Street fair season is upon us. Starting today, and running through Sunday, six streets across the city will be closed for various festivities. Grab your flâneur hat (that would be a fedora, right?) and hit the pavement.
Nuit blanche sur tableau noir, a combination street fair and arts festival, will take place on Mount Royal Avenue, from St. Hubert to de Lorimier, all weekend. Tonight, from 10pm to 2am, 46 artists will participate the “Grande Fresque de Nuit” by painting various frescoes right on the pavement. During the day, commerce and art will mix as shops, restaurants and bars spill outdoors and artists space interventions along the street.
Downtown, the Festival mode design takes over McGill College Avenue with fashion shows, concerts and booze. Nearby, it’s Grand Prix central as Peel, Drummond and Crescent are closed for a giant celebration of F1 racing. Whether you see it as exhilerating or just gaudy and dépassé might depend on the amount of testosterone in your body. Either way, the combination of lavish Grand Pix partying with fashion show excess means that downtown will be brash and busy all weekend.
Grand Prix has a presence on the Main, too, which is closed between Duluth and Sherbrooke. There will be music, food, drinks and plenty of cheap clothes for sale — it’s basically a smaller version of the twice-annual Main Madness, the June edition of which will take place from the 19th to the 22nd.
Do you know of a street fair or festival happening in your neighbourhood? Let us know at spacingmontreal@spacing.ca.
4 comments
St-Laurent between St-Zotique and Jean-Talon will be closed this weekend as well for the Grand Prix.
St-Laurent is actually closed from Beaubien; Beaubien is under construction west of Clark and is half-size. Prepare for danger and delay, or use another route!!
… and if you’re looking for the 55 in Little Italy, it runs up Saint Denis until looping back to de Castelnau.
Don’t forget Madama Butterfly Sous les Étoiles at Place des Arts!