Race-car drivers, musicians, clowns mix with tourists in Montreal
MONTREAL - Tourists heading to Montreal this summer will be joining race-car drivers, Hollywood stars, internationally renowned musicians and top tennis players as festival season bolsters the regular attractions in the world's second-largest French-speaking city.
There's plenty to see and do in Montreal year-round but the city bursts with activity in summer, with back-to-back festivals and top sports events.
Tourism Montreal is whetting travellers' appetites for the city with a flashy video promoting the city on their newly redesigned website (www.tourisme-montreal.org), which gives ample information on attractions and the city.
Marie Jose Pinsonnault, a Tourism Montreal spokeswoman, said the video will catch many eyes.
"It's like you're in an Imax movie," she said. "You're flying over Montreal and then zoom, you're going down (to) a neighbourhood."
Click on the popup icons for the district and another video will open up and guide you through attractions.
"It really focuses on different neighbourhoods and different experiences in these neighbourhoods."
Tourists can also book hotels through the site, which offers a "Sweet Deal" package on centrally located hotels and discounts at attractions. Rates for a three-star hotel are as low as $129, and five stars go for about $199.
"To find a hotel in a downtown core for $129 is (otherwise) quite impossible, so it's really a good deal," Pinsonnault said.
Montreal attracts about 7.8 million tourists year-round and Pinsonnault said she expects the summer to be busy, coming as it does after one of the city's snowiest winters on record.
A lot of the fun is environmentally friendly. The city is boasting an extra 15-kilometre bike path along downtown De Maisonneuve Boulevard, which has been added to the existing 330 kilometres of bike trails around Montreal.
Cycling plays a big part in the Montreal Bike Fest, which runs May 25 to June 1 and features a variety of events devoted to cycling and urban life.
Among them are the Metropolitan Challenge (May 25) and the nighttime Un Tour La Nuit on May 30, which is capped off by a big party with fire-breathers, acrobats and musicians. There is also the annual Tour de l'Ile de Montreal on June 1, which attracts around 30,000 participants and spans 50 kilometres around the city.
Four-wheeled transportation will also be a big part of Montreal's summer with finely tuned Formula One car engines roaring down the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve during the Canadian Grand Prix held June 6-8, followed in August by the NASCAR Busch Series race Aug. 1-2.
For those preferring haute couture to spandex and racing helmets, the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will be showcasing a 40-year retrospective of the work of French fashion designer Yves St-Laurent from June 4 to Sept. 28.
The rhythm changes on June 26 as the first notes from hundreds of internationally known musicians are heard with the start of the 29th Montreal International Jazz Festival, which runs until July 6.
The festival is bringing some legendary talent to the stage this year, with appearances by Leonard Cohen, Woody Allen and Aretha Franklin.
Laughter will drown out the music as the jazz festival winds down with the start of the Just for Laughs comedy festival, which has events throughout July but kicks into high gear between July 10 to 20.
Among the stars coming to the comedy festival will be comedian and talk show host Craig Ferguson, standup Joan Rivers, Saturday Night Live alumnus Jimmy Fallon, actor Seth Rogan ("Knocked Up") and the creators of "South Park," Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
"You could see a lot of the standup artists in any city in America but there's an awful lot of artists . . . you'll never see (elsewhere)," said Leisa Lee, a spokeswoman for the comedy festival. "Craig Ferguson doesn't do standup anymore.
"We've got Judd Apatow, who's got every hit film out there you can imagine," she noted. "He's coming to town and he's actually going to do a standup show with Seth Rogan."
Lee noted the festival scouts all over the world for its free street acts.
"Imagine, you come here, you do world-class shopping, world-class food plus you get international arts you can't see anywhere else and all the free stuff we do in the streets. It's pretty amazing," she said. "You've got world-class everything."
Sports will again reign in late July as some of the world's best tennis players battle it out for the Rogers Cup, one of the most prestigious tournaments on the women's professional circuit.
Soccer fans can also get their fix from the Montreal Impact in the new Saputo Stadium until Sept. 20 and people who prefer gridiron action can cheer the Montreal Alouettes at Percival-Molson Stadium from June 12 to Oct. 31.
Pinsonnault points out that besides all the big events, Montreal has a lot to offer in the way of historical sites, walking tours, fine dining, an active night life and family-friendly fun.
"I don't know a lot of cities where within 10 minutes of downtown, you can jump in a lake, in the St. Lawrence River or at a beach, or do some biking on the mountain."
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