Montreal, While you Were Out

A Summer of Festivals and Fun

Fringe ArtsAlex Mcgill — Published August 30, 2011

If you are a student here and have yet to spend a summer in Montreal, you’ve been missing out. The semester months are often chilly and spent indoors cowering in fear from the snow amidst schoolbooks and caffeinated beverages.

While Montreal is truly a beautiful city all months of the year, it really comes alive in the summertime, thanks mostly to the multitude of music and arts festivals the city hosts. There is something to go and see all summer, no matter where your interests lie. Here is a quick recap of the biggest and the brightest:  

The Fantasia Film Festival ran from July 14 until Aug. 7, celebrating its 15th anniversary as one of the front-running film festivals in North America. Fantasia had something for everyone, from the horror-film fanatic to the indie kid searching for the next under-the-radar gem. The festival was comprised of 130 films, including more than 15 world premieres. The Best Feature Award, called Le Prix du Cheval Noir, went to Danish film Clown, a spin-off of a Danish television comedy called Klovn.

For all you theatre lovers, the Montreal Fringe Festival ran from May 30 until June 19. The festival embraced a block-party vibe in Montreal’s Plateau, and featured music, comedy, dance and theatre from over 500 performers.

The bilingual festival featured local, national and international artists, and really was open to anything.

Arguably the largest and most anticipated festival to hit Montreal in the summer was the Osheaga Festival Musique et Arts, which took place from July 29 to 31 in Parc Jean-Drapeau. This year saw the addition of a third day, with previous festivals having taken place just over the Saturday and Sunday.

The 2011 version involved over 30 hours of music, 92 acts on 5 stages, and a record-breaking 81,000 sweaty music fans in attendance. The beauty of Osheaga is not only in its literal, but also in the wide variety of acts and musical genres. Folk heroes like Timber Timbre and Beirut shared a bill with the likes of out-there rockers The Flaming Lips and hip-hop act Cypress Hill, as well as the mainstream rap stylings of Eminem.

Providing the perfect marriage between indie and mainstream, set on the beautiful background of Ile Sainte-Hélène, Osheaga is the music festival of the summer not to be missed.

Fashion and art lovers found their passions intertwined at The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk, held at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from June 17 until Oct. 2 (That’s right: you can still check this one out!). This is the first international exhibition devoted to the French couturier. Set in the style of a contemporary installation, the exhibition features 140 ensembles and numerous documents in a true representation of fashion as art. A parade in honour of the designer and his work also took place July 23 on Ste. Catherine St.

The accessibility of art and culture in Montreal in the summer is abundant, and these photos demonstrate just how much this city embraces the arts, and its festivals.

This article originally appeared in Volume 32, Issue 01, published August 30, 2011.