Montréal’s reputation as a cultural Mecca is firmly established. Owing to its heritage—unique in North America—Montréal is characterized by a lifestyle and culture that find expression in cutting-edge creativity. The city is a meeting place where arts, special events, and shows converge, producing cultural creations that are marked as much for their originality and innovation as for their contemporaneity.
Montréal is an international destination that welcomes shows and produces many leading artists in various creative milieus. Just think of the emerging talent in the fields of design, music, graphic arts, and digital arts—just a few of the disciplines in which our artists are distinguished as much for their creativity as for their spirit of innovation. The city’s diverse cosmopolitan influence can be seen in the range of cultural events and festivals that take place all across the city—both inside and out, during summer and winter!
Ever since the late 1960s and the development spurred by Expo ’67, Montréal has been on the leading edge in the fields of art, science and technology, and has gained a world-wide reputation in multimedia arts. The creative spirit behind Expo ‘67 originated in the blending of traditional and digital arts, which gave birth to the desire to explore new horizons.
The city is characterized by a lifestyle and a bilingual culture that manifests itself in all types of creative activity. Certain Montréal neighborhoods have gained a name as established artistic and creative hubs, each one distinguished by its unique character. This is certainly the case for Old Montréal, Plateau Mont-Royal and Mile End, newly recognized as the centre of the independent Anglophone music scene. And of course there’s the celebrated Quartier des Spectacles, where no fewer than 80 venues can be found, including more than 30 theatres and 28,000 seats—within a single square kilometre!
With such a variety of events and discoveries available to residents and tourists alike, deciding on what to do can be the biggest challenge. La Vitrine, a one-stop shop for cultural events in Montréal, makes finding events and buying tickets as easy as clicking a mouse.
Declared a UNESCO City of Design in 2006, Montréal has since seen a considerable increase in the number of design-related events. This trend is also reflected in both the architecture of new buildings and in the improvements made to venues important to the city’s cultural heritage.
