Miscellaneous Festivals & Events in Montreal

Montreal’s White Party Week (Le Bal en Blanc à Montreal) is a five night celebration that reaches its climax with the White Party (Bal en Blanc) rave. This five-day event occurs from Thursday to Monday during the Easter holidays. Held at Montreal’s Convention Centre (Palais des Congrès), the White Party Week features an impressive selection of international DJs and artists.

Montreal’s Black and Blue Festival is considered to be the world’s largest gay-benefit dance festival. The festival is a week-long string of parties hosted by Bad Boy Club Montréal (aka BBCM and Foundation BBCM). It is held every year, during the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. The festival attracts thousands of tourists to Montreal every year. The proceeds of the festival are donated to AIDS support organizations.

Montreal’s Dîner en Blanc (Montreal’s White Dinner) is an elegant, festive and delicious event in which thousands of guests , dressed in all white meet to share a meal at an undisclosed location in Montreal. The special thing about this all-white picnic is that none of the guests know the location of the picnic until the very last minute. The guests are brought to the secret location by bus “charter”, with their own basket of food and wine.

The International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (International des Montgolfières de Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu) is the largest hot air balloon festival in Canada. This gathering of balloons is very popular with kids of all ages. The International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu features hot air balloons, music, rides and attractions. Along with hot air balloons, the festival also features activity areas with various games, inflatable structures interactive animated shows.

Montreal’s International Circus Arts Festival (Montréal Complètement Cirque)is an international festival celebrating circus arts. Hundreds of circus artists from around the world participate in this summer festival. The festival features performances, showcases, conferences and exhibitions all over the city of Montreal. You’ll find circus artists, magicians, clowns, acrobats, makeup artists and much more.

Montreal’s International Fireworks Competition (L’International des Feux Loto-Québec presented by TELUS) is an annual fireworks competition that takes place during the summer months in Montreal. The Montreal International Fireworks Competition has been taking place since 1985 at La Ronde and is one of the most popular summer events in Montreal. The fireworks competition runs from mid-June till mid-August. Each year, over 3 million people attend the fireworks displays. The festival uses more than 6,000 fireworks.

Montreal’s Just For Laughs Festival (Festival Juste Pour Rire) is a comedy festival that runs for 11 days during the month of July. The festival features hundreds of comedians and events throughout the streets of Montreal. Besides featuring many comedy shows, the festival features free street shows, dance acts, circus arts, street dancing and so much more. The Just For Laughs Festival features both English and French comedians.

The Montreal Beer Festival (Mondial de la Bière) is an annual beer festival that takes place during the summertime in Montreal. It features beer tastings, beer workshops, food and, of course, lots of beer. This 10-day festival is labeled as the largest international beer festival in North America. The festival takes place at Montreal’s Windsor station.

Montreal’s Bike Festival (Féria du vélo de Montréal) is a bicycle festival that features several cycling activities. During this one-week festival, the entire island of Montreal becomes a playground to participate, experience and interact with Montreal’s world-renowned cycling culture. Participants of the Montreal Bike Festival come from all over North America and all over the world.

The Montreal High Lights Festival (Festival Montréal en Lumière) is one of the largest winter festivals in the world and Montreal’s most popular winter festival. Occurring in the Month of February, the High Lights Festival is a 10-day celebration of light shows, free events, live music, performance arts and fine food and wine.

Montreal’s Igloofest is a yearly multi-weekend outdoor rave that takes place at Quai Jacques Cartier in Montreal’s Quays of the Old Port during the month of January. It is described by many as the coldest rave on the planet. This electronica extravaganza attracts many house and electronic music fans from around the world along with some of the most popular DJs.

The Montreal International Dragon Boat Race Festival is an annual International festival that takes place in the Olympic Basin on Île Notre-Dame in Jean Drapeau Park. This weekend event features dragon boat teams from around North-America competing in 250 meter and 500 meter races. The festival also features live entertainment such as music groups, folk dancing and other cultural entertainment.

Montreal’s Pride Celebrations (Célébrations de la fierté Montréal) is one of the largest Gay Pride Celebrations in all of North America. This celebration brings together members of the LGBT community from all over the world for a fun, exciting and flamboyant party. During the Montreal Gay Pride celebration, visitors can experience some great shopping, dining, cruising and partying.

The St-Ambroise Montreal FRINGE Festival (Festival St-Ambroise Fringe de Montréal) is a unique fringe festival with an unbeatable neighborhood feel! Block party and performing arts collide every June in the Plateau Mile-End for this celebration of creativity without limits that includes music, comedy, dance and theatre from over 500 performers. The St-Ambroise Montreal FRINGE Festival is bilingual, and includes local, national and international artists from Montreal to Greece to Japan!

The Magic of Lanterns (La Magie des Lanternes) is Montreal’s annual fall festival of lights that marks the arrival of autumn in beautiful style. It is a remarkable celebration of light in the Montreal Botanical Garden’s Chinese Garden. The festival is marked by hundreds of silk lanterns that illuminate various areas of The Chinese Garden.