The top 5 things to do in Montreal: Feb. 12-Mar. 5
Nuit blanche and Montreal en lumière are bound to brighten up your February.
Don’t let the cold kill your spirits. Montreal has what it takes to make even the cruelest of months fun.
1. PUPPET ACTION
10th International Festival Puppet Theatre for Adults and Children | March 4 to 8
Just ask John Cusack: nothing says "whimsy" like a puppet show.
The Festival de Casteliers features international puppeteers — from Alberta, Quebec, Belgium, Israel and France — who will be participating in shows, exhibitions and discussion panels.
Table Ronde - Des Ombres et des Hommes plays with shadows, light and marionette-like objects; Sale Gueule is an animated film about a disfigured marine and a tyrannical guard, besieged by a strange storm.
Find out more about 10th International Festival Puppet Theatre for Adults and Children.
2. HOMMAGE À UN DRAMATURGE
L’Univers de Michel Tremblay | Grande Bibliothèque | Till September 6
Michel Tremblay is an internationally recognized novelist, playwright and Montrealer. His plays, including Les Belles-Soeurs (1965), focus on the stuggles of working class families; they rank among the classics of Quebec theatre. He won the Governor General’s Awards in 1999 and the Molson Prize in 1994.
This exhibition brings Tremblay's own story to life through visual and audio features.
"Chasse à la grenouille" by Catherine Rondeau © 2011-2014 | Courtesy of the artist
3. LAST CHANCE
De l'Autre Côté du Miroir — Catherine Rondeau | Maison de la culture Maisonneuve | Till February 15
Catherine Rondeau’s photography blurs the lines between reality and fiction. This Montreal-based artist draws inspiration from the classic fairy tales with the imagination of a child.
What is on the other side of the mirror? Peek through the looking glass at a world where trees have arms and children have whiskers.
4. TOTALLY RANDOM AND POTENTIALLY AWESOME
Short’N Sweet: More Dances That End Quickly (Rejected Edition) | Aquarium Café Bar | February 14, 10 p.m.
Got a plan for Valentine’s Day? Well now you do.
Twenty-eight choreographers are being given “carte blanche” by the Aquarium Café Bar to create and/or do whatever they want for a period of three minutes. When their time is up, the music and lights cut off.
This could be amazing, terrible, hilarious – or all three.
Find out more about Short’N Sweet: More Dances That End Quickly (Rejected Edition).
Montreal en lumière 2014
5. LIGHT UP THE NIGHT
Montréal en Lumière | Downtown Montreal and Quartier des spectacles | February 19 to March 1
It's as if this city's saying, "Who's cold? NOT US!"
Montréal en lumière offers more 200 cultural, musical, culinary and sports-oriented activities, including a new Tyrolean zip-line, which soars over Ste. Catherine Street, and a gigantic luminous Ping-Pong game.
And don't forget Nuit Blanche on February 28 — check out an awesome Concordia-driven exhibition that will be up till the wee hours!
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About the author
Andy Fidel is a Montreal-based freelance journalist, photographer and writer with dreams of living on a submarine. She enjoys metro rides, writer's block and cold instant coffee.