(light up the town) The Telus Fire on Ice fireworks go off with a bang on Saturday night in the Old Port, while Noël sur l’avenue makes shopping and dining along Mont Royal Avenue all the more festive with concerts, family friendly activities and more all weekend. Downtown at the Quartier des Spectacles, play with outdoor interactive musical installation Iceberg, part of Luminothérapie exhibition. And the Olympic Parc celebrates the grand opening of their winter site on December 15: from 11:30-8 p.m., help decorate their 15-metre Christmas tree, visit with Santa, and partake of gourmet treats from some of the city’s best food trucks.

(circus lights) Cirque du Soleil’s colourful, musical Saltimbanco fits right in with the festive season and delights with all kinds of acrobatics, juggling, feats of strength and stamina, and, of course, tension-diffusing clowns. Cirque returns home this month to mark the final run for the company’s longest-running show – 20 years! – see it December 19-30 at the Bell Centre, with behind-the-scenes packages available for some shows. On another musical circus note, Cirque Alphonse’s Timber! takes place in a forest full of lumberjack acrobats, clowns and family-friendly comedy – December 18-31 at Montreal’s one-and-only circus centre, Tohu.

(gift giving) Sometimes it’s just easier to shop in a town that isn’t your own. Take some of the pressure off gift buying by stopping in at some of Montreal’s hot, variety-packed craft and artisanal fairs. The Pop Montreal music festival puts on hip and super cute Puces Pop DIY & Craft Fair December 14-16 with an opening party on Friday evening, at Église Saint-Enfant-Jésus (5035 St-Dominique). The biggest fair of its kind in Canada, Salon des métiers d’art continues to December 22 with over 400 Quebec artists and artisans selling clothing, toys, food and much more at Place Bonaventure – see Santa every Saturday afternoon. And the smaller Old Skool Crafts Holiday Fair sees local craftspeople bringing their quality handmade goods to L’Église St-Michel (105 St-Viateur W.) on Saturday and Sunday.

(sounds of Christmas) Classical music and traditional Christmas songs fill December’s days and nights. Notre-Dame Basilica hosts the Montreal Symphony Orchestra performing Hector Berlioz’s L’Enfance du Christ with Kent Nagano conducting, December 19-20, and on December 14-15 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m., eight Quebecois singers sing traditional Christmas songs for the Les Stars chantent Noël. On December 16 at the Gesù hear the French 18th century organ music of Les douze Noëls pour orgue de Louis-Claude Daquin. Québec writer Bryan Perro tells a magical, Christmassy tale of two villages as the Montreal Symphony Orchestra accompanies, December 14-15 at Maison symphonique de Montréal. And at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts Bourgie Hall, soprano Suzie LeBlanc sings a traditional concert of Advent music, with violinist, organist and conductor on December 16 at 3 p.m.

(sights on stage) The traditional December run of Les Grands Ballets’ The Nutcracker continues to December 30 at Place des Arts, while there are only a few days left to catch Robin Hood, as staged by children’s theatre experts Geordie Productions, at the Centaur Theatre in Old Montreal (453 St-Francois-Xavier). If you’ve been waiting years for Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol to be turned into a 14-song musical, well, that dream is now a reality, at Theatre Rialto on December 14. And critically lauded play Red , about the life and art of Mark Rothko, continues at the Segal Centre to December 16.

(sports on ice) Get your hockey fix at CWHL fundraiser game Les Boys (NHL alumni and stars of the Les Boys television series) vs. Les Girls (Montreal’s national championship team The Stars, featuring Olympic players) on Saturday, December 15, 1 p.m. at Etienne Desmarteau arena (3430 Bellechasse). Canada’s other official sport takes over the Bell Centre this Saturday: National Lacrosse League teams Toronto Rock and Rochester Knighthawks face off. And ski and snowboard freestylers literally take to the street for Amnesia Shack Attack on December 15 starting at 7 p.m. – see tricks, jumps and more on St-Denis between Sherbrooke and Ontario.

(more music) Montreal’s live music scene is feeling the holiday party vibe this weekend. Get along with the locals on Friday night with Mac Demarco, Each Other, Freelove Fenner and DJ Cadence Weapon At Il Motore (179 Jean-Talon W.). On Saturday night, Swiss folk-metal band Eluveitie loudly zooms into town with Wintersun and Varg at Club Soda,  and rock-dance it up with Mark Sultan and Lunar Exile, at Casa Del Popolo (4873 St-Laurent). On December 16, get closer with indie-pop cool kids Tegan & Sara at Metropolis, while American hip hop artist Machine Gun Kelly brings his rapid-fire vocal ways to Club Soda. Artist centre Easter Bloc brings together international sound artists and experimental musicians to perform, record and discuss their work in Object Inusité, December 19-22, with opening night performances December 19 at 7 p.m. And on December 20, get into a little American country music with Drew Womack and his band Sons of the Desert at Sala Rossa.

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Worlds Away is the story of a couple falling in love (aerialist Igor Zaripov and the American Erica Linz, both longtime Cirque acrobats).

“I came to the idea of these two people who meet in a real-world circus. She’s a young girl looking to escape her life. She sees this aerialist and instantly falls in love with him, but when their eyes meet he slips and falls. He drops right through the circus ring into another world and drags her with him. They spend the rest of the film looking for each other”, says Academy Award-nominated director Andrew Adamson (Shrek, The Chronicles of Narnia).

The actors journey through dreamlike sets, interwoven with acts taken from all of the Cirque’s Las Vegas shows: O, KÀ, Mystère, Viva ELVIS, CRISS ANGEL Believe, Zumanity and The Beatles LOVE. Cameron, who even shot some of the scenes himself perched high up in the air and wearing a harness, participated in this movie a lot more than usual.

The movie “is a circus, there are wires and harnesses, we get to appreciate the ingenuity of the staging and the costume designs,” explains Cameron. He says the audience truly feels “the experience of being in the show, not literally as a character, but to be up there on the stage as opposed to way up in the top seat”.

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Cirque du Soleil: Worlds Away 3D is now screening at several Montreal theatres. And make sure to check out Cirque’s latest family-friendly show Saltimbanco, in Montreal December 19-30, 2012.

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(outdoor sparkle) While the Old Port lights up to musical accompaniment every Saturday night at 8 p.m. for December’s Telus Fire on Ice fireworks show, the Noël sur l’avenue Mont-Royal brightens up a long stretch of shop-and-restaurant-rich Mont-Royal Avenue, beginning with a joyful, candle-lit parade on December 8, starting at Mont-Royal Metro at 7 p.m. and ending at Parc Lafontaine with choirs singing, music playing and fireworks too! And throughout the month, kids and adults alike can take part in all kinds of activities, including a tree decoration workshop, December 9 at Place Gérald-Godin. And over at the beautiful Montreal Botanical Gardens, the main greenhouse is decked out for the holiday season with lights, new plant life, choir performances on weekend afternoons, and a craft fair December 7-9.

(glimmering gifts) Find professionally handmade and unique gifts at Montreal’s craft and artisanal fairs this weekend. Over 400 Quebec artists and artisans offer clothing, toys, food and much more at Salon des métiers d’art, downtown at Place Bonaventure to December 22 – Santa even drops by every Saturday afternoon. Find more creative gifts at the festive Le Marché Casse Noisette, co-organized by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens, on until December 9 at the Palais des congrès de Montréal. Designers, artists and other creative types set up mini-boutiques at the hip, cool Smart Design Mart, December 7-9 at 5505 Casgrain, in Mile End. Also in the neighbourhood is the Old Skool Crafts Holiday Fair, at L’Église St-Michel (105 St-Viateur W.) – it continues next weekend too, rivalling the new-skool at Puces Pop DIY & Craft Fair. And head east to Haut & Fort Noël Market at Marché St-Jacques (2nd floor, 1125 Ontario East).

(fancy food & drink) December is a time to indulge in social delights and delicious things – both are plentiful at FoodLab this month as the restaurant, located in cutting-edge multimedia centre le SAT, offers a “Grandes tablées” menu of Québécois terroir: December 10-13 try the Terrine De Gibier & Pot-Au-Feu, plus appetizers and desserts, all for $45 a person. Or warm up in nearby Chinatown with a steaming bowl of cheap and cheerful pho soup. Later, get cozy with friends and friendly Montrealers at any one of the city’s neighbourhood brew pubs.

(art & sound) Family friendly activities abound in December, including entertaining, interactive art around the city: downtown at the Quartier des Spectacles, walk through and play with musical installation Iceberg and see several large-scale projections on buildings along Sainte-Catherine and de Maisonneuve, all part of Luminothérapie. It’s also worth the trip to Maison de la Culture Maisonneuve to make your own music inside The Improbable Igloo, an igloo-shaped dome made of speakers by artist Alexis O’Hara, on until December 20. And fans of the band Sigur Ros won’t want to miss a screening of Sigur Ros: Valtari Film Experiment at the Phi Centre on December 9.

(comedy & theatre) Comedian Jeff Dunham’s show on December 9 at the Bell Centre is sure to be funny and strange and puppet-filled, just like Christmas, right? Later in the week, check out the hilarious DeAnne Smith headlining and Al Lafrance hosting “giftalicious” stand-up comedy show Let’s Do This! – it costs a mere $5 or a wrapped present if you want to be a part of a wacky gift exchange – at Mainline Theatre, December 13. Children’s theatre experts Geordie Productions add entertaining new twists to the classic tale of Robin Hood, December 7-16 at the Centaur Theatre. And for more traditional holiday theatre there’s Les Grands Ballets The Nutcracker, December 13-30 at Place des Arts.

(classical tunes) The sounds of Christmas are writ large when The Montreal Symphony Orchestra teams up with the Montreal Bach Festival to present Bach’s Christmas Oratorio performed by internationally renowned Collegium Vocale Gent, December 12-13. On December 8, The Orchestre Métropolitain performs Bruckner’s Symphony No. 6, while on Saturday and Sunday afternoon, Les Choralies Christmas concerts find harmony at Chapelle Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours in Old Montreal. Le Choeur Gospel Célébration sings its Noël Divin program of Christmas and holiday-themed music at The Gesù on December 9. And at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts on December 9, the Cantivo Vocal Ensemble gives a performance free of charge and on December 12, soprano Hélène Guilmette sing cantatas and traditional songs.

(rock n’ roll) Friday night brings much-loved Australian multi-instrumentalist Xavier Rudd to Metropolis and Loreena McKennitt to Place des Arts, while the skyrocketing love for the indie-rock of Half Moon Run peaks at Le National, Alaclair Ensemble adds hip hop to modern art at the MACM, and Keys N Krates’ electro-hip-hop fills the dancefloor at Le Belmont. More dancing is in store with electronic music producer Jacques Greene, Doldrums and more live on Saturday night at the SAT. Sunday, December 9 sees The Faint playing their album Danse Macabre, with Trust opening, at Club Soda. Since Monday is the new Friday, why not make a night of it with NYC’s St. Lucia at Divan Orange on December 10. On Tuesday, Rock and swoon to the electro-orchestral-tinged sound of The Breezes, with Montreal’s CFCF at Sala Rossa.

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(illuminated learning) Hands-on learning about how music works on our minds is at the heart of Musik: From Sound to Emotion, a cool new exhibition at The Montreal Science Centre. Every step of the exhibition’s journey is interactive – each visitor carries an MP3 player to listen to music of all kinds (including by pop-punk band Simple Plan, who collaborated on the exhibition), answer questions and create a personal composition. Less high-tech, but delightfully educational nonetheless is a visit to the Insectarium and The Botanical Gardens, where the main greenhouse is decked out for Christmas with lights, new plant life, choir performances on some afternoons, and even a craft fair December 7-9.

(glorious showtime) Lumberjack acrobats tumble among pine trees in Cirque Alphonse’s Timber!, a comedic, musical circus for the whole family, December 18-31 at Montreal’s one-and-only circus centre, Tohu. Geordie Productions specializes in creating shows for children that their parents can also truly enjoy – this year they’ve put a new twist on Robin Hood, the classic tale of do-good outlaws and their merry ways, playing December 7-16 at the Centaur Theatre in Old Montreal (453 St-Francois-Xavier). For more traditional holiday theatre fair, see Les Grands Ballets unveils its colourful annual performance of The Nutcracker, December 13-30 at Place des Arts, while Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol becomes a musical, complete with 14 songs, at Theatre Rialto on December 14.

(holiday history) A question possibly on many a kid’s mind this season: Who is the real Santa Claus? Pointe-a-Calliere Museum of Archaeology and History answers with an theatrical tour of international holiday traditions, from St. Nicholas, Melchior and Babushka to Santa Claus, throughout December – see the museum’s website for tour times. For toys and nothing but toys, visit The McCord Museum’s Toys 3 – The Voyage exhibition, where children aged 3 to 9 can travel through the adventureland of Abracadabra, where 200 historical toys are on display in wild jungles and next to crackling campfires.

(joy of art) The Montréal Museum of Fine Arts gives the gift of free tours and art activities this season: wander through an indoor forest of 35 Christmas trees, decorated in different styles, see museum’s permanent collections, kids and parents can make their own tree decorations and wrapping paper in a Holiday Decoration Workshop (Saturdays and Sundays, drop in), paint a pastel and ink landscape (Saturdays and Sundays, 1 and 2:30 p.m.) and listen to stories (in English Saturdays and Sundays, 1 p.m.). The Musee d’art contemporain also has art workshops for the family every Sunday afternoon, with a different theme each week. And traditional and contemporary art as well as plenty of craft – including all kinds of hand-made toys – that you can not only look at but buy is in abundance at Montreal’s artisanal and craft fairs.

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(hot shop) Shop for holiday gifts or yourself at the annual souk @ sat art and design fair – it’s hip, it’s cool, it’s very Montreal, with over 100 professional artists and designers selling unique clothing, jewellery, handbags, furniture, home accessories, toys, art and more. The sale happens November 30 to December 2 at the Société des Arts Technologiques downtown, where you can also stop for a bite at their FoodLab restaurant. Find more Quebec-made creations, from clothing to gourmet food, at Le Marché Casse Noisette, also known as The Nutcracker Market, a non-profit market co-organized by Les Grands Ballets Canadiens – it’s one of many of Montreal’s December craft and artisanal fairs. Environmentally conscious shopping meets eco-education and entertainment – including a Green Santa! – at the Recycling-Artists Eco Fair at the Biosphère ecological centre in Parc Jean-Drapeau, November 30-December 2. And in Mile End, check out Marché de Noël du Mile End at Ecole Lambert-Closse (5840 St-Urbain), November 30 until 9 p.m. and December 1, 10am-5pm., featuring food, gifts and more.

(winter wonderlands) Montreal’s first snowfall has come and gone already, but more picturesque snow days are certainly on their way – and with them, winter sports! The huge outdoor skating rink in the Old Port opens December 1 – if you get there before 11 a.m., skate for free! If you get there afterwards, it’s only $6 anyway, with rentals available on site too. Later on December 1, the TELUS Fire on Ice fireworks show lights up the sky over the Old Port starting at 8 p.m. And over at the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, wander through an indoor forest of Christmas trees, decorated in different styles with traditional and hand-painted decorations by local associations and cultural groups. Access to the museum’s permanent collections is free at all times, as are the museum’s weekend art workshops and tours for kids and families.

(comedy gold) Some big names in comedy come to Montreal this week, but while Jerry Seinfeld’s December 1 at Place des Arts is sold out, there’s still a chance to see Robin Williams in freewheeling conversation with fellow comedian (and director and author) David Steinberg on December 5 at Place des Arts. Not only is Williams’ career in television, film and on stage on the interview agenda, but so is his personal life – sure to be strange, hilarious and entertaining. On a smaller but just as funny scale, New York City veteran comic Al Lubel treads the Montreal Comedy Works stage November 30 and December 1. And family-friendly circus, musical and epic adventure show Loucho the Clown continues at Theatre Ste-Catherine to December 2.

(immersive art) Montreal lights up throughout the month with Luminotherapie, works of high-tech art located throughout the Quartier des Spectacles in the downtown core. Follow the story of an iceberg in interactive installation Iceberg – human movement actually transforms the physical structure and the sounds within, and look out for the many videos of Le Jour des 8 Soleils, projected on buildings throughout the Quartier. Create a professional self-portrait at the WonderWall collective art project at ArtLab (5524 St-Patrick), all day December 1 and 2 – you don’t need any art experience to be a participant and all materials will be supplied. And the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal holds its Giant Inventory Sale of Musée Publications – all publications are on sale for $2, cash only – December 4-5.

(film lands) At the end of Montreal’s film festival season, we find a celebration: Image+Nation has spent 25 years bringing LGBT films from around the world to Montreal, with plenty of good ones this year too, playing at Cinema du Parc until December 2 – feature length dramas this weekend include Joshua Tree, 1951: A Portrait of James Dean, Nicole Conn’s A Perfect Ending and more. Also at Cinema du Parc is Montreal’s Brazilian film festival, November 30-December 6, featuring premiers of new Brazilian films along with directors present for Q&A sessions after screenings.

(opera & theatre) Opera de Montreal holds its 17th annual Gala fundraiser with some of the companies most adored singers performing arias and ensembles from productions past and present – held at the beautiful new Maison symphonique de Montréal on Sunday, December 2 at 2 p.m. Meanwhile, in theatre, David Lindsay-Abaire’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play Good People, set in Boston’s working-class Irish “Southie” neighbourhood, continues at the Centaur to December 6. Contemporary painting gets the dramatic treatment in Red, based on the work and life of artist Mark Rothko, at the Segal Centre to December 16. And live it up with a night of vaudeville on December 6 at the Segal, with live music from Bad Uncle, comedians Mike Paterson, Tim Rabnet and Ryan Wilner, burlesque and circus acts, and  more.

(dancing days) The fairytale of Snow White is turned into an urban, dreamy, often funny dance odyssey in Où est Blanche-Neige?, choreographed by Manon Oligny as part of this winter’s Parcours Danse events – see a free performance at Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme at Place des Arts on December 4 at 5 p.m. and a free performance of Alors, Dansez Maintenant! on December 5 at 11:45 a.m. Persian music and contemporary dance combine in Śūnya, at the Segal Centre on December 1. Dance Cité presents Nancy Leduc’s Projet Harlequin, inspired by reading Harlequin romance novels as a teenager, to December 8 at Théâtre de Quat’sous (100 Pins W.). And up-and-coming dancers perform short pieces at the Bouge d’ici Mash Up, hosted by Miss Sugarpuss on November 30 at Shift Space (1190 St-Antoine W.).

(warm-up music) Back home after European tours, Montreal’s Jonas and the Massive Attraction show off their rock-pop stuff at Club Soda on Friday, November 30. On Saturday, December 1, Montreal musician Ariane Moffatt returns with her bilingual blend of jazz, electro and folk, with electro-pop makers Young Galaxy at the Corona Theatre, while jazz-blues entertainer Leon Redbone is at Sala Rossa – and on a different, but also Montreal-based note, Grim Skunk get their rock-punk-world-beat on at Club Soda. Sunday, December 2 is the right kind of day for the Gospel Celebration 30th Anniversary, featuring the wonderful Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir and special guests at Théâtre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts, 8 p.m. On Monday, December 3, get into the soulful, kind of jazzy, kind of rock music of Rachael Yamagata at Sala. On Tuesday, December 4, it’s NYC folk-pop group Pearl and the Beard at Sala. And on Thursday night, spend an evening with Loreena McKennitt at Place des Arts, or chill out with the Americana-style rock of Band of Horses at Metropolis, or dance to the electro-beat of Diamond Rings and Mozart’s Sister at Sala.

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Take a break in Montreal this week with days dedicated to amazingly affordable fine food, high-flying and inspiring on-stage entertainment, international film and art, family-friendly sounds of science, and lots of great live music…

(fantastic food) The food-centric week begins on Friday with an array of gourmet food trucks – from tacos to crepes to hamburgers – set up for your culinary pleasure at Montreal’s Olympic Park. For sit-down meals, check out Montreal’s TASTE MTL Restaurant Week, ongoing to November 11, with gourmet prix-fixe menus – from $19 to $39 – at some of Montreal’s best fine-dining restaurants. Choose by cuisine or discover new parts of the city by choosing by neighbourhood: spend an evening in Old Montreal, the next one at a restaurant downtown, in the Plateau or Mile End, Outremont, the Village or Griffintown.

(life on film) Film festival season continues in Montreal with the French-language – English subtitles usually included – Cinémania, to November 11, with features, shorts, retrospectives (including an extensive one on Sandrine Bonnaire’s films), presentations and Q&A sessions, and more. Among the many films, see Cinémania’s opener, an official Cannes competitor, Jacques Audiard’s Rust and Bone, starring Marion Cotillard and Matthias Schoenaerts in a story of a former boxer, his son and a woman coming to terms with a life-altering disability. And on November 7, doc film fest RIDM begins its reign of real life representations, with films from around the world, including Peter Mettler’s The End of Time, Apichatpong Weerasethakul’s Mekong Hotel, a series of 15 favourite docs chosen by 15 members of the film community, and much more.

(circus & theatre) Circus shows in Montreal are always an adventure of some kind, but that adventure is guaranteed to be thrilling and heartfelt with inventive and talented Montreal-based international circus troupe 7 Doigts de la Main – their latest show, Séquence 8, is chock full of stunning acrobatics and ensemble work, big laughs, great music and a love of circus arts and audience connection, at La Tohu circus centre to November 17. In theatre, Black Theatre Workshop extends its successful run of Harlem Duet, an award-winning play that spans Shakespeare’s Othello and the sentiments of Martin Luther King in a story of the struggle to gain true equality in North America. And Persephone Productions presents Shakespeare’s classic of classics Hamlet at the Calixa Lavallée Théâtre in Parc Lafontaine, November 1-10.

(beautiful bodies) International rock star choreographer Hofesh Shechter’s Political Mother is powerful, beautiful and moving – for dance fans or simply for anyone looking for a great show. With 10 extremely talented dancers and 7 musicians live on stage, Political Mother tells a story of hope in the face of tyranny – at Théâtre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts, November 1-3. In the same performative vein of dance-meets-music-meets-storytelling, Montreal choreographer Frédérick Gravel debuts his Usually Beauty Fails, November 7-10 and 14-17 at Cinquième Salle.

(east & west) The 13th Arab World Festival of Montreal entertains and informs, highlighting links between Arabic and Western cultures through music, performance, film, art and talks, to November 10. On Friday November 3, hear famed pianist Abdel Rahman El Bacha play works from Bach to Prokofiev and more, at Cinquième Salle. On November 4, hear the music of Algeria’s Hamdi Benani, at the Corona Theatre, while Zohreh Jooya and her Afghan dance ensemble captivate in a North American premier at Cinquième Salle at Place Des Arts, and up in the neighbourhood of Mile End at the beautiful Rialto Theatre, spend the evening at Goodbye To The Duels, Hello To The Duets, a concert for peace, featuring Moroccan singers Abderahim Souiri and Laila Gouchi. See the festival’s program online for full details and more.

(educational entertainment) The Montreal Science Centre gets kids and adults really listening with new exhibition Musik: From Sound to Emotion, a zone where science, creativity and entertainment meet. Learn how music affects different parts of the brain, how we experience music physically and emotionally, and get a chance to make music of your very own in the exhibition’s high-tech music lab. The exhibition is based on input from numerous scientists at Montreal universities as well as from musicians, including  Montreal-based pop-punk band Simple Plan.

(joys of music) Friday night begins a week of great music with Montreal’s Esmerine, celebrating 15 years of Constellation Records, at the Musee d’art contemporain. On the other end of the show spectrum is the laser-light-show spectacular The Australian Pink Floyd Show at the Bell Centre, while Designer Drugs and Beat Market electro-rock the SAT. Saturday night cranks the decibel level with Sonar Festival on Tour, featuring Die Antwoord, Azari & III, Seth Troxler, and  more dance-worthy acts, at Metropolis. Monday night sees Martha Wainwright pouring her heart out at the Corona Theatre, the sweet west-coast pop-rock sounds of Grass Widow at Il Motore, and a late night of dancing to the great Richie Hawtin, Loco Dice and more at the SAT. The week turns rock retro with Journey on November 5 and ZZ Top November 7, both at the Bell Centre. And Thursday night rules as Howl! Arts brings the great D’bi Young and Kalmunity Vibe Collective to Sala Rossa and NYC’s Yeasayer rocks Cabaret du Mile End.

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(film fest fun) The final weekend of the Festival du Nouveau Cinema has arrived, but there are still plenty of all-new feature films, shorts and documentaries to see, from closing film Camille Redouble by Noémie Lvovsky to an autobiography of Monty Python’s Graham Chapman to concert films about Peaches and The Chemical Brothers, plus a multimedia, multi-DJ “Suicide Hotel” party on Friday night and closing party on Saturday night with DJ Thomas von PARTY, at Quartier Général. Meanwhile, the 4th edition of the Montreal Stop Motion Film Festival, October 19-21, screens over 70 new stop-motion animation films from Montreal and around the world.

(intrigue on stage) Explore the Plateau and Mile End neighbourhoods via a true Montreal creation: The Phénomena Festival, to October 26. The festival of music, performance and art, is a reinvention of the 10-year-old Festival Voix d’Amériques, dedicated to showcasing the beautiful, strange and poetic artistic voices in this city and further afield. see artist and musician Genisis P-Orridge on stage with spoken-word group Thee Majesty on October 20 at Cabaret du Mile End, in film The Ballad of Genesis and Lady Jaye at Excentris, and with art showing at La Centrale; as well, see Kobol’s marionette show Voodoo at Usine C, Kabin tells 15 stories via 15 small booths on October 20, duo 2boys.tv span the history of their performance career in Generation on October 21, plus free music and performances every evening at 5 p.m. at Divan Orange, featuring Teen Sleuth, Free Opera Ensemble, Jef Barbara and many more, as well as free open mic nights at 11 p.m. at Casa del Popolo.

(frightful & delightful) Halloween starts early this year in Montreal. If you’re downtown at Place des Arts in the Quartier des Spectacles on Saturday around noon, don’t panic: the zombie apocalypse is not upon us, it’s just people dressed up for the Montreal Zombie Walk – join in if you’re zombie-inclined. Freaks of a different sort sing and dance for our pleasure in The Rocky Horror Show, garnering some great  reviews at Mainline Theatre, to October 20. And there’s also something a little freaky – in the most awesome sense – about DJ Food’s The Search Engine, an all-encompassing audio-visual experience like no other, screening in the dome of the surround-sound Satosphere at the SAT, to October 26.

(sports fans) A pro first for Montreal this week: the NBA Canada series pits the New York Knicks against the Toronto Raptors, October 19 at the Bell Centre. And while the NHL season is sadly on hold due to labour talks among hockey players and the league, the spirit of hockey is still strong in Montreal with national women’s hockey champions The Stars, featuring Olympic national team players Kim St-Pierre, Meghan Agosta, Caroline Ouellette and more. The Stars play Boston on October 20 at 5 p.m. and October 21 at 1 p.m. at Étienne Desmarteau Arena.
(tragedy & comedy) An epic 10th-century Japanese folk tale comes to life in choreographer Jiří Kylián’s Kaguyahime, The Moon, produced beautifully by Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, October 11-27. Quebecois playwright Suzie Bastien probes the human psyche in the dramatic The Medea Effect, at Theatre La Chapelle, to October 20. Old Montreal’s Centaur Theatre features Scapegoat Theatre’s take on Euripedes’ tragedy The Bacchae, to October 20, as well as Quebecois playwright Jean Marc Dalpé’s family drama August, An Afternoon in the Country. Meanwhile, the Segal Centre lightens the mood with Broadway musical Guys and Dolls to October 31, and well-known and even well-loved Montreal comedian and Just For Laughs festival veteran Joey Elias brings his One Man Show at Club Soda on October 21.

(urban art) The Montréal/Brooklyn collaborative contemporary art project makes its mark on the city’s gallery scene this weekend, highlighting the artistic similarities and differences between the two urban centres. On Friday and Saturday, new shows open at Centre Clark and artist-run centre articule, as well at galleries in the Belgo building – Galerie SAS, Optica, Galerie Division and Les Territoires – and down the street at Galerie de l’UQAM, featuring multi-artist Vidéozones exhibition (above), and the Musée d’art contemporain, featuring work by Janet Biggs and Aude Moreau.

(live music) Friday night is indie-rock alright with Cat Power playing tunes from her new album Sun at Metropolis, The Sea & Cake at Il Motore, Dragonette at the Corona Theatre, and Brooklyn electro duo Blondes at Le Belmont. Pittsburg rapper Wiz Khalifa, rolls into town with Juicy J, Chevy Woods and many others at Uniprix Stadium on October 20. Monday night goes punk with Off!, The Spits and Double Negative at Foufounes Electriques. On October 23, Dan Mangan brings his folk-rock sensibility to Theatre Corona, San Francisco’s Sic Alps play Divan Orange. The Jezabels rock Cabaret Mile End and Social Distortion shake up Metropolis. Montreal’s Papagroove release their newest album on October 24 at Theatre Plaza – free! Akousma 9, a festival of digital music, brings its immersive audio-visual wonders to Usine C, October 24-27. And the ‘80s are back with Air Supply in an “intimate evening” on October 25 at Metropolis.

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The family that scares together, um, swears together? Cornball adages notwithstanding, the good folks at La Ronde will have your whole clan clinging to each other as they promise to turn the world-class theme park into a world-class “scream park” at this year’s edition of Fright Fest. On Saturdays and Sundays until October 28, starting at 5 pm, La Ronde will throw open the doors on no less than three haunted houses – District 510, Death Row and the brand new Massacre Museum – and other shows while letting loose a whole range of freaky costumed creatures that promise to be frightening with a smile when it comes to the kids. Speaking of which, step into the park’s Zombithèque and have the wee ones done up undead-style from 6-9 pm.

While Charlie Brown may have found waiting for The Great Pumpkin fruitless, there is no such disappointment in the Montreal Botanical Garden’s yearly presentation of the already-underway Great Pumpkin Ball. The Great Pumpkin Ball is a big orange bounty of family friendly activities, from the riotous variety of decorated pumpkins in the Main Exhibition Greenhouse, to the Little Monsters Courtyard (promising “pumpkin-aroos, battling monsters, Insect Soup, a hungry frog toss and a squash hunt” as well as other Halloween-themed activities), to the home of “friendly witch Esmeralda and her funny magic formulas,” to Halloween origami and much more. Open every day during operating hours until October 31.

Not all of the colourful characters who inhabit Montreal are of the flesh and blood variety, and the good folks at Montreal Ghosts (“In Strange Company Since 1999”) have dedicated themselves to sharing the stories of some of the city’s more fleeting and ephemeral denizens. Montreal Ghosts, which offer both ghost tours and ghost hunts in Old Montreal – the centuries-old home of many of la belle ville’s most illustrious historical spectres – promises its guests a one-of-a-kind evening street theatre experience courtesy of the many professional actors they employ. This year participants can take advantage of a special ghost hunt on Oct. 26 & 27 as well as Oct. 30 & 31. The 90-minute, interactive, all-ages tours depart at 6:30 pm (and also 8:30 pm on Oct. 27).

Montreal’s fascinating Pointe-à-Callière historical museum – which kind of has a permanent, built-in Halloween feel… complete with a real, exposed graveyard on one of its subterranean levels – reprises its Jack O’Lantern tour for kids again this year. Kids of all ages are invited to accompany Jack (“a young Irishman wandering in the world of the dead, looking for a lantern to light his way”) as he wends his way through the museum telling stories and teaching his companions how to talk to ghosts. These tours take place during the afternoon on Oct. 20 & 21 as well as Oct. 27 & 28.

Zombie walks are a recent phenomenon that’s enjoying increased popularity the around the world and which involves little more than putting on some ratty clothing, ruffling the hair, applying ghastly-looking facial makeup and walking around like you’ve been up partying for three days. Like just about anything that involves a large grouping of people these days, even the undead are being drawn into the ever-livelier Place des Festivals in the Quartier des Spectacles. The bigger, better, deader annual Montreal Zombie Walk kicks off there on October 20, and this year boasts an expanded itinerary.

The Zombie Walk starts at noon and a tent will be provided where participants can get their zombie on with a makeup artist for only ten bones. The St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival has organized a zombie dance crew that will perform Time Warp and Thriller before the walk departs at 3 pm for a two-hour stumble through downtown and Old Montreal. The zombie apocalypse concludes at Katacombes where there will be an after-walk party featuring a costume contest and live band performances by Chahut d’ruelle, Jimmy Target & the Triggers and Misfits tribute band Bloodfeast. The Zombie Walk itself is open to corpses of all ages.

And now that the kids have wandered off to bed, Halloween nightmares dancing in their heads, the adults can get down to the business of having some frightful fun themselves at the following +18 events…

Bolder and brasher with each subsequent edition, the Spasm film festival is the hub for all things horror and hilarious for nine days in October (namely 11-13, 18-20 and 25-27), with several special events and screenings at various locations throughout Montreal. It all culminates with an Old School Halloween Party at the Plaza Theatre featuring music from the 60s (starting at 10 pm), 70s (11 pm), 80s (midnight), 90s (1 am) and 2000s (2 am). Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the door, and note that costumes are mandatory.

It’s Christmas at Halloween for Rocky Horror fans (and for reasons best explained by someone who knows more about campy, glammy, gender-scrambly rock musicals than yours truly, there never ever seems to be any shortage of Rocky Horror fans) this year. Mainline Theatre – famous for its always edgy and entertaining brand of resident theatrical evil – presents Richard O’Brien’s The Rocky Horror Show, based on the original 1973 British stage production from which the movie was adapted. Mainline’s version features an expansive cast, a live six-piece band and original choreography, but no projection of the film (Oct. 17-20, and tix are $23). If you want to see the original 1975 film on the big screen with a live cast acting it out onstage below, then this perennially popular phenomenon is yours to be had at The Rocky Horror Picture Show Halloween Ball 2012, held again this at the gorgeously renovated Imperial Cinema in downtown Montreal. There are two shows a night– hosted by incomparable tranny master of ceremonies Plastik Patrik – on Oct. 26, 27 and 31 ($17.95 in advance, and $19.95 at the door).

In other anticipatory pre-Halloween activities, Theatre Ste-Catherine once again plays host to their annual, and very popular, shock’n’awesome Haunted House party tour, this year titled “No!”. As in “No! promises to pluck you from your happy place and set you in a darkness you never wanted to imagine. Sound fun? No!” Billed as the only haunted theatrical experience in the city, No! runs from Oct. 25- 31, from 8 pm until late, and as usual it’s only “$20 to get out!”

Utterly unique, multidimensional and multidisciplinary arts space The Darling Foundry – housed in a former ironworks, built in the 1800s, and located just a few short blocks from Old Montreal – lends its industrial expanse again this year to the Cirque de Boudoir Halloween extravaganza “A Night to Dismember” on Oct. 27 (and which last year sold out with more than 650 petrifying partygoers). This year’s theme is iconic villains and victims from classic horror flicks – think Friday the 13^th’s Jason Voorhees (yup, he has a last name), Damien Thorn (the Omen series), Marion Crane and/or Norman Bates from Hitchcock’s Psycho, Chucky, The Crypt-Keeper, Honey Boo Boo, all of The Golden Girls, whatever strikes your Hollywood horror fancy. (Non-theme costumes are perfectly hunky dory as well.) Terrifically terrifying décor will be provided by Remy Couture, providing a backdrop for performance pieces and a host of DJs. It’s $20 in advance, $30 at the door.

Montreal’s dance clubs never fail to get creepy on Halloween, and this year is no exception as Circus celebrates its “Dark Knights” event with U.K. breaks/house DJ James Zabiela, Tallahasee’s DJ Camo, and Montreal-based progressive house DJ Scott James on Oct. 27 from 2 am to 10 am… St-Laurent Blvd.’s exclusive BLVD44 is throwing a “High School of the Dead” mashup party on Oct. 27, the principle theme being, it would appear, survival… Downtown’s Club 1234 kicks it with their “Mad House” monster mash event featuring MC Mario and DJ Ludo in the main room, a high-paying costume contest, and “Vampire,” “Devil” and “Insane Frankenstein” bottle service packages… And Arena, located in the former Montreal Forum (the old home of the Habs, and which has a few hockey ghosts of its own) rolls out its Vampire’s Ball on Oct. 27 starting at 8 pm. R&B, hip-hop and house music by DJ Payce and VJ Hypnotica, and lofty cash prizes for best costume. Tricks and treats, indeed!

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(movie magic) Montreal’s Festival du Nouveau Cinéma, October 10-21, rolls out the red carpet for new feature films, shorts and experimental media from around the world. See Ang Lee’s Life of Pi, based on Montreal author Yann Martel’s novel, Simon Galiero’s La Mise à l’aveugle, Martin Villeneuve’s sci-fi Mars et Avril, screenings of work by French singer Albin de la Simone, Sarah Polley’s new doc Stories We Tell, plus kid-friendly fare in the Little wolves (Les P’tits loups) section, experimental media art in the FNC Lab and a “waterfalls” exhibition at Place des Spectacles, free music shows (like The Hallicrafters and Ben Shemie on October 13 at Agora Hydro-Quebec), parties, and much more.

(high art renewed) Ballet isn’t what it used to be in choreographer Jiří Kylián’s Kaguyahime, The Moon, based on a culturally influential 10th-century Japanese folk tale of beauty, violence and worlds colliding, performed by dancers of Les Grands Ballet Canadiens, October 11-27. The Orchestre Métropolitain adds volume to great moments in cinematic history, from Psycho to Star Wars, playing works by several film composers, conducted by Simon Leclerc, on October 18 at the Maison symphonique de Montréal. Meanwhile, the Montreal Symphony Orchestra welcomes mezzo-soprano Susan Graham to sing Ernest Chausson’s Poème de l’amour et de la mer, on October 16 and 17.

(theatre scene) The play’s the thing this fall as Montreal theatres open the season with as much drama as fun. Old Montreal’s Centaur Theatre features two shows this month: Scapegoat Theatre’s version of Euripedes’ psycho-sexual, metaphysical tragedy The Bacchae, to October 20, and Quebecois playwright Jean Marc Dalpé’s family drama August, An Afternoon in the Country. Another Quebecois playwright Suzie Bastien dives deep with The Medea Effect, exploring universal fears and existential questions about the archetypal – and personal – role of the mother, at Theatre La Chapelle,  October 11-20. Meanwhile, it’s all song and dance with Broadway musical Guys and Dolls at the Segal Centre, to October 31, and, not quite theatre, but comedian Russell Peters is at the Bell Centre on October 15.

(art and history) The beauty and the history of art come together at the MMFA this fall in their exhibition A History of Impressionism: Great French Paintings from the Clark, featuring Impressionist masterpieces by Renoir, Bonnard, Corot, Cassatt, Degas, Gauguin, Manet, Millet, Monet, Morisot, Pissarro, Sisley and Toulouse-Lautrec. Down the street at the McCord Museum, see the city of Montreal and other cities around the world through the eyes of Italian photographer Mimmo Jodice, in his solo exhibition Sublime Cities. And the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal recently opened an amazing retrospective of the work of Montreal painter Pierre Dorion, along with high-Arctic video work by Brooklyn-based artist Janet Biggs.

(ska-tastic sounds) The Montreal Ska Fest packs a lot of punch into its fourth year, with horn-blowing, toe-tapping, body-skanking shows October 11-14, including a massive “All-Skanadian” (get it?) show at Club Soda on Saturday, October 13 with The Planet Smashers, The Johnstones, Illscarlett and more. On Friday night, it’s the New York City Showcase, with Victor Rice vs The M7, The Forthrights and more at Petit Campus, while Sunday morning closes the festival with a good greasy breakfast of eggs, toast, coffee and ska with Mitch Girio, at Ye Olde Orchard.

(more music) The OFF Jazz Festival comes to a close Friday, October 12 with bassist-composer William Parker conducting Fragrances of Compassion for Lawrence D. Butch Morris, a piece for 15 musicians, at La Sala Rossa. Also on Friday, LA-based electronic music producer Flying Lotus gets our bodies moving at SAT. On Saturday night, enjoy the sweet singer-songwriter sounds of Montreal talents Mark Berube and Katie Moore at Cabaret du Mile End, while blues-rock rocks on with Colin James at Metropolis. Monday night is one big party with rumba-rooted Congolese band Staff Benda Bilili at the Rialto Theatre. On October 16, none other than Barbra Streisand is at the Bell Centre, or if Babs isn’t your thing, maybe Alanis Morissette is – she’s at Metropolis, or get down and dance at OohLaLA! Festival, at the SAT. Public Image Limited rocks the Corona Theatre on October 17 and The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion follows  the next night. Also on October 18, the three great men of might Rush bring their Clockwork Angels Tour to the Bell Centre.

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(art) The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts wraps up the fantastic Tom Wesselman pop-art exhibition on October 7, Dominique Blain’s army boot-populated Missa is in the Contemporary Art Square, and the Museum’s permanent collection, including new show Once Upon a Time… Impressionism, as well as a concert program and new activities for kids. Beginning October 4, The Musee d’art contemporain showcases over 60 pieces by contemporary Canadian painter Pierre Dorion and amazing video, photography and performance work by artist Janet Biggs.

At Old Montreal’s DHC/Art, Japanese artist Ryoji Ikeda stimulates eyes, ears and minds until November 18, while at the PHI Centre see live shows that combine art and music and well as an ongoing program of skateboarding films and electric art by Alexandre Burton. Mind-expanding art abounds in the multi-storey Belgo building downtown, and venture over to the Darling Foundry, celebrating its 10th anniversary, and to Parisian Laundry in St-Henri to see work by Rick Leong, Dean Baldwin and more great locals.

(dance) One of Montreal’s premier dance promotors, Danse Danse, offers an astounding program in the fall 2012 season, beginning with BJM – Les Ballets Jazz de Montréal’s captivating 40th anniversary show, September 27-29, followed by Hofesh Shechter Company’s Political Mother, November 1-3, and later in November, Usually beauty fails, a show from Montreal’s Frédérick Gravel and GAG, José Navas’ Diptych, and new work by choreographer Aszure Barton.

Les Grands Ballets Canadiennes goes big with Jiří Kylián’s Japanese folk-tale-inspired Kaguyahime: The Moon Princess, October 11-27. Over at Agora de la danse, the amazing choreographer Crystal Pite captures the spirit of Shakespeare in The Tempest Replica, Sarah Bertrand-Hamel’s La récurrence dans les suites, Paul-André Fortier’s Vertiges, and more at Agora, Tangente, the MAI, Cinquieme Salle and beyond.

(theatre) English and French-language theatre abounds in Montreal, but if Italian’s your thing, take in Verdi’s La Traviata at L’Opéra de Montréal, September 15-22. The Segal Centre puts on song-and-dance classic Guys and Dolls, September 30-October 28, and in November, RED, a theatrical take of the work of painter Mark Rothko, as well as smaller shows like Metachroma Theatre’s Richard III, September 19-30, and Black Theatre Workshop’s Harlem Duet, October. 24-November 11.

At Centaur Theatre in the heart of Old Montreal, see the English-language premier of Jeans Marc Dalpé’s family-reunion drama, August, An Afternoon in the Country, October 2-28, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire’s Good People, November 6-December 9, and Scapegoat Carnivale Theatre stages Euripides’ Greek tragedy of Dionysian revenge, The Bacchae, in a new translation and with an new original score, October 12-20. French-language theatre can be found at Théâtre du Nouveau Monde, Théâtre d’Aujourd’hui, Espace Go and many more venues, and for more English-language theatre at Mainline Theatre, Theatre Ste-Catherine and elsewhere see the comprehensive Quebec Drama Federation’s fall calendar.

(circus) Circus is a big deal in Montreal, and not only because of Cirque du Soleil – the city even has a fully dedicated circus centre, La Tohu, where performers and companies from around the world take up residence throughout the year. This fall, see Cirque Éloize fly high in dramatic tale iD, September 20-October 6. Quebec-based circus Les 7 doigts de la main performs their spectacular, 8-acrobat-strong Sequence 8, October 30-November 10, and Cirque Alfonse takes over October 18-December 31, turning La Tohu into a bustling logging camp, compete with fresh-cut fir trees and a festive, family-friendly New Year’s Eve party.

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