The Montréal en Lumière festival has once again taken over the Quartier des spectacles, brightening up the winter landscape with a glittering Ferris wheel and neon slide.

The festival culminates Saturday night with a huge night of arts and culture events for Nuit Blanche.

It's easy to be overwhelmed by the vast offering, so here are a few ideas for free events and activities to check out across the city on Feb. 29.

1. Free shows at festival site

Beyond the Ferris wheel and slide, which are both open from 2 p.m. to 3 a.m., the main festival site at the Quartier des Spectacles will have free live entertainment all night, from DJ sets (including Montrealer CastNowski) to acrobatic performances.

Acrobats performing in a show called Dynamo will take the stage at 4 p.m., 6 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Those wishing to avoid the Nuit Blanche crowds can also catch the show at the same times on Sunday, March 1.

Watch a trailer for Dynamo below:

2. Talk to a living book at the BANQ

As part of its larger Nuit Blanche programming, the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec (BANQ) is hosting a "living library" event, where performers tell the stories of everyday Montrealers.

The event is put on in partnership with Portraits de Montréal, a group inspired by the Humans of New York project.

A shot from last year's living library event during Nuit Blanche. (Portraits de/of Montréal/Facebook)

According to their website, participants "roam the streets of our city, seeking out Montrealers and their stories. More than pictures, it's conversations we're after: we hope to establish a human connection between random people – which our society has taught us to refer to as 'strangers' - by listening to their stories, and sharing it with others."

3. Flex your creative muscles

On Saturday, two of Montreal's art museums are inviting visitors to make some art of their own. At the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, people can take part in a workshop to make hieroglyphs and see the Egyptian mummies exhibition for half price ($12).

There will also be a collective mural of recycled papyrus and a musical performance inspired by Egyptian culture. Workshops begin at 6 p.m., music at 8 p.m.

At the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, people can take part in a workshop to make hieroglyphs. (MBAM)

Meanwhile at the Contemporary Art Museum (MAC), visitors are invited to paint a northern landscape with the inspiration of the work Arctic Night, 1984, by Kathleen Margaret Graham.

The museum itself will be open until 2 a.m.

4. Tune in to Indigenous voices

At Concordia, Montreal-based filmmaker and visual artist Glenn Gear will exhibit a kaleidoscopic multimedia project.

Gear is of mixed Inuit ancestry from Nunatsiavut and has created a looped three-minute video using imagery of black spruce twigs, blooms of Labrador tea, intricate coloured beadwork, and sealskin patterns.

The video and audio installation, called From the Big Land, is scored with archival audio of throat singing.

It will be shown at the 4TH SPACE at Concordia's J.W. McConnell Building (1400 De Maisonneuve Blvd. W.) from 5 p.m. to 3 a.m.

The video and audio installation, called From the Big Land, is scored with archival audio of throat singing. (Concordia)

In addition, the National Theatre School of Canada is presenting a night of short films by Indigenous artists at the Monument-National. That event runs from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m.

Find out more about this event here.

5. Groove to the music

DJs will be taking over the Phi Centre for free concerts as of 9 p.m.

Ian Campeau, one of the co-founders and former member of the Juno Award-winning band A Tribe Called Red will play a set under the DJ NDN.

Campeau, who is Ojibwe and Anishinaabe from the Nipissing First Nation, is one of the pioneers of Indigenous electronic music genre Electric Powwow, or Powwow-Step

Montreal-based DJ Sies Marlan, the music project of Anne Bertrand, will also perform a set at the Phi Centre (407 St. Pierre St.). Schedule here.

The Ensemble Bakarlari will offer free performances at Place des Arts on Nuit Blanche. (Bakarlari/Facebook)

If a DJ set isn't your thing, a more classical performance can be found at the Espace OSM (inside Place des Arts) as The Ensemble Bakarlari performs free contemporary pieces at 7 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight.

The ensemble is made up of Émilie Fortin on trumpet, Charlotte Layec on clarinet, and Michael Mansourati on tuba.

Honourable mentions