What to do at the Nuit Blanche on Saturday, March 4th? Temporary artistic interventions, guided tours, multimedia circuit… Here are the free activities not to be missed!

Art After Dark on the McGill Campus
McGill University – Roddick Gates of McGill’s Downtown Campus

Flashlight in hand, discover renowned artworks and architectural treasures hidden in plain sight on the McGill campus. Immerse yourself in the history of this great institution and marvel at works like Polypède, a monumental sculpture created for Expo 67. Guided tours at 9:15 p.m. (Fr), 10:15 p.m. (En), 11:15 p.m. (Fr) and 00:15 p.m. (En). Reservation required.

Art Souterrain
Montreal’s Underground City, Gare Centrale to Complexe Guy Favreau

This visual arts festival—the only one of its kind in North America—will kick off Saturday, March 4 during Montreal’s Nuit blanche, to offer night owl festival-goers a six-kilometer free art circuit that will allow them to discover the works by 67 Québec, Canadian and international artists and collectives, on display in nine buildings of Montreal’s Underground City and at seven satellite venues. From 6 pm to 1 am, 21 artists and numerous mediators will be on site to present the works on display. Performance will also be offered, echoing the theme of the festival, Play and Diversion.

Illuminart
Quartier des spectacles

This year, we introduce the very first edition of Illuminart, a free outdoor 3.6 km circuit fusing art, lighting and technology, in the heart of the Quartier des spectacles. Aimed at an inquisitive audience eager to discover and explore, Illuminart assembles projects by artists, creators, engineers, set designers, graphic designers and videographers from home and abroad. Our illuminated urban space springs to life, becoming a must-see destination for creativity, inspiration and shared experience thanks to 25 works that are at once surprising, impressive and entertaining.

From Art to Art
Saint-Laurent boulevard

The St.Laurent Boulevard business development corporation, in partnership with the MURAL Festival, les Amis du boulevard Saint-Laurent and Station 16 Gallery is offering guided tours of murals and historical places along “the Main” and its surroundings. With Expo 67 being the theme for this year’s Nuit blanche, the tour guides will therefore focus on the historical events that took place in our area during that decade.

The meeting place is at Station 16 Gallery, where you can wait for the departure time of your choice while enjoying music and a free drink. Three tours: 7 p.m., 9:30 p.m. and midnight. Duration 1h-1h30. More information.

Nuit aux flambeaux sur les faubourgs
Quartier des faubourgs / Gay Village/ Quartier latin

Voies culturelles des faubourgs invite you to the third edition of the Nuit aux flambeaux! Choose one of three unique routes that will unveil the cultural attractions and charms of a neighbourhood bursting with extraordinary creativity and vitality. Galleries, artist workshops, public art, history, architecture, poetry and beer tasting will be on schedule. You’ll be accompanied by experienced guides who will narrate your visit. Duration 2 hours.

The Gay Village Route / 6:30 p.m.
Departure at Écomusée du fier monde. Reservation.
The Neighbourhood Route / 6:30 p.m.
Departure at Maison de la culture Frontenac. Reservation.
The Quartier latin Route/  7 p.m.
Departure at Cinémathèque québécoise. Reservation

Cactus modulaire, Robert Roussil

Downtown discovery tour with Kaléidoscope
Place Ville-Marie

The ’60s allowed Montreal to enter the world of modernity and to rise to the standard of the great cities of this world, through its underground network, skyscrapers and public art. Discover the evolution of downtown Montreal, its pedestrian network, its large prestigious buildings and its major commercial street, Sainte-Catherine.

Departures at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. Reservation required.

Cité Mémoire
Old Montréal

The multimedia work Cité Mémoire invites you to meet a multitude of characters who have witnessed the evolution of the city through time. More than twenty tableaux unfold through pictures, words and music that are sometimes playful and sometimes poetic. From one end to the other of Old Montréal, the work emerges on the walls that surround us, the ground that we walk on and the trees that cradle the present.

For the full Cité Mémoire experience, download the free Montréal en Histoires application.

Photo credits:
À la une – Fantastic Planet, Amanda Parer (Maroochydore, Australie). ©Photo: Frédérique Ménard-Aubin
1-©McGill University
2- Set in the Street, Justin Bettman
3- Keyframes, Groupe Laps (Lyon, France). ©Photo : Frédérique Ménard-Aubin
4- House of Meggs et D*Face. ©Photo: Andre Bathalon
5- ©Voies culturelles des faubourgs
6- Cactus modulaire, Robert Roussil. ©Photo: Michel Dubreuil
7- Cité Mémoire. ©Photo:  Jean-François Lemire, Shoot Studio