What: It’s a night from the past, with scientists from different eras coming together to focus on different topics and explain their research and answer questions.
What: An old style arcade with a twist, this space doubles as an art gallery that exhibits different local Montreal artists each month and an arcade to kick some butt at Pac-Man.
What: The South Asian Youth Collective is organizing a party in celebration of Diwali, a day celebrated in many cultures to shine bright and be with loved ones before the cold winter months come in.
What: A ghost-hunting tour where you will learn about the past events of the area, and even learn about some strategies and tools that are used to communicate and track paranormal activities.
What: Similar to a pub crawl, this event involves going to five different breakfast locations around Montreal where you will receive a beverage/meal at every stop. All proceeds go to charity.
Gardens of Light at the Montreal Botanical Garden. KAITLYNN RODNEY/ The Concordian
Five events that won’t break the bank.
Septembers in Montreal are known for pleasant weather and the nonstop events that occur during the entire month.
The best part about living in this city is that whatever you’re into, there’s surely an event for you.
Here are five events that you should check out this month.
First on the list is the World Press Photo Exhibition, for all the shutterbugs out there. Currently underway at the Bonsecours Market in the Old Port, this event launched on Aug. 31 and runs until Oct. 2.
Among the photographs on display is the winner of the World Press Photo of the Year 2022 — Amber Bracken’s Kamloops Residential School. General admission for the exhibition is $15.
If you want a change in scenery, visit the Gardens of Light at the Montreal Botanical Gardens from Sept. 2 until Oct. 31. Here you can witness nature in all its glory right in front of your eyes.
You can take a walk through the Chinese, Japanese and First Nations gardens and admire the lanterns that line them. The price of this event ranges from $11 to $22.
Next up, calling all tattoo lovers! The Montreal Art Tattoo Show is taking place at the Windsor Station from Sept. 16 – 18. The event brings tattoo artists from all over the world together. Interested visitors can book appointments directly with the artists through Instagram or Facebook. The general entrance fee is $25.
The 18th edition of the Montreal International Black Film Festival is taking place from Sept. 20 – 25 in cinemas across the Quartier des spectacles, near Place-des-Arts. This showcase is the only officially bilingual Black film festival of its kind in North America. Information regarding different venues and prices can be found on the event’s website.
Finally, for something truly unique, visit the MAPP_MTL festival, kicking off on Sept. 21 and wrapping up on Sept. 25. This event is completely free and will take place in Mile End and the Quartier des spectacles. Expect performances by various artists, like VJ SUAVE. This duo from Brazil, had the idea of putting a projector in their bicycle and as they pedal, their creations appear on the wall. They will be performing on Sept. 17.
Don’t get too cozy yet! The weather was strangely warm this week and it appears it’ll stay that way for another… so get off the couch! Take a study break and go check out these festivals happening all over Montreal this fall! Oh, and if you haven’t seen any part of the Momenta Biennale, do that too!
THIS WEEK
LadyFest
Returning for its fifth year, LadyFest is a comedy festival celebrating femme and non-binary talents. I had the opportunity to go last year and had such a great time! Did I mention that I went back to watch a show alone… and sat in the front row? I didn’t even anxiety-hurl! LadyFest is truly soul food. Anyway, this magnificent happening ends Saturday, Sept. 21, so get your tickets here or at Théatre St-Catherine. For more information visit http://ladyfest.ca
Feminist Film Festival
No one will be turned away for lack of funds at this intersectional film festival! With local and international film shorts, FFF promises to challenge gender norms and feature strong female leads.
Stop Motion Festival
A fabulous contributor covered the Stop Motion Festival last year and completely overwhelmed me with the number of cool workshops that took place. Largely based on Concordia’s campus, this festival screens at the J.A. de Sève Cinema in the Hall building, in the EV building’s main auditorium, the LB atrium, and at Mckibbin’s Pub on Bishop St. Grab a beer and freak out about some sick animation until Sept. 22. View the full schedule here.
NEXT WEEK
Sept. 24-29: Montreal International Black Film Festival
I’ve attended the MIBFF since I started writing for The Concordian. Each year, my eyes are opened wider than the last. I was particularly fascinated by last year’s documentary on the reclamation of Dutch wax fabric, one of the most popular textiles in Africa.
With programs for youth, discussions, markets, and screenings, of course, this festival – opening with a tribute to Harriet Tubman – isn’t one to miss. For more information and tickets, visit http://montrealblackfilm.com/
Sept. 25-28: VIVA! Art Action
Taking place in the industrial heart of St-Henri, the VIVA! Biennial will feature over 20 artists from all over the world, including a handful from Montreal and a couple from Concordia! Performances, workshops, conferences, and other participatory experiences take the forefront at this festival, where lines between the artist and the viewer are blurred. Keep your eyes peeled for this one.
Sept. 25-29: POP Montreal
Hello fall festival queen, are you a person who likes to spend all day at art shows and all night at concerts and movies at the same time? Yes? Me too. Last year’s POP Montreal drained my soul in the best possible way. I have fond memories of walking to and from venues with POP’s specialty drink in my hand.
Committing to the festival means discovering new spaces and experiences you wouldn’t typically find yourself in. Queer visibility and sexuality, the underlying theme of Art POP, connects various satellite exhibitions across Montreal. Partnerships include UQAM, artist-run center Articule, and Elephant gallery – where Concordia-based creator Skawennati has developed a virtual portrait project with youth from Montreal North and Kahnawake.
It doesn’t stop there. In addition to art and music, POP Montreal includes a segment of symposium talks (which cross disciplines between art, music, queer theory, etc.) and film screenings at the glorious Cinema Moderne in the Mile End.
There is ALWAYS something happening in Montreal. No matter the weather. The end of September just so happens to be the sleepiest and busiest time ever. Yeah, yeah Green Day, I’ll wake you up when September ends, (that’s a lie I will wake you up now so you can festival hop.) Happy fall! Stay hydrated! Wash your hands!
Check out these five January events to combat the post-holiday blues
Barbegazi Festival Jan. 6 to 8 and Jan. 13 to 15
Barbegazi is a winter sport festival that takes place every year at the Îlot Clark of Montreal’s Quartier des Spectacles. The best part about this year’s festival is that it’s free for all in honour of Montreal’s 375th birthday. Activities include snow-skating, fat-biking and winter obstacle courses and challenges. This festival is perfect for all of those winter-sport lovers out there.
Igloofest Every weekend from Jan. 12 to Feb. 19
Going into its 11th year, Igloofest is a popular outdoor music festival that takes place in Montreal’s Old Port. The winter festival goes all out with icy décor, a giant playground and, of course, electronic music. Many international DJs will be attending the events, including Apparat, Deadlift and Carl Cox. This year, Igloofest is extending its stay for six weekends in honour of Montreal’s birthday. The online price for a regular pass ranges from $15 to $22, depending on whether the purchase is for Thursday, Friday or Saturday events. The festival also sells Igloopasses, which include access to 12 evenings. The online price for an Igloopass is $120.
Fête des neiges Every weekend from Jan. 14 to Feb. 5
Montreal’s Fête des neiges is a family-oriented winter event that aims to help Montrealers enjoy winter a little more. Fête des neiges is located at Parc Jean-Drapeau. Some of the activities include a tube slide, ice ship and zip-lining. There will also be fast-food concession stands and warming areas. An Accropase will give you unlimited access to the main activities during eight days of the festival, and costs $16 online, or $50 for a package deal. Some other benefits of this membership pass is a discount on various restaurants and free membership to the Stewart Museum and Environment Museum during the weeks of Fête des neiges.
Winter Clubs Fair Jan. 17
The new year, new you kind of craze can also mean that you want to get more involved in university life. Concordia’s clubs fair is the perfect way to get another shot at checking out what’s happening on campus. The Winter Clubs Fair is part of Concordia’s Student Union 2017 Kick-Off week. The event will be held between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on the seventh floor of the Hall building. Some of Concordia’s clubs include the African Students Association of Concordia, Best Buddies, Artopia, CARA, Cupcakes for a Cause, Muslim Student Associate our own newspaper, The Concordian, and so much more. There might be a unique club that is just right for you.
A quick guide to what’s coming up in Montreal this fall
It should come as no surprise that Montreal is a lively and eclectic city with a host of different activities one can take part in. Igloofest, Poutinefest, Osheaga… in Montreal, every season is festival season. From performance art to film festivals, photography exhibitions to musicals, it’s impossible to be bored in a city so full of entertainment and cultural activities. The hardest part about living in Montreal is staying in the loop on what’s coming up. Here are some things to keep an eye out for this season. This is by no means an extensive or all-encompassing list—it is merely the tip of the cultural iceberg that is available for Montrealers to explore.
The Montreal Opera
The 2016-17 Montreal opera season will soon be underway, opening with Giuseppe Verdi’s Aida on Sept. 17. Set in ancient Egypt, Aida tells the story of a young slave torn between her love for an enemy and the love for her country, at a time when Ethiopia and Egypt were poised for war.
If this love story doesn’t catch your eye, maybe Mozart’s Don Giovanni will. A story of love, seduction and revenge, this opera, which takes place in 18th century Seville, is sure to entertain both the opera enthusiast and the casual observer. Opening night is Nov. 12.
Focus: Perfection
Robert Mapplethorpe’s black and white photographs are renowned for their controversial, erotic nature. In a Canadian premiere, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will display works spanning the entirety of the notorious photographer’s career: from the early 1970s until his death in 1989. The exhibition will run from September 10 until Jan. 22, 2017.
Gardens of light
As of Sept. 2, step into an enchanted world of lanterns and lights at the Montreal Botanical Garden. Recounting the life of the Son of Heaven, the Chinese Emperor, lanterns in the Chinese garden serve as a testament to some of the key events of the sovereign’s life, such as his enthronement and wedding. In the Japanese garden, luminous bamboo lights the path in a soft glow.
Film festivals
Interested in film? Keep an eye out for several film festivals that will be starting shortly. The Montreal International Documentary Festival, which runs from November 10 to 20, will present over 100 documentary films from Canada and abroad.
Every spring, thousands of Montrealers step out of their homes, where they’ve been hiding since November, surviving on chicken soup and repeats of their favourite sitcoms. But they don’t just sleep in the park all day. Instead, they get to enjoy the myriad of festivals, films, plays and unique events that the city has to offer. It’s hard to confidently argue that Montreal doesn’t offer one of the best summer experiences. So whether this is your first summer in the city, or you’re a Tam Tams veteran, check out our picks for the best arts events around town.
FESTIVALS
Kick off the end of exams with Elektra, which celebrates the best of music and art made with the latest technologies. Last year’s festival saw performances featuring robot dancers and an installation with pods that responded to changes in light by opening and closing like flowers. You can pretty much bet that they’ll top that this year when the festival starts up again from May 2 to 6. Visit www.elektrafestival.ca for more details.
Ste-Catherine Street is subject to many protests and parades, so it’s nice to see art laying its claim for space. This year, the Festival international Montreal en arts (FIMA) will take over a portion of Ste-Cats for its 13th edition, turning it into a BoulevArt. Last year saw nearly 140 artists display their work to over 250,000 passersby. This year, check out the self-proclaimed “greatest open air art gallery in Eastern Canada” between June 27 and July 1. Visitwww.festivaldesarts.org for updates on this year’s edition.
Did you know that laughing is a great way to work your abs? Get your beach body ready with Just for Laughs Festival. Celebrating its 30th anniversary from July 12 to 29, Just for Laughs promises to have you rolling on the floor with their comedic star lineup including Bo Burnham, Caroline Rhea, Daniel Tosh, Debra DiGiovanni and many, many more. To see the full lineup of comics or to book your tickets, visit www.hahaha.com.
Montreal is proud of its LGBT community and even more so of the annual Divers/Cite Festival. This event promotes the value of diversity with mostly outdoor events from all walks of art. The festival will showcase modern dance, blues, jazz, pop, Latin, rock, world, funk, ambient, techno and electronic concerts, drag queen performances and an outdoor cinema. The festival is in its 20th edition and will run from July 30 to Aug. 5. For more information visit www.diverscite.org.
Hot air balloons are usually reserved for family films (see Up and Around the World in 80 Days), which may be why hundreds of thousands of people flock far out to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu for its balloon festival. You can book a flight, or if you’d rather stay on the ground, you can enjoy the view (last year they had a balloon shaped like Spider Pig!) from their beer terrace. It goes down on Aug. 11 to 19, and you can check out www.ballooncanada.com for more details.
FILM
Fantasia is a true underdog story. Started by alternative film fanatics in 1996 (way before the “turn-all-comics-into-films” great geek revolution of the past few years), it has become the ultimate summer event for anyone who likes their films dark, subversive and shocking. Details on this year’s edition will be released closer to Fantasia’s run from July 19 to Aug. 7, but you can keep your eye out for them over atwww.festivalfantasia.com.
For a little cultural diversity in your movie-going experience this summer, don’t miss the World Film Festival, Aug. 23 to Sept. 3. The goal of this festival is to promote cultural diversity internationally by promoting films from around the globe. To find out what films will be showing, visit www.ffm-montreal.org.
VISUAL ARTS
Everyone knows of Warhol and Lichtenstein, but how often do you hear someone name-drop Tom Wesselmann? Following last summer’s Gaultier extravaganza, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts is keeping in the pop culture tune by putting on the first major Canadian exhibition on Wesselmann, the third major pop artist. The exhibit runs from May 18 to Oct. 7. You can check out more details over at www.mbam.qc.ca.
You don’t have to drive to Granby or put up with the questionable smell at the Biodôme to celebrate the animal kingdom this summer. Zoo is an exhibition featuring art from Quebec, Canadian and international artists that explores the way animals are perceived nowadays, through filters such as mythology, natural science and even the economy. And, of course, it’s contemporary art so it will be done in a way that will leave you turning your head. It’s being shown at the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal from May 24 to Sept. 3. Visit www.macm.org for more details.
BOOKS “No gods, no masters, no bosses, no borders,” proclaims the poster for this year’s Anarchist Bookfair. Taking place on May 19 and 20, the fair will feature authors and booksellers offering zines, books and all other kinds of print works that you just won’t find at Chapters. But it doesn’t stop there—there will be film, art and workshops that will touch on current issues and reiterate the fair’s mission to fight all forms of oppression. Check out http://www.anarchistbookfair.ca for more information.
Authors love giving their most unfortunate characters ironically bright names, and then cruelly dumping misfortune after misfortune on them while also giving them an optimistic demeanour. Ed the Happy Clown has been put through horrifying ordeals (not the least of which includes his member coming to life and naming itself Ronald Reagan) since Chester Brown first conceived him in the ’80s. This summer, Brown is giving poor Ed a definitive story, after coming up with a new ending and revising past books. The tome, simply called Ed the Happy Clown, will be released by Drawn & Quarterly on May 22.
Another oldie getting the re-release treatment is Chuck Palahniuk’s 1999 novel Invisible Monsters. Written before Fight Club, it was rejected the first time he submitted it to his publisher for being too disturbing. Since then, thousands of people have fallen for the story of Shannon McFarland, a former model whose face is horribly disfigured, and her adventures with Brandy, a transgender woman who is awaiting her last big operation. With added chapters and extended scenes, Invisible Monsters Remix will take this satire even further. It comes out in hardcover on May 29.
THEATRE
One of the best parts about summer is being able to experience art outdoors. This is what makes Repercussion Theatre’s Shakespeare-in-the-Park performances so magical. Travelling from park to park around town, the performances usually take place in the afternoon, meaning you get to see some top-notch Shakespeare as day turns to dusk, while the setting becomes an enchanted forest. Last year they took on Macbeth, but they’re going lighter this summer with the comedy The Taming of the Shrew. Did I mention the best part? It’s absolutely free (though when they pass around the hat, be nice and donate—actors gotta eat!) Check out www.repercussiontheatre.com to see when they’re coming to a park near you.
The St-Ambroise Fringe Festival is one of the most celebrated theatre events in Montreal, because it gives people a chance to see fun, quirky—and sometimes just plain weird—shows for dirt cheap. The participating theatre companies are chosen lottery-style and performed in venues scattered across the Plateau and Mile End. If you can, try to make the shows in smaller venues—it makes the experience super personal and memorable. This year, Fringe Fest runs from June 4 to 24. Visit www.montrealfringe.ca after May 7 to check out this year’s shows.
If Fringe isn’t your thing, then maybe the Infringement Festival is. Started as a response to advertisement-heavy festivals that make it difficult for alternative and controversial shows to get in, Infringement encourages artists and activists of all kinds to participate. Artists don’t have to pay registration fees and most events are pay-what-you-can. This year’s edition runs from June 14 to 24. You can go to www.infringementfestival.com for more information.
