Back when the city was in the year-long throes of celebrating being in existence for 375 years, we were going all out with parties, artistic installations, and all kinds of other cool shit.

Those remnants—some amazing and some ridiculous—may not be on par with the collective creative energy of something like Expo 67, but it has left us with genuinely memorable relics that, if we were lucky enough to be around when they became part of the cityscape, will have a lasting impact on our lives.

Thing is, celebrations like Trouble-Fête for Halloween (pictured above) were a one time thing, and we're wondering: Why?

In a city of dancers, party-goers, culture vultures, and fetish festival attendees, you don't think we'd jump at the chance to have a parade filled with costumes and reasonably creepy but still kid-friendly stuff?

That's why this edition of the Bulletin's got its own section culling together this best parties we could find while slinging Tremblays and an SQDC home order over one weekend of clicking around. We're pretty proud of it.

Get out there this weekend. Give 'em pumpkin to talk about. 🎃

Halloween parties that don't suck

Dance it up

• Cabaret Berlin is doing a series of events, both this weekend and on October 31st proper.
• Nightclub la Voute is hosting a Halloween Ball that is going to last all weekend.
• New City Gas is hosting a two-day party on Halloween weekend, a bridging of Halloween with the Day of the Dead.
• Unity has three days of festivities with three separate themes throughout the weekend: SHREK, PLAYBOY, and FAIRY.
• Arena LeRinque is hosting Halloween Roller Disco Party, but act fast: Tickets are going quick for this one.
• Montreal skateboarding organization MTL SKATES is doing a spooky skate session called Creep It Real at Parc Jean-Drapeau.

Booze it up

• Throw on your best tiki wear and drink heady drinks over at the ALOHAWEEN event held at Snowbird Tiki Bar.
• Local brewery Messorem is hosting its own Halloween bash, drinking something called Corpse Lite as they dance, drink, and scare each other.
• Don't forget: Black Lagoon, a Halloween cocktail pop-up experience, is now at 132 Bar Vintage and will run until October 31st.
• Bar de Courcelle's doing an ode to rockstars of yore; the party starts at 9:30 p.m. with their trusty DJ Mosquito Valentino.
• Fright Night Fever, Concordia's biggest Halloween party, is going to be taking over the new-ish nightclub space Palazo.
• Bar Wills is hosting a boozy Halloween event where all costumes are welcome. We're expecting good drinks and music.
• Nightlife hotspot Name's On The Way is hosting a bunch of movie screenings with booze and music throughout the Halloween weekend.

Spook it up

• This year, the horror experience Malefycia is introducing V7CE, an event that confronts societal taboos through an exploration of the seven deadly sins.
• Cirque De Boudoir, Montreal's longest running kinkiest thematic club event, is holding their own 7 Devils Cabaret at Cabaret Lion D'or.
• It ain't Halloween without a trip to the annual Rocky Horror Picture Show.
• The Spasm Film Festival, an exploration of different film genres within Quebec cinema, is doing all kinds of Halloween-themed events.

...and are you ready to C.R.E.A.M.?

The brainchild of Montreal-based director, curator and artist Ariana Molly, C.R.E.A.M. is an anagram for Cinematic Rave Experiments and Musings: A new hybrid of film, music, art, dance and performance in Montreal. (The Main)

Cinematic rave experiments and musings at Cinéma L’Amour

An incredible, boundary-pushing event at Montreal’s oldest porno theatre.

The MainThe Main

...And now, other activities, parties, points of interest, art exhibitions, you name it: These are the weekend events you don't want to miss. Given just how much time and energy we just spent on those Halloween events, it's a little slimmer. *sad tuba*

Thursday

• The Japanese Student Association of McGill is going to be screening Spirited Away in celebration of Halloween, and tickets are just $5.
• Get line dancing over at the new bar Spaghetti Western with a special night of shuffling up in La Petite-Patrie.
• The MAC's exhibition Velvet Terrorism: Pussy Riot’s Russia is officially underway, documenting the band's artistic protests.

Friday

• There's a circus cabaret at Le Monastère where a dozen performers will bare their soul, performing acts they've created themselves, from start to finish.
• The event Groovy and Chill at the listening café 180g is taking attendees on an eclectic musical and visual journey to dance to, or just chill with the local scene.

Saturday

• Rendez-vous de la drag is the very first drag culture festival in Québec, in Canada and in all the French-speaking world—and it starts this weekend.
• The 24th edition of the Montreal Arab World Festival is kicking off with tons of cultural events featuring some amazing artists.
• Coffee shop ZAB is hosting local super artist @anabel.roy from 10am to 5pm, where a bunch of her creations will be for sale.

Sunday

• Foire de l'Édition de Montréal, a market dedicated to independent publishers and self-publishing, is coming to an end this weekend.
• Les Amis de la montagne is hosting a festive public gathering for a Celebration of Mount Royal and appreciation for its community of support.

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.

• Following the closure of the swish Verdun restaurant Pigor, it's quietly been reclaimed under the name LineMichel Bistro Montréalais.
• On October 27, Sae Low is hosting a masterclass on winemaking in British Columbia with @interludenm and @pamplemousse_jus.
• Outside of town, Ferme Bika is applying its Turkish-inspired twists to plans for brunch services throughout the month of November.
• Got a Halloween weekend hangover? Super Condiments is celebrating its one year anniversary w/ a waffle breakfast collab x Jungle coffee roasters and a meal with Pikliz on October 28.
• Want to get out of town? Brasserie Auval is doing a pop-up tasting at the Sutton-based caviste Réserve Naturelle on October 28.
• Le Pois Penché's been doing a tour de France all month, and this week's the last with an exploration of the cuisine and wine of Burgundy.
• Downtown's Vogue Hotel has been open for a while, but this latest profile shows why you need to consider a staycation there—at least and dine at its in-house restaurant Yama.
• Old Montreal's Gaspar has been redesigned space and now sports a refreshed menu, all of it leaning hard into a French bistro ambiance.
• Loic in Saint-Henri is holding a special meet-the-winemakers event on Oct 26, and they're doubling down with $2 oysters.

“Who wouldn’t want an iconic place like this in Montreal open?"

Restarted by Provisions Bar à Vin chefs and the Cloakroom cocktail bar, the restart of the Dominion Square Tavern's less of a reinvention and more of a revisit, drawing inspiration from both its last form and the one from when it first opened in 1927 as a hotel restaurant. (The Main)

Bar Dominion & Keeping Spirits Up in Downtown Montreal

A downtown Montreal destination once closed during the pandemic, Dominion Square Tavern’s been revived as Bar Dominion—a timeless classic by design.

The MainThe Main

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

Honouring the departed

As the Mexican diaspora across Montreal adapts Día de los Muertos traditions to the ingredients, geography, and people here, they honour past ancestors, and perhaps in their own way, create traditions as ancestors of the future. (The Main)

Keeping Día de los Muertos traditions alive in Montreal

How Montrealers are celebrating a festival honouring the departed with colour, music, and food.

The MainRachel Cheng

Who asked for this?

The Régie des alcools won a case against a restaurant permit holder after calling into question how it was putting more emphasis on wine than food, even though bottle shop-restaurant hybrids like it are multiplying in the province. (La Presse)

A refusal to write

Montreal Gazette columnist Yara El-Soueidi is putting her collaboration with Postmedia on hold to protest against the dehumanization of the Palestinian people. Here's why she made that decision. (The Rover)

Where Is Your Humanity? – The Rover

Montreal Gazette columnist Yara El-Soueidi is putting her collaboration with Postmedia on hold to protest against the dehumanization of the Palestinian people.

The RoverYara El-Soueidi

Exploiting service workers 🤮

As credit card machines prompt customers to leave higher tips at all kinds of businesses, some workers say point-of-sale terminals are making it easier for employers to pocket their hard-earned cash. (CBC Montreal)

Who gets tips in Quebec? Employers are dipping into tips, service workers allege | CBC News

Some fast-food workers say credit card machines, which are now nudging customers to leave tips as high as 30 per cent, are making it easier for employers to pocket their hard-earned cash.

CBCHolly Cabrera

Play it again, Sam

Months in the works and to be released Monday by the Parti Québécois, the analysis — said to be conservative in its forecasts — concludes Quebec “has the financial capacity” to leave the Canadian federation and fly on its own. (Montreal Gazette)

PQ’s sovereignty budget says Quebec ‘has the financial capacity’ to be a country

The party will release its theoretical Year 1 budget on Monday. Sources say it uses much of the methodology from a similar 2005 exercise by then-PQ MNA François Legault.

Montreal GazettePhilip Authier

The Great Montreal-New York Bagel debate 🥯

On a more light-hearted note, Montreal and New York City are both known for their bagels, right? Well, chalk one up for the 514, as it only took a couple bites to convince one New Yorker to deem our better than their doughy counterparts in the States. (Insider)

Sorry, New York City. The best bagels are north of the border.

Montreal and New York City are known for their bagels. Whereas New York bagels are large and fluffy, those in Montreal are sweeter and more dense.

InsiderJordan Parker Erb

Yes yes yes

Maybe it's the photoshoot of this interview with Tiktok NPC sensation Pinkydoll, or maybe it's her desire to eat at Nobu Matsuhisa's globally-renowned restaurants with Cardi B, or the line "I love my boobies!!!!" but this was a fun read. (Interview Magazine)

Pinkydoll Loves Red Lobster But Dreams of Nobu

The Montreal-based mommy, TikToker, and OnlyFans celeb shows us why her video game–inspired livestreams have everyone screaming, “Yes, yes, yes!”

Interview MagazineMekala Rajagopal

Get up to s(p)ea(d)

The marine shipping route that links the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes through a system of 15 locks between Lake Erie and Montreal has shut down after hundreds of workers walked off the job Sunday. (CBC Montreal)

What to know about the St. Lawrence Seaway strike | CBC News

The St. Lawrence Seaway has shut down after hundreds of workers walked off the job Sunday. Here are answers to a few key questions about what’s going on.

CBC

I walk the line

One intrepid journalist decided to walk the entirety of the metro Blue Line's 12 stations above ground, from Saint-Michel station to Parc station, then Parc at Snowdon station. Thrills, chills, and photos from the walk await. (24 Heures)

And now, your history lesson for the week

Speaking of the metro, we thought we'd take a look back on the inauguration of its world-class system after it launched on October 14, 1966. We've got notes about its Paris connection, those old brakes that are dipped in peanut oil—everything we could find. (The Main)

The Montreal Metro’s Inauguration, 57 Years Later

A look back at the inauguration of Montreal’s metro, a unique system with a unique story, made by and for Montrealers.

The MainJP Karwacki

And that wraps yet another weekly bulletin. We’ll be back with more curiosities, local stories, and events to discover next week.

If ever you catch something we should know, don't hesitate to reach out to us on Instagram.