in the West Island this weekend is Arts Alive! The two-day series of shows and workshops put on by ELAN comes to St John Fisher Junior School in Pointe-Claire after stopoffs around the province this summer. There is an eclectic bunch of activities to take in, from a Teddy Bear Picnic, to a writing workshop for teens, a breakdancing show and live classicalk, folk and a capella gospel. Other workshops for kids include the basics of rug hooking, kite decorating and creative stitchery.
Since the weather is warm, why not consider doing the Lanterns at the Botanical Gardens, take a spin on la Grande Roue or do Old Montreal's interactive walking tour, Cité-Memoire.
Watch people make food! Travelling food symposium Omnivore is the ultimate in food porn, and it's at the SAT downtown Saturday and Sunday. Audience members get to sit in the SAT dome and watch great culinary folks cook and talk about their craft. On Saturday, see Raegan Steinberg and Alexandre Cohen of St Henri's nouveau Jewish deli Arthurs Nosh Bar. On Sunday, you can catch Fredéric Le Gall of Shawinigan's Trou du diable microbrasserie. It’s free, but you have to register. (And if you're quick, you can hop up and sample the food once the demo ends!)
The 34th annual Antiquarian Book Fair at the McConnell Atrium at Concordia's downtown campus. On Saturday and Sunday, 30 book dealers from Quebec and Ontario come together to exhibit and sell a wide variety of old and interesting titles. Entrance is $6.
American folk rocker and pop culture junkie Dan Bern performs a couple of songs from his 1,000-strong catalogue on Saturday night at Turbo Haus in St Henri. Tickets here.
Celebrate Psilocybin Mushroom Day by expanding your horizons at an all-day event about the use of magic mushrooms put on by the 920 Coalition and the Montreal Psychedelic Society this Saturday. There will be a talk by McGill neurobiology doctoral student Nick Benfrey and livestreamed talk by pharmacognosist Dennis McKenna. This is 3:30-9:30pm at 1244 Wolfe Street. Tickets are $15-20 at the door.
I was pleased to learn that the group les Amis de la montagne have set up a series of walking tours on Mont-Royal to celebrate Montreal's 375th birthday. With the beautiful weather on now, this is probably the best weekend to check this out! The tour schedule can be found here.
Appreciate some homemade goods at the 4th Etsy Fait au Quebec market on Saturday and Sunday at theTechnopôle Angus. The first 30 customers in line get a goodie bag! Check out the vendors here.
Two exciting evenings for burlesque fans at the Wiggle Room: gals take on the guys in a showdown at the Burlesque versus Boylesque showdown Friday, and there's an homage to one of the great acts of the '80s with the Duran Duran Sextravangaza on Saturday night.
Oh, and hey! Bixis are free this Sunday.