Montreal festivals move online

MONTREAL — The show must go online.

Faced with cancellation under COVID-19, Montreal festivals are reinventing themselves for the reality of a pandemic.

While heavy hitters such as the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Les Francos and Osheaga are off the radar until further notice, several smaller-scale events are offering a panoply of virtual entertainment options, beginning this weekend.

POP MONTREAL

POP Montreal officially takes place in September, but the city's premier indie music extravaganza is getting a jump with Le Funhouse.

Running Friday to Sunday, the event brings together live music, contemporary art, fashion, artisans, films, panel discussions and workshops on multiple online platforms, all accessible through popmontreal.com .

At Le Funhouse, visitors can navigate between sets by mostly local music acts, a party by Toronto LGBTQ collective Club Quarantine, poetry classes, drag makeup workshop, and a screening of the zombie classic Night of the Living Dead.

“Depending how things play out, it could be a trial run in case we're forced to go virtual in September,” said POP Montreal director Dan Seligman.

PAPIER ART FAIR

In little over a decade, the Papier Art Fair — a.k.a. Foire Papier — has become a reference in the visual arts world. When the lockdown was announced, organizers initially rescheduled the event from late April to late June, before realizing a real-life art fair was simply not in the cards this summer.

Papier's 13th edition runs Thursday to June 21 at papiermontreal.com. Bringing together 44 galleries from across the country, organizers hope to bring a gust of hope — and business — to the visual arts scene.

A new augmented-reality phone app, Collecting — the App, allows users to see how artworks would look in their homes. There's also an educational program of 10 talks and panel discussions, on Facebook Live or Zoom.

“We wanted it to be more than just a typical website experience,” said Papier spokesperson Simone Rochon. Visitors will be able to view a layout of the virtual fair and peruse the booths of different galleries in clusters, “like walking through the physical fair.”

MONTREAL FRINGE FESTIVAL

Meanwhile, the Montreal Fringe Festival is trying to figure out how to co-ordinate an online beer tent. The indie theatre institution was set to celebrate its 30th anniversary this year. That's been pushed back to 2021.