Every first weekend in March, Montreal holds an amazing sleepless night festival, also known as Nuit Blanche. During this night, nearly 200+ activities spread through multiple neighbourhoods turn the city into one large hunt for who can do the most activities. These events include free music shows, dance, art galleries, comedy shows, attractions and much more. This years edition was probably the most packed, mainly due to the warm weather (by Canadian standards) and this becoming a staple event in the city. On average, Nuit Blanche attracts nearly 300,000+ people.

The only complaint was I didn’t take many pictures due to my phone glitching non-stop, so I missed the opportunity to take pictures of the insane light installations, the games and odd dance off on St. Denis and other events. Regardless, I will attempt to trace all the activities done with the group.

We got to Place des Arts early this year, at around 3pm. It was already packed with families who wanted to ride the Ferris wheel, play curling and do various activities. The tent on the right-hand side had various activities taking place. From VR experiences to bands/dj’s and even Olympians from team Canada visiting.

Here was one of the roughly 20 light installations this year. Before walking back to the area, the group checked out the free concert taking place at the Christ Church Cathedral, and of course, wanted to go shopping since we were on St. Catherine street. Heading back to Place des Arts, we decided to hit up Art Souterrain.

Art Souterrain (more pics next update)

Every year, Art Souterrain commences during Nuit Blanche and runs for about three weeks. In addition to a free art exhibit connecting the RESO (underground pathway), various events and conferences happen as well. This years theme had a nice array of interesting things, from superheroes to social issues and as usual, odd things.

After we decided to walk around Old Montreal before once again heading back to Place des Arts.

I took this picture while waiting in line for the zip-line, which is also free. The only issue was that after waiting an hour in line, they ran out of tickets! the demand this year was insane. They told us to come back at 10pm (which by then they closed it due to high demand, an attraction that is usually open until 2-3am)

We decided to check out the tribute to Scanner, a legendary graffiti artists whose work has been shown on here. While the art exhibit was great, we found it very small and not showcasing much of his work. There were about 10 pieces or so in small pictures.

After we headed back onto Rue Emery, where this random installation was set up. I totally forgot the name, but essentially, you have to get all the balls in the right colour pattern. Once you do so, a projection shows up in front, until you reach the last level.

Is this a reflection of us? or a projection of another area?

Back to Place des Arts to ride the Ferris wheel! the lines this year were so long that we missed both the zip-line and the slide. We went here quickly in order to not miss other shows.

The view from the top of the Ferris wheel.

Was the night over after this? absolutely not! half the group went home, while myself and the others decided to hit up foufs, a punk/metal bar. Thankfully, it landed on a Saturday, which is metal night. So while drinking, I was getting hyped from the music, while the others were trying to understand what in the world are they singing?

The final event was Karnival, a free show hosted by Poirier. The event played music genres from Afropop to hip-hop and everything in between. About 1,500+ attended that specific festival and it was honestly amazing.

Conclusion

Nuit Blanche was fun as always, but this year was also a little different. The lineups were longer than usual, bars weren’t open until 6-am like last year, and the phone app was faulty, so some events weren’t there or were in a different area. With that said, I cannot wait for next years edition and whats in store.

-Stay tuned for an Art Souterrain update!

Websites

https://www.montrealenlumiere.com/en-CA

http://www.artsouterrain.com/en/home