18 Oct

HALLOWEEN IN MONTREAL: FOR KIDS OF ALL AGES

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Montreal residents generally don’t need an excuse to get out and enjoy their city. But if ever there was one, it’s Halloween, which very comfortably slips the city – and its seasonally-appropriate Old World sensibilities – into an otherworldly embrace each and every October 31, with a colourful array of activities and events, tricks and treats…

What follows is your key to a terrifyingly fun Halloween, commencing with the family-friendly stuff first…

World-class Montreal amusement park La Ronde is frightening at the best of times, but turns up the terror with its annual Fear By Day/Fright By Night Halloween festivities. On the busy all-day itinerary of things to do on both October 22 and 29 is pumpkin carving, scary face painting, a Halloween-themed parade, “freaky Monster” performances as well as newly created thrills like The Cemetery, The Last Ride, The Carnival of Terror, The Vampire Lair and Death Row. And loads more – as most Montrealers know, La Ronde takes its Halloweening seriously.

For those inclined towards a no-less-entertaining, and possibly even educational, Halloween experience, the city of Montreal is again offering 90-minute Ghost Walks (a narrator leads tour participants on an exploration of Old Montreal haunted hotspots) and Ghost Hunts (an interactive tour whereby hunters track down the ghosties and ghoulies at various sites and speak with the spectres themselves). The hunts and walks are conducted in both French at English, and tickets can be purchased at 360 St-François-Xavier. For pricing and other info, please call (514) 868-0303.

The superb Pointe-à-Callière historical museum in Old Montreal is offering kids a “whimsical look (with some thrills and chills, naturally) at the cultural origins of Halloween and associated beliefs”, courtesy of Irish tour guide Jack O’Lantern and his carved-turnip-puppet lantern. The 45-minute march around the museum gets weirder with the addition of a superstitious witch, a druid magician and a couple of spooky twins (like twins aren’t spooky enough already). English tours are offered on October 22-23, 29-30 at 12:50 pm and 3 pm. For more info, check out the full schedule.

The Montreal Insectarium is totally bugging out this Halloween with a number of activities tailored towards the creepiest of creepy crawlers: spiders. The “We Are the Insects” exhibit pays tribute to this natural acrobat, whose life often “hangs by a single thread.” Assorted “spiders” will also be dressed up as superheroes as part of this exhibit, and attendees are warned to be careful if they feel a tugging at their leg. If jumping spiders are your thing, there will also be a display dedicated to these lively little guys, and the “pop capsules” series will see costumed museum staff “popping” up in various scenarios. This happens every day up until October 31. For times and other info, check out the full schedule.

Right next door to the insectarium, the Montreal Botanical Garden is going whole Halloween hog again this year with their month-long Great Pumpkin Ball (which closes after October 31). There are a scary range of events and activities for everyone’s enjoyment and amusement, including, but not limited to, an house of plants, a Little Monsters courtyard for kids, Halloween origami and The Great Pumpkin Ball itself – a ginormous display of crazy carved pumpkins that overwhelms the Main Exhibition Greenhouse. Plus lots and lots more.

For those looking for more grown-up oriented, predominantly night-time frights, there are the following for your consideration on Halloween weekend…

Tipping the scary-fun scale is Theatre Ste-Catherine’s annual haunted house show, which this year invites participants to “A ghostly tour that will transform your ideas of what is wrong… and what is possible. This experience is not for the light-hearted or morally weak… Invite your friends and enemies!” The house is open for only four nights, October 28-31, with tours starting hourly at 8 pm (the last goes at midnight). It will cost you $15 to get out.

Internationally renowned punk and metal concert venue/dance club Foufounes Électriques – famous as much for its, let’s say, colourful clientele as the heavily Halloween-themed bands that play there all year ’round (cases in point: upcoming performances by Exhumed, Cephalic Carnage and Beneath The Massacre) – will host its annual Halloween party on October 29. The challenge will be to see if you can tell the difference from any other night of the week.