The year 2024 is full of promise for Montreal, with iconic addresses reopening, new viewpoints to take in, world-class shops to enjoy, whopping big headliners at a variety of festivals and new flavours to be savoured across town.
Your things to do list is sure to be long! Here are some of the new restaurants, bars, events and adventures we can’t wait to enjoy in 2024.
1. Cheer for the ice canoe teams on the St. Lawrence River
On February 24 you’ll find us on the icy shores of the St. Lawrence, watching this high drama winter sport—just the sound of these massive canoes slicing through the slushy cold waters is enough to send shivers down you. Our favourite spot to watch from is Quai de l’Horloge, but there are other cool viewpoints too: Place de la Cité du Havre, for example.
2. Slide down Glissades Gamelin
On weekends until March 10, slip and slide down this new fun zone at Parc Émilie Gamelin, where all ages are invited to snowskate or snowscooter (don’t worry if you don’t know how, they’ll teach you). You can also play snow pétanque and practice your aim at winter cornhole. Bring your own gear or borrow some for free onsite, and soak up the atmosphere with sounds courtesy of DJs Sasha Sol, N8, OKIN and Zepha—plus storytelling for the kiddos. The après-slide offerings include snacks and hot drinks for both grownups and tots.
3. See historic wampum and Indigenous art
Montreal has privileged access to Wampum: Beads of Diplomacy until March 10, uniting 40 rare wampum belts together for the first time ever. The The new exhibition at the McCord Stewart Museum curates the historic beadwork alongside dozens of cultural objects to help explain their fundamental role, as well as contemporary work by local indigenous artists Hannah Claus, Nadia Myre, Teharihulen Michel Savard and Skawennati.
4. Clink glasses atop PVM
The full glory of Place Ville-Marie is now even more accessible at Hiatus, a restaurant and meeting space at the 45th and 46th floors that opened last summer and became the best place to sip up a Penthouse Pearls cocktail (a fizzy citronella delight with housemade fruity boba) while soaking up the highest view downtown. We’re planning on making it our regular downtown haunt.
5. Stock up on local comics
February's Expozine always turns the page from winter to at least the idea of spring. That’s because the annual zine fair is an exciting and usually sweaty experience packed with creativity and crowds of shoppers. It also announces the soon-to-follow Montreal Comic Arts Festival (in May), where you’ll find graphic novels, published sketchbooks, art publications and more by some of the city’s greats.
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6. Shop sportswear in cutting-edge shops
After the new cutting edge Nike store and Ciele store that changed Montreal’s retail architecture landscape, here come all the haute international brands that we’re expecting to open at Royalmount, once that mega project hits its final phase this year. Names like Saint Laurent, Versace, Jimmy Choo, Michael Kors, David Yurman, Tag Heuer and Michael Kors are among those that have been dropped.
7. Watch the 2024 Golf President’s Cup
The PGA? Live in Montreal? Yessir. From September 24 to 29, the beautiful Royal Montreal Golf Club will be making history by becoming the only Canadian location to host the President’s Cup twice. (The first time was in 2007.) Plus it’s the prestigious international golfing event’s 15th edition, no less—so get your tix now.
8. Chow down on radiatore ’n’ cheese
We feared closure last summer when the beloved Knuckles in Villeray papered its windows and closed for a few weeks, but lo and behold: it reopened bigger and classier, expanding beyond their original retrofitted dépanneur space into the space next door, and therefore offering proper sit-down tables. The warm atmosphere lives on, as do the plump panzerotti (i.e. knuckles) that made them famous, plus ultimate comfort food dishes like their take on mac’ n’ cheese.
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9. Wander around Mile End during Pop Montreal
There’s something so Montreal about the unique energy that takes over Mile End during Pop Montreal, running from September 24 and 29 this year. It was the festival’s birthplace after all, despite it expanding beyond its original confines, and you can tell who’s there for shows and who’s a local fixture. Treat yourself to a discovery pass that lets you wander into amazing show after show, and in between, just people watch.
10. Do-si-do to Sam Hunt at LASSO
This August will be fire on the country music front, not least because LASSO Montreal announced Sam Hunt as a headliner. Join the crowds on the sprawling and picturesque Parc Jean-Drapeau festival site (turned country music hotbed on August 16 and 17) and listen to the Georgia-born NFL athlete turned country pop singer behind Leave the Night On and Make You Miss Me.
11. Sip tea on the legendary Eaton’s 9th floor
It was glamour, opulence and style—and then it was legend. Now, the Eaton’s 9th floor—Le 9e—is set to reopen. When Eaton’s went bankrupt and closed its doors in 1999, the 1931 art deco restaurant was preserved in time as an official heritage monument. Now the 500-seat space a few floors up from Time Out Market Montréal will be reviving its place-to-be status thanks to architects EVOQ Architecture, who will make it a bucket list space to eat and drink.
12. Experience femmes volcans forêts torrents
Since the MAC has temporarily relocated to Place Vile Marie it’s been putting on really interesting shows, and femmes volcans forêts torrents starting on April 11 features a whole bunch of our favourite female local artists. From Jacynthe Carrier to asinnajaq, Maria Ezcurra, Caroline Gagné, Anahita Norouzi, Nelly-Eve Rajotte, Sabrina Ratté, Sonia Robertson and Malena Szlam, they’ll all be looking at nature in their own particular way.
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13. Explore the new Prairie Louvain
This new space in the schmatte district in the northern end of town turns urban Montréal into a southern French dreamscape thanks to a veritable field of sunflowers, among other plants (mostly edible) tended to by urban agriculture outfit AU/LAB. We can’t wait to walk among the blossoms of Prairie Louvain towards the end of summer, when they’re all tall and spectacular.
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14. Eat nachos while playing pool
Any bar that serves frozen cocktails (try the Miami Vice) and decadent snacks (try the nachos) in a boldly stylish setting (cue the wavy neon bar) where you can play games (who’s up for a game of pool?) has got our hearts. Bon Délire is a welcome addition to the Saint-Henri drinking scene and we can’t wait to go back again and again.
15. Build the future at One Young World Summit
This annual summit of international changemakers is a playground for young leaders and a chance for 2,000 of the people who’ll be shaping the future of the world to come together to confront some of the biggest challenges facing humanity. It’s a coup for Palais des congrès de Montréal to be hosting One Young World from September 18 to 21, and we’ll be front row.
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