The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Montreal is celebrating turning 375 with fests
Montreal is celebrating turning 375 with its famous jazz fest and many others
As Montreal celebrates it 375th birthday this year, its legendary festivals shift into high gear.
The 38th Festival International de Jazz de Montreal, June 28 to July 8, characterizes the passion for jazz that is part of the culture of this Frenchspeaking metropolis. The Guinness Book of World Records ranked it as the world’s largest jazz festival, and this year’s festival will host 3,000 entertainers from more than 30 countries — also including rock and other music genres that take their inspiration from jazz
Performances take place from noon to midnight right downtown, and two-thirds of them are free.
Ticketed events at this year’s Jazz Festival will include Bob Dylan on June 30, King Crimson on July 3 and concerts by Melissa Etheridge, Buddy Guy, Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir, Cuban music and plenty of blues. Also, a symphony orchestra will perform the music of the 2016 Academy Awardnominated film “La La Land.”
From the most prestigious concert halls to hushed, intimate clubs, Montreal will host music during festival’s 10 day magical days and nights.
As during most of the city’s many festivals, the entire city gets in on the
action, giving visitors a great overview of the tastes and lifestyles of Montreal. The city’s first festival of the year, the two-week outdoor party known as Montreal en Lumiere was in late February and early March and celebrated with art, food, music, performances, giant board games, ice slides, zipline and curling.
Food events included a local cheese tasting, demonstrations at the historic Jean Talon food market and fixed-price menus throughout the city’s upscale gastronomic destinations. Multi-course specialty menus were inspired by the 2017 featured city of Lyon, France, and often prepared by guest chefs from that region’s restaurants.
The 2018 event will be Feb. 22 to March 2.
To start planning, visit www.montrealenlumiere.com.
Those who come this year to celebrate the big birthday will be able to visit the Pointe-’a-Calliere Museum, where the fort of the first French settlement was built to shelter 50 settlers in 1642. Those colonists from France established a mission called Villa Marie, where fur traders had been at work for several years.
And Aura, a three-act multimedia spectacle, has debuted in the heart of the landmark Basilica NotreDame to reveal its wealth of exquisite works. Light also plays a role in the illumination of the JacquesCartier Bridge, connecting it with Longueuil across the St. Lawrence River.
The digital interactive installation will light up
according to the season and the pulse of the city. Unfolding on the water itself in the west section of Montreal’s Old Port will be a multimedia extravaganza, called Avudo, with more than 100 free performances.
Cite Memoire will unfold after dark from one end of Old Montreal to the other, with characters projected on the walls, the ground and the trees. Projections infused with whimsy and poetry are portrayals of those those who have witnessed the evolution of the city through the years. Hundreds of artists will take over the streets in July to present 800 performances of street theater from six countries. The Festival Des Arts de la Rue is touted as the largest
street-theater event ever held in North America.
In November, the city’s Museum of Contemporary Art debuts “Leonard Cohen — A Crack in Everything,” which pays homage to the globally appreciated musician and native son who died earlier this year.
No matter when you visit, there’s always something going on in Montreal. Here are some more examples for this summer.