July is hot in this town! From cinematic gore fest to outdoor dance steps, Montreal offers the ideal vacation and staycation location in July. With something for every taste, take a look at these choice (and affordable, if not free) activities.
1. Festivals and Highlights
Photo © Evelyn Reid
The Fantasia Film Festival is back in full fright. The Gay Village car-free zone is still in effect as are their freebie Sunday chi balancing sessions. The Jazz Fest continues to delight, as always. And Just For Laughs is, yet again, importing top talent with Martin Short, John Cleese and Whoopi Goldberg (yay! but will they stick around long enough for a pile of T-Rex?)
2. Music, Concerts, Live Shows
Sean Gallup / Getty Images
-M- is booked for five nights, Beyonce is also dropping by, Depeche Mode has still got it (and then some), Circus promises an afterhours tryst with Martin Roth and we've got Cambodian pop rock with Dengue Fever. It's also the season for free outdoor shows, with Nuits d'Afrique, Divers/Cité, Parc-Jean Drapeau's Les Weekends du Monde and the Montreal International Jazz Festival collectively spoiling us literally with hundreds of concerts. And one of the finest French music festivals in the world, Les FrancoFolies, is also offering several freebie performances, dedicating their 21st edition to the late great Bashung. And on the topic of free concerts, guess what circus city's St. Michel Environmental Complex is up to this summer ...
3. Family Activities and Community Events
Photo © Evelyn Reid
The dragon boat racing festival is a great outdoor activity for the whole family, kids go nuts over Just for Laughs' street events, Parc Jean-Drapeau's Les Weekends du Monde has family fun potential and don't forget the fireworks, on display every Saturday! And yes, there's still more.
4. Theater and Dance
Photo courtesy of Les Nouveaux Cavaliers
July features a tango fest, more outdoor ballroom dancing and the return of Repercussion Theatre's Shakespeare in the Park. In the circus department, it's last call for Cirque du Soleil's OVO but at least we've got Les 7 doigts de la main flipping all over the Old Port for a few weeks more. And just north of the city is an enchanting production by the name of SAKA ...
5. Museums and Art Galleries
Photo © Evelyn Reid
Star-gazing freebies continue courtesy of the International Year of Astronomy and the Montreal Planetarium. The Biodôme is still featuring Madagascar's threatened ecosystem (as per last month, ring-tailed lemurs will be there but you'll have to settle for this clip of Sifaka leapers because they're not featured, sigh). Pirates live on at Pointe-à-Callière. And the man behind one of the most inspirational films I've ever seen, Academy award winner Frédéric Back, is highlighted at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts.
