Summer festival season is officially in full swing, Montreal. This week the city hands you everything from free outdoor concerts downtown to K-pop by the canal, street art block parties, and pierogi in the park. Here is your guide to the next ten days, June 12 to 22.
🎶 Francos de Montreal 🔥
June 12 to 20, Place des Festivals (Quartier des spectacles). The largest francophone music festival in the world is back for its 37th edition, taking over downtown with day and night programming. This year’s lineup features Orelsan, Coeur de Pirate, Pierre Lapointe, Lou-Adriane Cassidy, Laurent Voulzy, and many more. Tons of the outdoor shows are completely free, so you can wander in and discover something new every evening.
🎨 MURAL Festival (Closing Weekend) ⏳
Until June 14, Saint-Laurent Boulevard. This is your last chance to catch MURAL before it wraps. World-class street artists have been transforming the Main all week, and the final weekend brings block parties, live music, guided street art tours, and vendor markets. Stroll the boulevard and watch the city’s newest murals come to life in real time.
🍜 POCHA MTL
June 11 to 14, Peel Basin. Korean street food culture lands by the water for four days of fun. Think Korean barbecue, fried chicken, and kogos, plus live K-pop performances and interactive activities. It is a tasty, high-energy way to spend an afternoon in Griffintown.
🥟 Polski Piknik
June 13, Parc Jeanne-Mance. Quebec’s largest celebration of Polish culture returns for its 7th edition. Expect pierogi, sausages, folk music, and dancing at the foot of Mount Royal. Bring a blanket, bring friends, and come hungry.
🎭 St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival
Until June 21, venues across the Plateau and beyond. The Fringe is in its final stretch, with around 500 artists presenting over 800 indoor performances of theatre, comedy, burlesque, and everything in between. Highlights this week include the burlesque-drag-comedy mashup BABES, BABES, BABES! and dozens of shows you will not see anywhere else. Cheap tickets, wild variety, pure Montreal.
🛶 Festival sur le Canal ⭐
June 19 to 21, Lachine Canal (Saint-Henri). This free, family-friendly music festival sets up along the water with live bands and gourmet food stands. It is one of the most relaxed festival vibes in the city; picture picnic blankets, canal views, and great music drifting through the air.
🎤 Joji at the Bell Centre
June 20, Bell Centre. The genre-blurring singer behind “Glimpse of Us” brings his moody, cinematic pop to the Bell Centre for one night. If you want a big arena moment this week, this is the one to grab tickets for.
😂 Amine Radi at L’Olympia
June 19 to 21, L’Olympia. The French-Moroccan comedian takes over L’Olympia for three nights of stand-up. His high-energy, multilingual humor has made him a streaming favorite, and these shows tend to sell fast.
🎪 Cirque du Soleil: Echo
All week, Old Port of Montreal. Cirque’s latest creation continues its run under the iconic Big Top in the Old Port. Echo is a visually stunning show about our connection to the natural world, and seeing Cirque at home in Montreal under the tent is always something special.
🌌 Pink Floyd: The Dark Side of the Moon at the Planetarium
Fridays and Saturdays until June 21, Rio Tinto Alcan Planetarium. The classic album gets the full dome treatment with immersive visuals set to every track. It is a trippy, surprisingly affordable night out, and the run ends June 21, so do not sleep on it.
That is the week, Montreal. Whether you are singing along at the Francos, hunting murals on the Main, or eating your way through a festival by the water, there is no excuse to stay home. See you out there! 🎉
