Things to Do in Montreal: August 22-28

The final days of August show no signs of summer activities slowing down in Montreal: from food festivals and fresh market fare to film festivals and live rock and electro shows, the city keeps on shining under the sun…

(food, markets parks) Local restaurants and international chefs collaborate on the annual Omnivore World Tour – the food festival runs to August 25, including the not-to-be-missed Omnivorious Party at the SAT on August 23. Wash all that gourmet goodness down with a tasty beverage – find the best in our Guide to Wine, Beer and Booze. In Old Montreal, step back in time during Pointe-à-Callière’s 18th Century Public Market, a fun blend of hands-on Quebec history and locally-made food and crafts, open all weekend. Visit the Montreal Botanical Garden on August 23 and 24 not only to see an abundance of plant life but to hear live music and, on Sunday, see Lucie Grégoire dance in the Perennial Garden. Downtown at Place Émilie-Gamelin, find the cuisine you crave courtesy of several gourmet Montreal food trucks on August 28 and walk through the urban sculpture garden August 21-26. Walk over to nearby Peace Park (next to the SAT) on August 26 for the now-legal Skate Jam, featuring skate comps, DJs, food and more. And hear lots of live music, participate in kid-friendly workshops, sample food-truck fare, and buy locally-made art, home decor, preserves and more at Mile End’s Marché des Possibles, open Friday to Sunday at the corner of Bernard and Jeanne-Mance.

(seen heard) See hundreds of international and Canadian feature films and shorts at the 38th Montreal World Film Festival, August 21 to September 1 at theatres in downtown Montreal – the fest opens with prolific French filmmaker Claude Lelouch’s Salaud, on t’aime, continues its free outdoor Cinema Under the Stars film screenings at Place des Festivals, and shines the spotlight on new Italian and Japanese films, among many others. Also see politically-minded documentaries outdoors during Cinema Politica’s screenings at Peace Park next to the SAT on August 26. Meanwhile, the astounding World Press Photo Montreal exhibition, opens August 27 at Marché Bonsecours, showcasing the best in professional media photography over the past year. And Montreal’s Goethe Institute gives us a sneak peek of the upcoming Montreal Biennale with public art-and-architecture exhibition The Fountain House, by German collective raumlaborberlin, opening on the evening of August 27 in the Quartier des Spectacles.

(eye-catching spectacle) Tony Award-winning musical The Lion King brings Disney’s animal safari story to the stage in spectacular song and dance, at Place des Arts to September 7. Montreal’s answer to any fashion crisis, the Festival Mode Design, keeps walking the outdoor catwalk to August 23 at Place des Festivals. Whether you’re a die-hard anime fan or just curious, drop by the OtakuThon anime convention to peruse anime-related materials, check out the cosplay events and meet some of the stars of the genre, August 22-24 at Palais des Congrès. And Thai Boxing comes to Montreal once more for Victory Muay Thai 6: Bad Blood, featuring MMA fighters and more in the ring at Club Soda on August 23.

(live music) Friday night sees Spanish DJ and producer John Talabot at the SAT, while the ever-talented Julie Doiron and the Wooden Stars come to Montreal to feel the love at Sala Rossa, Alvarius B. and Sam Shalabi play La Vitrola, and one of the hardest-working Metallica covers band in the country, Alcoholica, gets wild at Club Soda. On Saturday, August 23, make your way over to Parc Jean-Drapeau for the The Carnivores Tour with Linkin Park, 30 Seconds to Mars and AFI, check out the Live Talents of Africa 2014 Concert, featuring Fadji Di and many more artists at Cabaret Mile End, hear more ukelele than you can shake a stick at during Montréal Uke Fest 2014, rock with Midnight Masses at Quai des Brumes, dance along to the indie-pop of Foxtrott at the French ou Meurs french-kiss party (!) at Belmont, while Suuns take the stage with L.A. Foster at the Passovah Festival at Casa Del Popolo – the fest also features a massive roster of local bands on Friday night, an afternoon of music at Resonance Café on Saturday, followed by a night of hip hop and underground urban dance music at Club Lambi, and even more bands throughout the day and night on Sunday. Also on Sunday, Piknic Electronik brings Vancouver duo Bob Moses, Australia’s DJ Dreems and more to Parc Jean-Drapeau, and later that night We Are Wolves rock the Corona. On the other end of the spectrum, Alice in Chains stage a rock spectacle at Metropolis. The Montreal Jewish Music Festival also begins August 24, with all kinds of traditional and contemporary music and related activities to August 28. And start the weekend early on Thursday night with more danceworthy electronic music from The Hacker, DJ Mini and Haffenfold at the SAT. Meanwhile, Tom Petty the Heartbreakers free fall into the Bell Centre.