Ideas for going out without spending a dime

Dance, music, literature, cinema, visual arts … Montreal has something for everyone and for all budgets. Here are eight proposals for free cultural stays, in the heart of the metropolis, to go out without emptying your pockets.

Laila Maalouf
The print

Outdoor dance performances

The Quartiers Danses festival is back in force for its 20^And edition with a series of 30 outdoor shows – and completely free -, in addition to its indoor programming. From 7 to 18 September, choreographies and performances are therefore scheduled in various emblematic places of the city (Jardins Gamelin, place des Festivals, parc du Bassin-à-Gravier in Griffintown, avenue Bernard in Outremont, etc.) with artists from here and above all.

Rhythms of the open world

From 15 to 24 September, the L’Art en soi festival will offer six free dance evenings, with musicians inhabit. The Place des Arts outdoor esplanade will transform into a large outdoor dance floor, with Philippe Fehmiu in charge, as dancers and DJs introduce you to samba, Guinean dance or Bollywood rhythms, among many others.

Literary meetings and exchanges

As part of the upcoming International Literature Festival (FIL), Spazio Diversity is organizing a series of five free Literary Lunches at the Quartier des Spectacles, in the Grand Salon of the Esplanade Tranquille pavilion. Every day, from Monday 26 September to Friday 30 September, at dinner time, authors, including Jean-Paul Eid, Louise Dupré and Sophie Bienvenu, will talk about imagination, love or the ecological crisis.

Make room for emerging artists

The Pop Montreal festival is a must with its low-priced shows and its many free events in the Mile-End sector, from 28 September to 2 October. Among the free admission activities, a reading evening at Rialto that highlights the French and English publishing houses of Montreal, the inauguration of the exhibition From a distance – From the inside or the screening of three films on the diaspora at Cinéma Moderne.

Cinema at the Grande Bibliothèque

Every Friday night, it’s cinema night at the Grande Bibliothèque. Films of all genres are screened for free as part of the Big Views series. One Sunday afternoon a month is also the time for P’tites Vues with the screening of films for children. Please note that we cannot book (first come, first served). Also, we don’t want to miss the lessons of the cycle Card memoryin particular on the Molière theater in Quebec, on 1^uh November (free upon reservation).

Nordic culture in the spotlight

The Immersive Festival of Culture and Scandinavian and Nordic Art – FIKA (S) – returns to Montreal after a three-year absence. From 17 to 23 October, the multidisciplinary event offers several activities whose entrance fee is a voluntary contribution ($ 5 or $ 10) – such as the discussion with Icelandic writer Auður Ava Ólafsdóttir at the Gallimard bookstore, boulevard Saint-Laurent, or the traditional Swedish music concert, followed by a workshop, at the Center de création O Vertigo in Place des Arts.

An exhibition by Michel Tremblay

Until 9 October, the Maison de la culture du Plateau-Mont-Royal invites us to discover the watercolors of the writer Michel Tremblay for free. The exhibition Michel Tremblay – The painter of solidarity brings together 38 of her works painted during her stays in Key West, which she donated to the nonprofit Center for Lesbian Solidarity. An ideal opportunity to discover this native of the Plateau in a different way.

When drawing meets the circus

TOHU regularly offers free activities of all kinds. From 7 September to 16 October it will host the Espace Cascades exhibition Contortions, conceived this summer as part of a three-month residency at its headquarters. Artist Onira Lussier drew inspiration from her forays into rehearsal studios and circus performance halls to create projects that pay homage to the circus arts.