Last Updated on 2026-01-01

2026 Grand Minuit de Montréal at the Jacques-Cartier Pier.

Welcoming 2026 at Montreal’s biggest, free, New Year’s Eve outdoor music festival. Snowy cold -17C (0F) conditions, not a problem.

Three videos, all before the fireworks:

This video is around 9PM. Crowds just staring to come in, but at this time, easy to walk close to the main stage on the jutting Pier.

At 10:40PM mark, stage area mostly filled in, crowds still pouring in.

Around 11PM it was very difficult to enter the Pier and crowds were filling in back to Rue de le Commune and the Place-Jacques-Cartier block and Rue Notre-Dame.

2025-December-31: 2026 Grand Minuit de Montréal at the Jacques-Cartier Pier from 7:30 PM, with live music from 7:30PM to 2AM. The stage was located on the Jacques-Cartier Pier in the Old Port of Montreal, and a large TV screen broadcast set up on Place Jacques-Cartier.

Huge crowds by midnight fireworks event. Free event and excellent crowd control, though between 11PM and 2AM, prepare for long lines and major delays getting back on the metro. I left at 11:30PM this year, to avoid the huge hour slong-wait out in the cold outside Champ-de-Mars station after the fireworks!

The outdoor site also had restrooms. There was also a small ticketed area available with more facilities.

Montreal, is just an amazing city, with all its public events, all through the year.

The schedule (from the grandminuit.ca website. captured here since that site will stop working soon):

7:30pm: Doors open
7:30pm: DJ Tupi Collective 
9pm: Qualité Motel
10:30pm: Special Medley (Patrick Watson, Kloô Pelgag, Anachnid, Boogàt, Pierre Kwenders, The Brooks, Joseph Sarenhes, Naya Ali, Sarahmee and more…
Midnight: Fireworks
00:10am: High Klassified
1am: Nana Zen 
2am : End of the event