What's on in Montreal, Canada through the year

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in Canada, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

• Festival

  Igloofest

  14 Jan – 8 Feb · usuallyMajor festival

  Outdoor electronic music in the Old Port across three or four January weekends, in the coldest weeks of the North American calendar. The one-piece snowsuit contest is not ironic. Source ↗

Quiet — one of its worst months for weather

• Festival

  Montreal en Lumiere

  18 Feb – 10 Mar · usuallyMajor festival

  A fortnight of guest chefs, concerts and installations downtown at the end of February, closing with an all-night Nuit Blanche when the metro runs until dawn. Source ↗

Still on: Igloofest (14 Jan – 8 Feb (usually))

Busy — March break / semaine de relâche in Canada

• Season

  Sugar shack season

  1 Mar – 15 Apr · usuallyHarvest

  The sap runs when nights freeze and days thaw, so the cabanes a sucre outside the city open for roughly six weeks in March and April. Weekend tables are booked well ahead.

Still on: Montreal en Lumiere (18 Feb – 10 Mar (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in April.

Still on: Sugar shack season (1 Mar – 15 Apr (usually))

Busy — Canadian Grand Prix

• Festival

  Canadian Grand Prix

  20 May – 15 Jun · usuallyMotorsport weekendCrowdedBook early

  Formula One on the island circuit over a weekend in late May or early June, and the loudest weekend of the Montreal year. Crescent Street closes and the hotels reprice for a week. Source ↗

Peak crowds — Canadian Grand Prix, Festival International de Jazz

• Festival

  Festival International de Jazz

  24 Jun – 6 Jul · usuallyMajor festivalCrowded

  Ten days at the Quartier des Spectacles at the turn of June into July, with most of the outdoor stages free. It is the largest jazz festival there is and the downtown streets close for it. Source ↗

Still on: Canadian Grand Prix (20 May – 15 Jun (usually))

Peak crowds — Festival International de Jazz, Just for Laughs

• Rule

  Moving Day

  1 JulClosures

  Most Quebec leases end on 1 July, so the whole province moves house on one day. Streets in the Plateau are impassable, every van is booked, and half the city is carrying a sofa. Source ↗

• Festival

  Just for Laughs

  15–26 JulMajor festivalCrowded

  Two weeks of comedy in the same downtown squares the jazz festival has just vacated, with free street shows alongside the ticketed galas. July in Montreal is one continuous festival. Source ↗

• Festival

  Osheaga

  28 Jul – 5 Aug · usuallyMajor festivalCrowdedBook early

  Three days on Ile Sainte-Helene at the turn of July into August, reached by metro in ten minutes from downtown. It closes the city's festival summer. Source ↗

Still on: Festival International de Jazz (24 Jun – 6 Jul (usually))

Peak crowds — Osheaga, Summer break in Canada

Nothing new starts in August.

Still on: Osheaga (28 Jul – 5 Aug (usually))

Busy — Summer break in Canada

• Nature

  Fall colour

  25 Sep – 20 Oct · usuallyAutumn colour

  Mount Royal turns in the first half of October and the Laurentians an hour north go a week earlier. Thanksgiving weekend in October is when everyone drives up to look at it.

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in October.

Still on: Fall colour (25 Sep – 20 Oct (usually))

Shoulder season — an ordinary month

Nothing new starts in November.

Busy — Winter / Christmas break in Canada, school holidays in 2 of the markets that fill it

Nothing new starts in December.