Celebrating St-Jean-Baptiste Day in Montreal

by Jacques Bérubé

In Montreal and in its immediate vicinity, the Committee of the Quebec National Holiday in Montreal is organising a host of activities on June 23 and 24 to celebrate Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day. In addition to the opening night show and the traditional big parade, there's fireworks, bonfires and a variety of cultural activities and entertainment across all of the city's districts and in all of the municipalities dotted around the island and its immediate outskirts. Here's a taste of what’s to come.

On June 23, the Grand spectacle kicks off the Montreal festivities. From 9:00pm, Guillaume Lemay-Thivierge will be welcoming artists to the stage of the Place des Festivals in the Quartier des Spectacles including Claude Dubois, Robert Charlebois, Charlotte Cardin, Shauit, Philippe Brach, La Bronze, Emily Bégin and Gardy Fury. If that tickles your fancy, you can attend the public performance that takes place at noon.

On June 24, the traditional parade will begin at 1pm on St.Denis Street, in the Quartier Latin District. The 2017 parade will be eco-friendly. Bubbles will replace plastic balloons and petrol-powered cars will make way for electric cars. The exact route and details of the parade will be revealed shortly.

Among the many fireworks happening on June 23, there's a display in Dollard-des-Ormeaux Park at the corner of Avenue de l'Hôtel de Ville and Salaberry Boulevard in Dollard-des-Ormeaux and another at Eugène Dostie Park on Île Bizard. And on the 24, there are displays at Parc Bourgeau, just south of the Chemin du Bord-du-Lac in Pointe Claire and in the Millennium Park in Dorval, to the south of Chemin du Bord-du-Lac.

On June 23, in Laval, enormous bonfires will be lit at the Portuguese Community Centre and Davies Park, as well as in the Place Simon-Valois in Hochelaga Maisonneuve. On June 24, other bonfires will be blazing in the Parc du Moulin in Laval and Parc Benny in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.

On June 23rd, Les Trois Accords will be at Eugène Dostie Park on Île-Bizard and Breen Lebœuf and Martin Deschamps will be taking the stage at Desjardins on St-Charles Street in Longueuil.

On June 24, les Cowboys Fringants and Tire le Coyote will be performing at Parc Saint-Louis in the borough of Lachine, Gregory Charles will be at the Millennium Park in Dorval with Steve Diamond, while Carline Savoie, Paul Piché and Koriass will each be appearing in turn at the Parc de la Cité in Longueuil. At Parc La Fontaine in Montreal, Émilie Bilodeau, Louis-Philippe Gingras and Fred Fortin will be playing to their heart's content.

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On June 23 in Montreal East, you can attend a poetry workshop at Parc René Labrosse on Dubé Street, south of Notre-Dame Boulevard East.

On June 24 in Beaconsfield, there will be a circus, a mini farm, a crafts exhibition and traditional dance performances at Centennial Park. In Montreal North, the Monique Jutras folklore group, a photo exhibition and a sculpture workshop will be happening in the Paroisse Sainte-Collette and a crafts market will set up its stalls at the Parc St-Jean-Baptiste in Pointe-aux-Trembles.

Also June 24 in Rosemont-Petite Patrie the Parc de la Petite Italie will be gripped by Haitian folklore, while Parc Joseph-Paré at the corner of the 41st and Beaubien is hosting a poetry workshop, a traditional choir and zumba workshop. At the Parc Pie-XII in St. Leonard there will be activities based on the history of Quebec and inflatable games. In Centre-Sud, at the Parc Olivier-Robert at the corner of Maisonneuve and Fullum, everyone is invited to create a collective mural entitled "Québec, the symbol of our pride". In Pointe-Claire there's a guided tour of the village and in Parc Bourgeau, south of the Chemin du Bord-du-Lac, there will be a concert by the West Island Youth Symphony Orchestra.

And why not take advantage of Quebec National Day to explore the flavours of the Caribbean and perhaps enjoy a "drop of Old Rum"? The A Taste of the Caribbean Festival takes place in Montreal's Old Port From June 21 to the 25. It brings together more than 20 Caribbean islands, including Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, Barbados, Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

The Quebec National Holiday: an opportunity to celebrate who we are while discovering the world, our world. An opportunity to be enchanted, to open our arms.