(food & fun) Find a kind of satisfaction in the slow advent of spring with fabulous, thoughtfully created food, beginning with a seasonal menu at the FoodLab at the SAT until April 12, and followed up on April 15 with a “Schnitzel & Riesling” food party, full of Germanic flavour and complemented afterwards by an electronic music soiree. And, of course, the famous maple syrup of Quebec is in abundant supply during sugaring-off season, with inspired menus at restaurants around the city, and a full-on sugar shack down at the Old Port at La Cabane. Or simply sink your teeth into one of the best steaks in Montreal.

(sports & laughs) Basketball, comedy and entertainment fuel the Harlem Globetrotters, putting on a show for the whole family at the Bell Centre on April 12 – and of course, the Bell Centre sees hockey season head into spring as the Canadiens play the Flyers on April 15 and face off against the Lightning on April 18. More comedy, of the non-sports-related variety, comes to Club Soda on April 17 at An Evening of Comedy for the Benefit of On Our Own, an organization that provides services and housing to vulnerable families, with Montreal funny people Joey Elias, Eman, Dan Bingham, Sebastien Bourgault and Jess Salomon.

(theatre & dance) Contemporary ballet meets the music of Elton John and plenty of sequins and bright lights and colours in Love Lies Bleeding, at Place des Arts, to April 14. Sinha Danse Company presents Sunya, a new work for four dancers and three musicians, inspired by Persian music, contemporary dance, and bringing different cultures together, part of the Danse Danse spring season, April 17-27 at Cinquième Salle. Danish dance-theatre troupe Granhøj Dans crafts dramatic theatre, comedic moments and sings plenty of Leonard Cohen’s songs in Dance Me to the End On/Off Love, to April 14 at Centaur Theatre, or entertain the kids with The Trial of Goldilocks, an updated fairy tale at Centaur Theatre on Saturday, April 13. And check out the experimental theatre of love u lovecraft [lab], inspired by the world of H.P. Lovecraft, April 16-20 at Bain St-Michel.

(fashion finds) Find out what many Montreal fashionistas already know at this year’s Braderie de Mode Quebecoise, a huge 50-80% off sale of samples and inventory surplus from local designers, April 11-14 at Marché Bonsecours in the Old Port – find unique clothing and accessories, talk to designers, and perhaps even meet some of the designers and people behind Montreal Fashion Week.

(art worlds) As part of the MMFA exhibition Peru: Kingdoms of the Sun and the Moon, see Peru on the big screen in documentary films from the TV5 series Amérikologie, playing on April 13 – free at the Maxwell Cummings Auditorium, and on April 17, attend an Afro-Peruvian percussion workshop with Kullak Viger Ross. Enter the labyrinthine fact-meets-fiction world of Laurent Grasso’s multi-room Uraniborg exhibition at the MACM, showing along with work by photographer Lynne Cohen and live performance conjured up by artist Tino Sehgal. Over at the Society for Art and Technology, see P3rception, surround-sound-and-image films shown in the Satosphere dome, to April 29. Hear more about the Thomas Demand exhibition at DHC/ART in a round-table discussion on April 17. And the Montreal Symphony Orchestra performs Beethoven’s Third Concerto, with pianist Till Fellner and Kent Nagano conduction on April 16-17.

(live music) Start the weekend with the psych-rock of The Black Angels at Le National on Friday night. Saturday, April 13 is a big night: choose from a massive show with Canadian rock-punk Billy Talent, Sum 41, Hollerado and Indian Handcrafts at the Bell Centre, the East-Coast folk-rock of Great Big Sea at Metropolis, Welsh alt-rock band The Joy Formidable plays Theatre Corona, the myriad musical styles of Montreal hip-hop collective Nomadic Massive at Club Soda, or great MTL indie-rock of The Besnard Lakes at Cabaret Du Mile End. On Sunday, listen to the live electro-pop of Rhye at Cabaret Mile End. Funnily enough, Monday night is also a big one, with Australian “metalcore” band Parkway Drive at Metropolis, and for those of us who like it loud, it’s a tough choice between Japan’s Acid Mothers Temple at Sala Rossa  vs. Pissed Jeans at Il Motore. On April 16, tune in to Stereo Total at Il Motore. And on April 18, get your folkoric-pagan-metal on at Paganfest America 2013 with Finland’s Ensiferum, The Faroe Islands’ Tyr and more beer-soaked mayhem at Metropolis on April 18. Meanwhile, Montreal’s Bran Van 3000 and Paul Cargnello headline a fundraiser for community organization Le Sac à Dos at Club Soda.

The post Things to Do in Montreal: April 12-18 appeared first on Tourisme Montréal Blog.

With two floors full of historical photos, film and audio footage, interesting facts and figures, and intriguing memorabilia, The Beatles in Montréal exhibition is a colourful and chronological account of the music and career of the most famous pop band in history, but where the show shines brightest is in its Montreal-focused moments. It’s a thrill to see black-and-white footage of young people excitedly lined up for blocks to get tickets for The Beatles’ 1964 show at the old Montreal Forum, let alone the footage of the band’s long-awaited arrival at Dorval airport and the back-to-back evening concerts themselves, where everyone seems on the edge of happy pandemonium.

It’s the true extent of The Beatles phenomenon that is conveyed in this exhibition, beginning on the ground floor with a chronology of the band’s rise from small-town rock to stadium spectacle – juxtaposing that with larger-than-life images of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr in action and Lennon’s psychedelically painted Rolls-Royce shows not only how embedded in the culture of the time The Beatles were, but how much they contributed to creating that culture.

Along with a steady soundtrack of Beatles’ tunes and some great first-hand accounts of the Montreal shows and interactions with band members themselves, comes all kinds of memorabilia, from records and merchandise (everything from tea towels to combs) to clothing and art work. And guitar enthusiasts will want to spend some time looking at – but unfortunately not touching nor playing – the many guitars on display, the same makes and models as those originally played by band members.

The band’s sound directly influenced Quebec’s 1960s “yéyé” music too, in bands like Les Baronets, Les Classels, Les Hou-Lops and Les Sultans, all of which show up in the exhibition, including on a vintage jukebox. Their music and many, many songs by The Beatles are also central to other activities related to the exhibition, including A Cultural Feast, an outdoor event happening May 25-26, and a series of expert talks on the British Invasion and its music. In quality museum form, The Beatles in Montréal exhibition manages to not get overly nostalgic about the band or the era, while still showing the profound impact The Beatles had on popular history and culture.

THE DETAILS

The Beatles in Montréal, to March 30, 2014

Pointe-à-Callière, 350 Place Royale, (514) 872-9150

The post THE BEATLES INVADE MONTREAL, AGAIN appeared first on Tourisme Montréal Blog.

(easter time) Celebrate spring in Montreal by spending some time in nature, indoors and out. Take the kids on a different kind of easter egg hunt at the Ecomuseum zoo or hunt for butterflies (with your eyes only) at the Montreal Botanical Gardens’s Butterflies Go Free special exhibition. Learn more about the environment and biodiversity at the Botanical Garden’s Base Camp and at the Montreal Biodome, where kids can discover live animals and plants from around the world, there’s even a (non-chocolate) egg exhibition in the lobby. And see even more butterflies at the Montreal Science Centre’s IMAX screening of Flight of the Butterflies in 3D.

(easter eats) Quebec’s famed sugar shack season happens to be in full form this Easter weekend too – try out La Cabane in the Old Port, restaurants with maple-syrup themed menus, or take a short drive out of town to experience the complete sugar shack experience. Visit the Montreal Botanical Gardens to learn more about where maple syrup comes from and try out the candy-like concoction of maple syrup on snow, until April 26. For even more sweet treats – and several savoury ones too – peruse Montreal’s excellent Italian delis, the Jean Talon Market or simply go for the classic Easter brunch at one of many Montreal brunch spots, from Old Montreal to Mile End, and pick up some chocolate along the way.

(dance & theatre) Danse Danse presents The Light Between, a new work of hope and vulnerability by Governor General’s Award winning choreographer Margi Gillis, to March 30 at Place des Arts, and, beginning April 4, the astounding Spanish flamenco of María Pagés as the star dances a show called Autorretrato, “a self-portrait created at Mikhaïl Baryshnikov’s instigation.” More dance takes the stage at the Centaur Theatre, where Danish dance-theatre troupe Granhøj Dans celebrates the music of Leonard Cohen – in intriguing, funny and surprising ways – in Dance Me to the End On/Off Love, to April 14.

(immersive art) Artistic visions of spring are beginning to show themselves this week too. New exhibitions at the MACM captivate with colour and intrigue with interactivity and every Sunday afternoon, kids and adults alike can participate in hands-on art-making workshops. Experimental, immersive, digital video art amazes at the SAT’s 360º Satosphere dome: audio-visual show Chaos and Order continues until March 29, followed up starting April 2 with P3rception, a program of three exploratory works that might just cause sensory overload: Diana Reichenbach’s animated film ||0.1.||, Eric Hanson and Charles Lindsay’s Carbon-X, and Ulf Langheinrich’s Hemisphere. And outdoors, projected on the face of UQAM’s Président-Kennedy building in the heart of the Quartier des Spectales, see animated film Le cycle de l’eau.

(live music) One of hip-hop’s best starts the weekend right on Friday night: Brooklyn-based rapper Talib Kweli gets lyrical with Koriass, Ceas Rock and Dj Manifest at Club Soda – the show is one of many at the Montreal Hip Hop Festival, happening all weekend. Also on Friday, Los Angeles indie-rock band Local Natives comes to town with Superhumanoids at Le National, and Saturday night is nothing but old-school LA punk with Bad Religion at Metropolis. On April 1, The Dear Hunter tour their new album Migrant, at Sala Rossa. Turn Tuesday night into a sweaty electronic music dance party with Chicago DJ duo Flosstradamus at the SAT or British electro-rock band Modestep at the Corona Theatre. On April 3, Alicia Keys and Miguel (!) put a spell on the Bell Centre and K-OS and Rich Aucoin shake up the Corona. And on Thursday, April 4, much-loved Francophone singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Damien Robitaille plays Metropolis and Montreal’s Suuns brighten up Sala.

The post THINGS TO DO IN MONTREAL: MARCH 29-APRIL 4 appeared first on Tourisme Montréal Blog.

From February 14 until April 28, the Montreal Botanical Garden will welcome thousands of beautiful butterflies and their equally attractive cousins, moths. The 16^th edition of Butterflies Go Free promises that 2000 butterflies will be fluttering about the green house at all times. You and your family can look forward to discovering over 75 different species of moths and butterflies hailing from Canada, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Kenya, Malaysia and the Philippines…

This year the Butterflies Go Free‘ spotlight is on the majestic Monarch butterflies. These butterflies are featured not only for their exquisite good looks, but because they have the longest migration in North America. They travel from Mexico in the winter to Quebec where they are spotted around June (probably heading to the Jazz Fest) and until the end of the summer. It takes 4 generations of Monarch’s to complete the trip, which usually spans about one year. And you thought you didn’t like winter.

While you’re at the Botanical Gardens, visitors can recline in the swank Monarch Lounge. The Monarch Lounge’s seats are designed like eggs, caterpillars and chrysalises. The decor was dreamed up by Quebec designer Liz Vandal, an internationally renowned fashion/costume designer famous for creating the costumes for Cirque du Soleil’s insect inspired show, OVO. From the butterflies and moths to the decor, Butterflies Go Free is a lovely way to welcome Spring in an almost fairy tale like setting.

 A

THE DETAILS

Butterflies Go Free, February 14 to April 28, 2013
Montreal Botanical Gardens, 4101 Sherbrooke Street East, (514) 872-1400

The post BUTTERFLIES GO FREE 2013 AT THE MONTREAL BOTANICAL GARDEN appeared first on Tourisme Montréal Blog.