Entertainment options in Montréal

joseph.hafner — Sat, 14 Jul 2012 14:46:05 +0000

Even though every night of the conference offers a concert or reception, some IAML attendees may be looking for more entertainment options! Here are a few suggestions:

Just for Laughs:

In town there is the Just for Laughs comedy festival which takes place mainly around St. Denis/De Maisonneuve (the “Quartier latin”). One of the festival's musical events that might be fun is "Chantons sous la pluie" - a French stage adaptation of "Singing in the Rain".

Free concerts:

There are also free concerts in various parks. On Friday, July 20th, in Parc Lafontaine (just north of Sherbrooke St. East and east of St. Denis) Yannick Nezet-Séguin, Montreal’s hometown wunderkind conductor (Music Director of the Rotterdam Philharmonic Orchestra, Principal Guest Conductor of the London Philharmonic Orchestra, and (as of September) Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra) is leading a free concert by Montreal's Orchestre métropolitain, of which he has been the Artistic Director and Principal Conductor since 2000. This is one of several events that are part of Accès Culture's 2012 season. You can check out the full schedule here. If you go to the Advanced Search ("recherche avancée") you can limit by date. The areas (arrondissements) closest to downtown are Outremont, Plateau-Mont-Royal, Sud-Ouest, and Ville-Marie.

Le Festival de Lanaudière:

Just east of the island of Montreal is the area's major summer classical music festival, le Festival de Lanaudière, which runs from July 7-August 5. Every Friday and Saturday evening there is a shuttle bus that runs to the festival and back from downtown (about a 45-minute trip). You can see this year's programme here. Here is the shuttle bus information:

Every Friday and Saturday evening.
Departure: 5:45 p.m. from the Infotouriste Centre,
1001 Square-Dorchester (Peel Metro Station),
Fare : $19.13 return, before taxes
The number of seats are limited.
Information and reservations :
1 800 561-4343 / 450 759-4343

Fantasia film festival:

If you're a movie buff at all, the Fantasia film festival runs from July 19th-August 7. It deals with all sorts of genre film and has become one of the most influential film festivals of its type internationally. You'll find a lot of weird foreign films here that eventually get remade as Hollywood horror films and thrillers.

Fireworks festival:

There's also International Fireworks Festival, which runs twice a week from one of Montreal's small islands. The best place to stand and watch for free is just east of the Jacques-Cartier bridge (south of the Papineau metro station). If you bring a radio along, you can listen to the music that accompanies the fireworks as it's broadcast live. The countries competing around the time of the conference are France, Portugal, and Italy.

Voir magazine:

There are bound to be several other events going on in Montreal. It's best to pick the free French weekly Voir magazine lists movies, dance, theatre, art exhibitions, museums, etc.

Brian McMillan
Music Liaison Librarian
Marvin Duchow Music Library
McGill University

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entertainment