The Bulletin: And a very merry infrastructural Easter to you, Montreal [Issue #70]

The Bulletin is a collection of what's happened, what’s happening, and what’s to come in and around Montreal.

The Main

March 28, 2024- Read time: 8 min

Victoria Jubilee Bridge, Montreal, QC, 1897. | Photograph: Wm. Notman & Son (1882-1919) / McCord Museum

Easter is a weird one.

If you're Christian, it’s the most sacred day of the year, a time for reflecting on the central miracle upon which your faith is based. For children, it's when a magical bunny stops by to leave a basket full of painted eggs and candy.

It's been bookended by one of the biggest—if not the biggest?—Greek Independence Day parades in Montreal, with world leaders Justin Trudeau and Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis drinkin' freddos at Alphabet, followed by Blake Lively grabbing her own before hitting up Bernie Beigne.

Then it looks like this past week's been all about infrastructure in the news: Bridge Bonaventure, foobridges over highways, misinformed tramways, Stadium woes, and fears surrounding boats.

Maybe not all Easters are weird ones, but this Easter is a weird one.

But if none of that grabs you this weekend, we've got book fairs and pizza parties and stories about Quebec's first commercial citrus grower and the oldest tattoo parlour in the city for you. Read on.

Activities, parties, points of interest, art exhibitions, you name it: These are the weekend events you don't want to miss.

Thursday

Ursa is hosting the Montreal Anti-Jazz Police festival, featuring musical performances of New and Old Jazz, Experimental, Electronic and everything else until March 29.
Those passionate about what the human voice is capable of should check out Festival de la Voix, featuring combinations of solo powerhouses, orchestras, singer-songwriters, jazz trios, folk and blues musicians and more until April 13.

Friday

Occupy the Hood and the Montreal collective Sweet like Honey are pairing up to bring afro sexy futuristic, metallic, UFO vibes to the city with XTRVGNZ.
Go see Hybrid Condition by Vietnamese-Canadian artist Tam Khoa Vu, an exploration of cultural hybridity through video and audio installations, at the MAI arts centre.

Saturday

Booksellers from Ontario and Québec will gather to sell fine and collectible books, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, prints, pamphlets, and much more at the Westmount Antiquarian Book Fair.
Go see SAT Fest's immersive film festival and its selections of more short fulldome films by more than 100 local and international visual and sound artists.

Sunday

The Segal Centre for Performing Arts presents the captivating and thought-provoking stage adaptation of the Giller Prize-winning novel Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis.
The Art Souterrain Festival's transformation of Montreal’s underground network through art continues, highlighting the contemporary art world in the often unexplored corners of the city.

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Extra, extra: Read on to find out about the free pizza party in the Mile End between a wine dive bar and Pizza Toni. | Photograph: @thepizzatoni / Instagram

WHAT TO EAT & DRINK IN AND AROUND MONTREAL

Scope the latest restaurant openings, recommendations on where to eat, plus new menus, old classics, and everything in between.

On March 31, Le Plongeoir is turning one year old, and is celebrating with a free pizza party from Pizza Toni on a first come, first serve basis.
PSC's Knox Taverne is celebrating its 8th anniversary tonight, March 28th—head on out and enjoy a longtime establishment's hospitality.
This Friday, Babeurre is hosting an Easter market in collaboration with @leseffleures to bring you plenty of good food and lots of beautiful tulips.
Five restaurants across Old Montreal—Maggie Oakes, Gaspar, Pincette, Vieux-Port Steakhouse, and Jacopo—all have special (and cheap!) Easter offerings this weekend.
On Sunday, March 31, Grégoire Routy from Boxermans is welcoming his former chef and friend Armand Forcherio of Paloma for Easter lunch.
The new-wave steakhouse Provisions has unveiled a new after-9pm menu for when you need to eat well long after everyone's called it a night.
Eating, drinking, singing—consider this your PSA to save your spot during the Burgundy Lion Group's upcoming St. Georges Day celebrations where they celebrate everything awesome that's British.
The new Japanese izakaya Regashi in Saint-Henri's got a new reason to pay a visit: A six-course $45 table d'hote that'll give a good taste of everything they have to offer.

Sweet 'n' sour success 🍋

O’Citrus counts some 120 trees and 9 different varieties of citrus fruit, from yuzu to finger lime, calamansi, kaffir lime, sudachi and more. She tries to concentrate on varieties that have distinct flavour profiles and can’t easily be found in their fresh state in Quebec. (The Main)

Here, you'll find a weekly round-up of the latest local news, from entertainment to current affairs and more.

Slinging ink 🐉

PSC Tattoo is a landmark in the city’s history of art on skin. Today, its spirit lives on in its aesthetic and the work of its current owner and artist Dave Cummings and other artists calling the spot home. (The Main)

The Big Owe

Construction is expected to be completed on the Stadium by 2027. This is a boondoggle driven entirely by nostalgia, but nostalgia rarely makes for good decision making. So why are we treating it like the Notre Dame cathedral? (The Walrus)

Not another Griffintown, please

As many wonder what Bridge-Bonaventure will become, "we don't want to build luxury housing to attract new people. We don't want a new neighborhood, but a continuation of Pointe-Saint-Charles," says Margot Silvestro, community organizer at the Pointe-Saint-Charles Community Clinic. (La Presse)

Clang clang clang goes the trolley

Eastern Montreal is not getting a REM. Instead, it will maybe get a ground-level tram, which is also a light-rail system. But, Noakes writes, "we’re getting hosed. At $13-billion, the Tram de l’Est is an inexcusable waste of money: it costs far too much, will provide far too little and serve far too few.” (Cult MTL)

Here's hoping not

Baltimore’s Francis Scott Key Bridge crumbled into the Patapsco River early Tuesday after a cargo ship lost power and rammed into a support column. Engineering experts say catastrophic failures like it are highly unlikely in Quebec, but impossible to rule out. (Montreal Gazette)

Total eclipse of our hearts

Do you enjoy when celestial bodies block out the sun for a few minutes? On April 8, a total eclipse is coming to our solar system, because (we assume) you live in southern Quebec, you won't have to go far to see it. (CBC Montreal)

Making sense of a big mess

A series of studies published in the past year suggest that Quebec’s universities are underfunded by anywhere between $850 million to $1.2 billion when compared to the rest of Canada. Legault told reporters he believes the tuition hikes will help Quebec catch up to the rest of Canada, but that’s only if enrolment doesn’t plummet. (The Rover)

It begins

This is the home stretch for the Royalmount megaproject, which is due to deliver its first commercial phase next August. The footbridge spanning the motorway to link with the metro will also be installed this weekend, under close surveillance. (La Presse)

Photograph: Marco Campanozzi / La Presse

Pfft, trees. Who needs 'em, right?

Montreal is working on a major road project in Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, including a scenario that would partially destroy one of the last natural environments in the sector. Citizens are opposed to the construction of new streets, while the plans drawn up by Valérie Plante 's administration provide for an increase in trucking. (Le Devoir)