In addition to the last weekend of the Montreal International Jazz Festival and the Quebec City Summer Festival, other events will enliven the cultural scene. Here are some ideas.
Beginning of the Quebec Summer Festival
The Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) is taking the nation’s capital by storm on Thursday. Imagine Dragons and the Foo Fighters will host the Plains of Abraham on Friday and Saturday evening. New this year: free and intimate mini-concerts will take place across the city, including Robert Charlebois and Ariane Roy.
Horror films at the Cinémathèque québécoise
The Cinémathèque québécoise’s summer cycle, devoted this year to horror cinema from here and elsewhere in collaboration with the Fantasia Festival, has been in full swing since last weekend. Among the 86 cult films, classics and flagship works of the genre that will be presented until August 31, we will be able to see or review Psychosis And The Birdsby Alfred Hitchcock, The Shiningby Stanley Kubrick, but also the works of directors like Julia Ducournau with Titaniumwhich won the Palme d’or at Cannes in 2021. This weekend, Quebec horror cinema is in the spotlight with The hungryby Robin Aubert (Saturday at 6:15 p.m.), and Slaxxby Elza Kephart (Sundays at 6 p.m.).
Laila Maalouf, The Press
Ears and taste buds satisfied at the Botanical Garden
Gastronomy and music will be in the spotlight throughout the summer at the Botanical Garden. On Sundays, until August 13, music lovers gather in the Roseraie sector at 2 p.m. to listen to performances by various artists, including Louis-Jean Cormier (July 9) and Milk & Bone (16 July). The shows are free with the purchase of an admission ticket to the Botanical Garden. For their part, gourmets will be able to discover dishes prepared by guests from different Montreal cultural communities from Monday to Saturday, in the afternoon, from July 10 to August 12. Producers will also be on site on Fridays and Saturdays during the same period for the Petit Marché.
Veronique Larocque, The Press
Party on Plaza St-Hubert
The Plaza St-Hubert takes on a festive air. From Thursday to Sunday, the iconic commercial artery will be closed to traffic as part of the PlazaPalooza street festival. In addition to being able to take advantage of the “traditional July sidewalk sale”, passers-by are invited to a series of musical performances and performances by DJs. In concert this Friday, Sarahmée is one of the artists who will take the stage during this free event.
Veronique Larocque, The Press
First weekend of the Festival de Lanaudière
Friday, July 7 will mark the start of the Festival de Lanaudière. Until August 6, the event will present around thirty concerts and events. For this first weekend, the OSM and its conductor, Rafael Payare, will offer an opening night honoring the Ninth by Beethoven. For Payare and Kozhukhinon July 8, the maestro will join forces this time with the virtuoso Denis Kozhukhin to present the Second Concerto for piano. The following day, accordionist Richard Galliano, accompanied by the Molinari Quartet and double bassist Éric Lagacé, will make his debut at the festival, paying homage to jazz and classical music. Finally, as part of the Hors les murs series, on July 9 at the Alchimiste microbrewery, the 5ilience quintet will present their reinventions of well-known pieces and their new original works.
Marissa Groguhe, The Press
Stradivaria under July
Throughout the month of July – from July 2 to 30 – the violinist, conductor of the Orchester symphonique de Longueuil and artistic director of the Stradivaria Festival, Alexandre Da Costa programmed 17 concerts indoors and on outdoor stages, in the region of Laurentians in large part, but also in Terrebonne, Knowlton, Montreal and Ottawa. We can see interpretations of great classics – including Brahms and Tchaikovsky – but also jazz music ensembles and French-speaking singer-songwriters such as Guylaine Tanguay or Claude Gauthier.
Jean Siag, The Press
Much more than blues in Ottawa
Shania Twain, Weezer, Pitbull and Charlotte Cardin are just some of the musical styles that will grace the stages of Ottawa Bluesfest, which runs until July 16. This festival may be the opportunity to see artists that you missed during their stay in Quebec, while Thundercat, Foo Fighters or Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform there.
Pascal LeBlanc, The Press