Last Updated on 2026-07-12

Festival season! Here are some of the festivals during mid-June to mid-July, with many free (and paid) events.

In addition to biking around and exploring the parks.

Festivals

• Francos de Montreal (French language music): June 12-20.
• Festival International de Jazz de Montréal: June 25 to July 4. Huge festival.
• International Fireworks. July 2 to August 6, weekly.
• Montréal Complètement Cirque (Circus Festival): July 2-12.
• [Left before this] Festival International Nuits d’Afrique at Le Village des Nuits d’Afrique (Parterre du Quartier des spectacles and Esplanade Tranquille): July 14-19

Videos and Shorts – Montreal Summer 2026

Photos – Montreal Summer 2026

(Tip: view Photos in Incognito browser mode, or click the “Continue without joining” when Google prompts for a sign-in.)

Montreal Jazz Festival

June 25 to July 4

Careful! Agoraphobic, even mildly? The marquee events get very crowded and even the huge Place des Festivals block gets jam packed. Access to the main block is often restricted 30-60 minutes before showtime once it’s full. Despite this, the area remains densely packed, making it difficult to move or leave for the entire event, which can last 2-3 hours. There have been instances of people fainting in the crowd.
This season, the 9:30 PM shows at the Scène TD main stage, featuring artists Angine de Poitrine and Naïka shows attracted massive audiences. The crowds were so large that even the overflow areas with screens and nearby streets, such as Rue Maisonneuve, became difficult to navigate.
For guaranteed fun and relaxation, go to the 5-9PM shows, especially at the La Parterre stages (near Boul. St Laurent). Blues, and International music acts. And while it is crowded, there is plenty of personal space.

Louis Cole Big Band Fun! high-energy electro-funk
Leenalchi Best of the festival, IMO!! South Korean pop rock band, bass-driven, and unique vocal stylings inspired by traditional Korean pansori story-telling.
Angine de Poitrine drums and dual-neck guitar. space-time voyagers Klek and Khn de Poitrine. Main stage, huge block, all full. Overflow stage also full! Very popular.
Naïka Another main event that filled the main stage, and the overflow screen area. Pop R&B. French-Haitian American singer/songwriter.
Sortie 210 Big band. Playing jazz and more.
Guy Bélanger Blues! Harmonica! With his band, good show.
Etran de L’Aïr Electric guitar and desert blues! Fantastic music! Tuareg desert-rock band from Niger.

Francos de Montreal

I only saw a fraction of the concerts. Not enough time and cannot stand for more than an hour at a time!
Of the ones I saw, these were fantastic, and there are video snippets in the playlist above. All in French, which I do not speak, but the music is all understandable and fun.

Grand Eugène Quebecois duo
Zélie French singer
Ariane Roy Québécois singer
St Graal French singer
Ariane Moffat Québécois singer. Having heard her Je rentre à Montréal, Je reviens à Montréal song umpteen times, I knew who she was, and her live act was through the roof fantastic! Many songs were remixed with electo-pop notes, and it was just the thing the large crowd at the festival wanted, singing and jumping all along. Great show.

St Helen’s and Notre-Dame Islands

Île Sainte-Hélène and Île Notre-Dame are great places to bike around, explore, or go swimming.

Getting there: Take the Metro Yellow Line to Jean-Drapeau station and there is a Bixi stand right outside. It can take 1-4 hours to explore both the islands on the bike. You can also bike right on the F1 Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve race track.

In 2026, they also had a (free) Jardins des Floralies giant Mosaïcultures green sculptures. Probably a more-or-less permanent and open year-around item I think.

Bike ride on the Islands

There are many amazing bike rides in Montreal and for miles around.
This picture is of a 10-20 mile ride on Jacques-Cartier Bridge and the two islands St Helen and Notre-Dame.

Getting down from the bridge to the island is downhill and easy. Getting back up on the bridge, I ended up on wrong road – I was expecting to see the sidewalk so I could walk up the steep incline but there was none, so I gave up and went back down and took the Metro back to Montreal 🙂 I used the normal Bixi bike for all these rides.

The bridge ride is nice, and all the bike trails on both islands are really good. There are also many sight-seeing parks. And the F1  race track Circuit Gilles Villeneuve  CGV is open to bikes too in summer. Careful here – many bikers ride extremely fast here so don’t make any sudden turns and stay on the right side.

Details from the Strava app:
Ride: 10:56 AM on Saturday, July 4, 2026 Montreal, Canada.
Distance: 9.27 mi. 1:14:07 moving time. Elapsed Time: 1:42:50
249 ft elevation change. Average Speed: 7.5 mi/h. Max:  16.1 mi/h.

Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on Notre Dame Island  is a 4,361-metre long car-racing track which has played host to the Formula 1 Grand Prix du Canada since 1978

Points visited (name, mileage marker, elevation, time on segment, speed):

Mntee Jacques Cartier  0.62 mi 117 ft 3.6% 8:13 4.5 mi/h
Jacques Cartier Bridge 0.78 mi 66 ft 0.2% 9:53 4.7 mi/h
JC Kicker 0.14 mi 27 ft 2.8% 1:01 8.4 mi/h
Ile Ste-Hélène à 1ère barrière Sud  0.27 mi 27 ft -1.7% 1:59 8.4 mi/h
McDonald Rd. ( Ouest ) 0.33 mi 16 ft -0.9% 1:51 10.8 mi/h
GV Hairpin to finish line 0.93 mi 7 ft 0.0% 4:35 12.3 mi/h
CGV Straight Line From Unofficial Hairpin 0.57 mi 6 ft 0.0% 2:40 13.0 mi/h
SSS south side stretch 0.84 mi 35 ft 0.0% 4:55 10.3 mi/h
CGV Sprint Finish 0.19 mi 3 ft -0.1% 1:06 10.8 mi/h
La “côte” du CGV  0.27 mi 20 ft 0.9% 2:15 7.4 mi/h
Accès CGV Reverse 0.22 mi 3 ft 0.1% 1:23 9.6 mi/h
Accès CGV 0.21 mi 3 ft 0.0% 1:30 8.7 mi/h
Les courbes CGV 0.39 mi 24 ft -0.3% 2:21 10.1 mi/h
sprnttt 0.22 mi 7 ft 0.2% 1:10 11.5 mi/h
Pavillon du Canada Sprint 0.27 mi 7 ft -0.5% 1:21 12.2 mi/h
Sprint to hairpin 0.27 mi 12 ft -0.2% 1:27 11.4 mi/h
Chemin Macdonald E. (du Cosmos / de la Ronde) 0.42 mi 67 ft 3.0% 2:20 11.0 mi/h
McDonald Rd. ( Ouest ) 0.33 mi 16 ft -0.9% 1:37 12.4 mi/h

Bixi and Metro – Getting Around

Even if you are staying just a few days, the Bixi monthly plan is worth it. It is better than fixed monthly since it is on a rolling 30 day period instead of from 1 to end of month. And in 2026 it is just $24. Do make sure you figure out the map, the app, and how to correctly return a bike.

STM metro monthly pass is only from start to end of month, not a rolling period. 3 days or weekend or weekly Mon-Sun pass makes more sense for tourists.