As a Southern Californian, it’s hard for me to understand just how exciting it is for Summer to arrive here. After all, what’s the big deal about sunny days? Well, the internet is here to explain visually:
So with these two graphs in mind, the excitement makes a little more sense. But Montréal Summer is so much more than just a few snow-free months. It’s non-stop festival season here!
Manon has already mentioned some of the festivals, but an exhaustive list is staggering. Wikipedia lists forty-five official festivals, and the city’s site lists twenty-nine festivals during just June, July, and August. GoMontreal has a long list as well.
There’s a palpable sense on the street of festival activity. Wednesday is the start of Mtl en Arts here in our neighborhood, and they’re setting up mini performance areas and popup tents. Meanwhile, just down the street at Jardins Gamelin, they’re setting up for 3 Géants, a free circus performance. Just past that, they’re setting up performance stages on St. Denis street and by the University of Québec Montréal (UQAM). I think that might also be for the Circus festival, but it’s hard to keep track. Seems like a lot, eh? Well, this is just the stuff I saw when I went on a short walk today!
I’d have taken more, but today I felt a bit uncomfortable taking pictures that include random people in public.