With each passing week comes another moment of renewal, a slow creep of refreshment. Cherry blossoms and magnolias are in bloom, we've got bluer skies, and things are ever so slightly starting to pick up everywhere you look.

It's a beautiful time right now. We're all making plans for terrasses and parks, arguing in group chats over who's going to be crossing town because "I've got the perfect spot", checking out all the places that've opened in the last four months and change, and generally taking time for one another. We've no longer the old excuse of weather to keep us in, and got every other excuse to get out and soak in some sun.

Breathe it in and enjoy it this weekend, Montreal. We've fairer skies and seasonal showers, but things are undoubtedly starting to look up—if we can be called one of the best places to be in the world at this time of year, you'd best be enjoying it too.

Get some suggestions by reading on.

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

Thursday

• One of North America's largest multi-lingual literary events featuring over 200 activities in more than 10 languages ​​each year, Blue Metropolis, has returned.
• Darren Emerson's In Pursuit of Repetitive Beats at the Phi Centre is coming to a close, an interactive documentary virtual reality adventure that takes audiences back to the heyday of the UK’s illegal Acid House rave scene of the late 1980’s.

Friday

• Cabaret Berlin's NUIT ELECTRO events return for its fifth edition, the only lesbian-queer party in Montreal dedicated 100% to electro, dark disco, and techno music.
• Local musical creatives Collectif Radiance are bringing their mini orchestra to Sala Rossa.

(A Very Vinyl) Saturday

• Love vinyl? Le Plateau Record Show is a one-day vinyl record fair with over 30 vendors selling all kinds of used (and a little new) vintage LPs,12”, & 45's of all types of music - classic rock, soul, jazz, blues, reggae, punk, world, etc.
• AUX 33 TOURS is bringing back its legendary warehouse sale: Over 60,000 LPs at $1, over 15,000 7'' ($2/$1), over 10,000 CDs at $1, over 15,000 DVDs ($3/$5) and numerous film posters at various prices, as well as 15,000 comic books ($3/$5).
• Vino Disco's Infatuated series returns with music by @project__lou and @siamak_abrishami, fuelled by cocktails curated by @damiananderson_.
• Dress to sweat at Bar Le Ritz PDB's Acid House DJ night spinning acid, house, techno, and electro on vinyl.

Sunday

• Released 45 years ago following his Cannes prize-winning début The Duelist, Ridley Scott's Alien is going to be screened at Concordia's J.A. DèSeve Cinema.
• Graduates of the École nationale du meuble et de l'ébénisterie de Montréal are holding an end-of-year exhibition.
• Andō Hiroshige's revolutionary woodblock prints of landscapes, the “Fifty-three Stations of the Tōkaidō”, joins the MMFA's collection.
• The Scottish indie pop band Belle & Sebastien are playing MTELUS.

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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.

• Previously of Tuck Shop catering, chef Adam Shiller's new project Maison Zoso is a new high end bistro, now open for lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunches, too. 
• Take a look at Terrasse Alizé, an upcoming terrasse opening on the 9th floor of the Humaniti Montreal hotel on May 2.
• a Care Label and Vasimolo are turning Osmo x Marusan into a Night Market Party on May 4th.
• The pop-up OGs of Castel Franco are setting up shop at the second @iconoglace location on Laurier to serve banana splits on April 28th.
• Be sure to grab a seat at Bar Otto when the modern Korean restaurant 9 Tail Fox crosses the Saint-Henri/Little Burgundy divide for a pop-up on May 5th.
• Ramen 9000 will be doing one last pop-up at Kitano Shokudo on May 4th and 5th before summer arrives, so snag a spot while you can.
• LaSalle restaurant Faccia Brutta's collaborating with @independentspiritsco on April 25th with a special $60 tasting menu and cocktail pairings featuring flavours from Bourgogne and Normandie.
• Indian creamery Meetha's 2024 ice cream season officially kicks off this Friday as of 2pm with a fresh batch of beloved flavours.
• NDG Luncheonette is hosting Little Burgundy's Heni for a Nighthawks at the Diner event featuring three seating throughout the night of April 28.
• Don't forget: Samy Benabed and Étienne Prud’homme from @auberge.saintmathieu will be at Candide preparing a 5-course tasting menu tonight.

Here's the tea ☕

Brunch destinations Régine Café and Janine Café have continually seen line-ups, so that bodes well for this new place from their team: English tea room services twisted into a Montreal image with Paparmane, an Old Montreal destination in the making. (The Main)

Paparmane: Dreamy tea time is served by Montreal brunch royalty

Here’s the tea: The minds behind brunch destinations Régine Café and Janine Café turn their attention to English tea room services twisted in their own Montreal image.

J.P. Karwacki

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

Our city of outdoor stairs

While the Quebec metropolis is among the coldest major cities on the continent, its urban fabric is characterized by romantic swoops, stoops and spirals of innumerable stairs, prompting one architecture firm to use that as inspiration. (Azure Magazine)

Why Exterior Stairs (Still) Shape Montreal’s Urban Fabric

MSDL Architects translate Montreal’s vernacular of spiral stairs into a high-rise context for the 21st century.

Azure MagazineStefan Novakovic

911 chokepoints

Montreal and Laval’s ambulances are routinely relying on paramedics from off island to come to their aid. As data released via an Access to Information request by The Last Ambulance indicates, Urgences-santé has been in operational crisis mode almost every day since the beginning of 2024. (The Rover)

An Impossible Scenario – The Rover

Ambulances in Montreal and Laval are so short staffed that they routinely rely on paramedics from off island to come to their aid.

The RoverHal Newman

If we had a nickel every time this came up

The majority of Montreal merchants still greet their customers in French only, but fewer and fewer are doing so, while "Bonjour-Hi" has been on the rise in recent years. (CTV News)

French-only greetings drop in Montreal as ‘bonjour, hi’ gains popularity

Most Montreal merchants greet their customers in French only, but that could soon change as “bonjour, hi” becomes more popular.

Montreal

Beware the buzz, trespasser

Drones have been patrolling the REM tunnels under construction since a young thrill seeker entered one of them last summer, so here's where you can watch some of their sick flight footage. (La Presse)

Tip my hat to you, sir

While reporters like Bill Brownstein have had to report of late on the closing of far too many city institutions after decades of business, “it does the heart good knowing that Henri Henri is the oldest and largest hat store in Canada, celebrating its 92nd birthday this month.” (Montreal Gazette)

At Canada’s oldest hat shop, ‘every hat tells a story’

Henri Henri, a Montreal institution on Ste-Catherine St., is celebrating its 92nd anniversary. Hats off to that.

Montreal GazetteBill Brownstein

It'll be the bee's knees

The ninth floor of the Montreal Eaton Centre may have been frozen in time after it was shuttered in 1999, but this year it's being plunged back to 1931, revived to its former glory. Even we got to see a sneak peek. (CBC Montreal)

A first look at the restored art deco 9th floor of the Montreal Eaton Centre | CBC News

Unveiled in 1931 then shuttered in 1999, the ninth floor of the Eaton Centre was a destination where people of all walks of life would dress to the nines to dine. It was hidden away for 25 years and is being revived as a restaurant, bar and event space next month.

CBCVerity Stevenson

Germs: A heritage minute

The fossilized bacterial DNA in the soil where the Ville-Marie fort was built in 1642 is helping reveal certain activities practiced by the first French people who settled in Montreal. (Le Devoir)

Des bactéries révèlent le passé de Montréal

Un examen microbiologique du site fondateur de la ville révèle les activités pratiquées par les premiers Français.

Le DevoirPauline Gravel

Wish you were there

It was an emotional afternoon last Saturday watching Montreal vs. Toronto in a crowd of 21,105 at hockey’s biggest venue, witnessing just how far the women’s game has come. (Cult MTL)

The magic moment when the PWHL broke the ultimate women’s hockey attendance record in Montreal

The Montreal vs. Toronto PWHL game at the Bell Centre on Saturday broke the attendance record for women’s hockey with a crowd of 21,105.

Cult MTLCindy Lopez

Goodbye to those stinky grocery store deposit machines

Montreal finally has its long-awaited Consignaction centre: You press the green button, dump the cans and bottles into the machine and hit the red button, which automatically sort the containers and spit out a receipt for your refund. (CBC Montreal)

Montreal gets first Consignaction centre as part of Quebec’s new container deposit system | CBC News

After a long wait, Quebec has opened its first two centres as part of a plan to make recycling bottles and cans easier. Consignaction plans to open 200 more locations across the province by 2025.

CBCJoe Bongiorno

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

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