Things to Do in Montréal October 2 to 8

Montréal welcomes fall with invitingly crisp weather and a packed cultural season: this week sample the gourmet goods of the city’s food trucks, watch the world’s newest films at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, wonder at the National Ballet of Canada, see multimedia art outdoors, hear dozens of live bands, and more.

Urban culture

Eat well and often at Montréal’s First Fridays, a.k.a. Les Premiers Vendredis – the last food truck rally of the season! The family-friendly food and entertainment event happens October 2 at the Esplanade Financière Sun Life at the Olympic Stadium, from 4 pm to 11 pm. Nearby at the Insectarium at Space for Life see the high-tech Bearers of Light exhibition and take an evening walk through the Botanical Garden’s Gardens of Light event, illuminating the Chinese and Japanese gardens with dozens of lanterns and light art. Downtown, make music as you swing on the colourful 21 Swings interactive art (and exercise) installation at Place des Festivals on de Maisonneuve Avenue, to October 28. Also in the Quartier des Spectacles, at the SAT dive into Québécois French culture and literature at Le Buvard event on October 7 and try the gourmet FoodLab’s Autumn Tasting Menu on October 5. For entertainment for kids of all ages, see Disney on Ice: Treasure Trove at the Bell Centre to October 12 or the Orchestra from Planet X at the Maison Symphonique on October 4. And experience the change of seasons in all its glory by walking the city streets of the Plateau neighbourhood and walking up “The Mountain” in Mount Royal Park or going on a day trip getaway.

Film for all

A must for fans of first-rate film that challenges the mainstream, the 44th edition of the cutting-edge Festival du Nouveau Cinéma October 7-18, kicks off with Jaco Van Dormael’s The Brand New Testament and wraps up with Canadian director Guy Maddin’s The Forbidden Room, made partly at Montréal’s Phi Centre and partly at the Centre Pompidou in Paris – in between, see hundreds of local, Canadian and international features and shorts (including Gaspar Noé’s Love), including a film program just for kids, as well as live music and performances at several events and parties. The 11th edition of the Montréal International Black Film Festival continue to October 4, featuring documentary The Black Panthers: Vanguard of the Revolution, Dennis Rodman’s Big Bang in Pyongyang, Malik Vitthal’s Imperial Dreams and more. And the Phi Centre continues its film screenings this week with Afghan-German film director Burhan Qurbani’s We Are Young. We Are Strong. on October 5, an exclusive screening of 9 short films – including a video from Arcade Fire doc The Reflektor Tapes – on October 6, and on October 7 a live action adaptation of Japanese manga Tokyo Tribe.

Dance theatre

Danse Danse presents the National Ballet of Canada in a triple bill, featuring William Forsythe’s the second detail, Marco Goecke’s Spectre de la Rose and Wayne McGregor’s Chroma. Montréal choreographer George Stamos’s latest work, Situations, deconstructs new male stereotypes through dance and humour, at L’Agora de la danse September 30 to October 2. See the world premier of This, myself, one after another, a dance dialogue between Mexico City and Montréal choreographed by Andréa de Keijzer and Esthel Vogrig, to October 3 at the MAI. The theatre season kicks off with Governor General’s Award-winning playwright Djanet Sears’s The Adventures of a Black Girl in Search of God at Centaur Theatre to October 18 – Sears also directs the riveting comedy-drama-musical story of Lorraine “Rainey” Johnson, an African-Canadian doctor living in Negro Creek, Ontario. Local politically-inclined theatre company Teesri Duniya Theatre stages State of Denial, an intertwined tale of the Rwandan and Armenian genocides, set in contemporary Canada and 1915 Turkey – on October 8-25 at the Segal Centre. On a lighter note, watch the imagination of an outcast child come to comedic life in Little Orange Man, at Mainline Theatre on October 4. For more about upcoming shows, see our autumn cultural calendar and guide to Affordable Shows on Montréal Stages.

Adventures in art

 Discover downtown – and ponder our relationship with technology – through the 8 colourful outdoor multimedia art works of Common Space?, co-produced by the National Film Board of Canada and digital arts festival MUTEK and installed October 1-18 in the Quartier des Spectacles at Place des Arts, Place de la Paix, the UQAM Centre de design, the Goethe Institute, the Grande Bibliothèque and the Saint-Laurent Metro station – take a free walking tour in English on October 3. On a related note, the 2nd edition of forum MUTEK_IMG talks Virtual Reality and creativity, until October 3. The 14th edition of Le Mois de la Photo de Montréal is a good way to gallery hop, with 29 artists showing work at several museums and galleries to October 11. See what Montréal was like from the 1960s to the end of the 20th century in new exhibition Montreal Through the Eyes of Vittorio: 50 Years of City Life and Graphic Design, at the McCord Museum. See and buy the work of 30 local artists at In It for the Long Haul – The “M” Show fundraiser and auction on October 2 from 6 pm to late at 450 Beaumont Avenue. And the best of performance art reveals itself at VIVA! Art Action, October 7-10.

Live music

Friday night is packed with big names across a spectrum of music, from the pop of Kelly Clarkson at the Bell Centre to an acoustic evening with Yo La Tengo at the Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre to the harp playing indie-pop of Emilie Ogden at Le Gesù to the pioneering electronic mastery of Warp Records’ Autechre at Fairmount Theatre. On Saturday night 17 indie bands play yesterday’s hits from Big Shiny Tunes 2 at Bar Le Ritz PDB. On October 4, Brooklyn-based Canadian duo Bob Moses plays electronic shoegazey rock at the Fairmount Theatre, while award-winning American singer-songwriter Patty Griffin captivates at L’Astral. And Ibeyi, French-Cuban twin sisters who mix pop, RB and traditional Spanish and Cuban music while singing in English and Yoruba, play the Virgin Mobile Corona Theatre. Australia’s Tora comes off the busy summer festival circuit to play their smooth indie-pop at Divan Orange on October 5. Tuesday night is busy too with Los Angeles rap rock band Hollywood Undead at Metropolis, metalcore purveyors Atreyu at the Corona Theatre, Australian folk, rock and blues musician Kim Churchill at Club Soda, and NYC psych-noise rock band A Place To Bury Strangers at La Sala Rossa. October 7 sees charmingly introspective Canadian indie-pop duo Milk Bone at the Corona Theatre. And October 8 brings The Neighbourhood to Metropolis, Montréal duo Bet.e and Stef debut new songs at the Phi Centre, and EDM music makers Lane 8 to Old Montréal’s Velvet, one of our Places to Go Dancing picks. For more music, check out our 10 Great Places to See Indie Bands in Montréal.