Fun walks in Montreal | Press

What if your next stroll with family or friends in the metropolis turns into an entertaining adventure? Press has tested different walking routes that allow you to discover the city in a different way while having fun. Follow the leader.

Véronique Larocque
Press

Lights downtown

A must-see event in Montreal winters for 12 years, Luminothérapie is back in the Quartier des spectacles.

We happily rediscover certain installations from previous editions: the metal arches ofIceberg, the work Between the ranks and its field of luminous rods as well as the amusing rockers ofImpulse. On the Place des Festivals, we see a large whale. This is theEcho – the song of the unknown, by Austrian multidisciplinary artist Mathias Gmachl, a novelty this year.

Music and light emanate from the marine mammal until a few children come very close to the imposing 17m long metal beast. The sounds stop. The lighting dims. Behind this interactivity with the public is the will of the artist to provoke “a reflection on the human invasion harmful to the natural ecosystems of the Earth”.

Light therapy is also video projection Nova, inspired by the movement of water, as well as the moment Dancing heart, during which the Quartier des spectacles turns into a dance floor. Lights, music and video projections bring us five festive minutes at 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

The evening is still young and we decide to stretch our route in Sainte-Catherine Street. On the forecourt of the Saint-James United Church, we rotate the three illuminated structures that make up the work Diamonds, created by Francis Laporte and Alexis Laurence. The lighting changes to the rhythm of the melody that rises from each module. That’s wonderful !

Further down rue Sainte-Catherine, we come across bears and giant nutcrackers, installations that brighten up the commercial street as part of “Odyssey, where tales and legends come to life”, organized by XP_Mtl. The event also provides entertainment during the month of December, including choirs on Saturdays. A show, including Fanny Bloom and Qualité Motel, will be held on December 16.

To end our walk, we go up Peel Street. Installations representing the different clans of Kanien’kehà: ka, the Mohawk nation, light up the night until February 15, 2022.

Light therapy, at the Quartier des spectacles, until February 27, 2022

Odyssey, where tales and legends come to life, rue Sainte-Catherine, until New Year’s Eve

Mystery at Père-Marquette Park

Our walk begins in front of the Père-Marquette center, rue Drucourt, in the Rosemont – La Petite-Patrie district.

For several nights, residents have heard strange sounds near the soccer field, a poster informs us. Enigmatic inscriptions have also been seen nearby. Concern is mounting among the population. Our mission ? Unravel the mystery behind these protests.

After having scanned the QR code on the poster with the application indicated on it, we go to the first test. But where is she ? The falling night risks playing tricks on us… Finally, on a fence, we see the inscriptions which sowed fear among our fellow citizens. This is a coded message. We manage to solve it. Our achievement impresses the application which invites us to overcome the next trials in order to be part of the Marquette brotherhood.

Over the next hour, we search for letters under bleachers, listen to Morse codes, and scrutinize an old metal locker as two teenagers watch. skateboard. Our adventure will also allow us to use, for the first time in our life, the compass function of our cell phone. A confession: we had to carry out research on the internet to fully understand how it works …

Former project manager at Moment Factory, Dominique Gauthier, founder and creative director at Parcours ludiques, described the experience to us as an “open-air escape game”. This is exactly what we had the pleasure of experiencing at Père-Marquette Park. The application is well designed and the geolocation, which allows us to guide us from one event to another, works well. A hesitation along the way? Illuminating clues are offered.

The course of the Marquette brotherhood is intended for an adolescent audience. However, we can imagine ourselves looking for clues in the company of younger children. On the other hand, they will need help to solve the puzzles.

Parcours ludiques offers other similar experiences throughout the province, notably in Mascouche and at the Manoir Richelieu, in Charlevoix.

At Père-Marquette Park, from December 11 to January 30

Treasure hunt in the world of video games

The GrosJoueurs organization presents “Court circuit” as a fun course “which traces the history of the Quebec video game industry and culture”. If this premise excites the enthusiast of Fez orAssassin’s Creed, it can however put off the uninitiated (category of which we belong).

Good player, despite everything we went to the premises of Ubisoft, boulevard Saint-Laurent, the starting point of the course. The first enigma, which relates to the past vocation of the building, leaves us perplexed. We can look at the front of the building, but the answer escapes us. After practicing our skating skills on the sidewalks of rue Saint-Dominique at the back of the building, we find the first answer. Phew! This is not the end of the game. We move on to the next table!

Between each riddle, a podcast telling the highlights of the video game industry is offered. A lot of information is transmitted there. Too much, maybe. Do we need to know the names of all the bars where the video game industry has grown? Especially since the duration of each podcast exceeds the time required to walk between questions.

For more than an hour, “Court-circuit” takes us through the districts of Mile End, Mile-Ex and Little Italy. We made some wonderful discoveries there, including a large mural on avenue de Gaspé.

Offered on the web, “Court-circuit” is well designed. The puzzles to be solved are of an acceptable level of difficulty: the answer is neither too obvious nor too difficult. If there is an error, we can select another answer choice. Adults and children will have fun following this course and collecting virtual robot pieces. Only downside: some (especially the youngest) might find that the distance between each stage is sometimes great.

In Mile End, Mile-Ex and Little Italy, until January 11

Three neighborhoods to explore

Do you know dragon beard? This is one of the culinary discoveries offered by the application Mtl Explore in his journey dedicated to Chinatown. During his walk, the user is invited to stop in various shops and restaurants. We would have liked the application to be enhanced with historical or cultural information. The few appearances in augmented reality will however be able to charm the children. Mtl Explore offers two other routes, one in Little Italy, the other in the Plateau Mont-Royal.

Moment of zen at Frédéric-Back Park

Need a relaxing time ? Go to Frédéric-Back Park and let yourself be transported by the soundscapes of the application Break Mtl. Created by artists from the Montreal ambient-electro music scene, all the pieces are associated with a place in the park. Headphones to your ears, all you have to do is relax.