Pysch! There's a TON of things to do this weekend. Too much to do, even.

We've been saying it over and over again: Summer's coming early this year, and this weekend's arriving like a force of reckoning. Like, the parting of the Red Sea/Battle of Hogwarts/final battle at the Black Gate and Frodo's journey to Mount Doom type of reckoning: Tons of parties, festivals, pop-ups, special events, and weird/fun/weird-fun stories.

You're guaranteed to find something happening in just about every corner of the island this weekend as the heat breaks and everything pops off, but you know the drill: Start the weekend here, and start the weekend right. Happy trails!

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

Thursday

• The 18th edition of Festival TransAmériques and its celebrations of contemporary dance and theatre begin with 25 shows in 20 different venues.
• The Latin music festival Fuego Fuego gets muy caliente this weekend at Parc Olympique, but it'll all start with this launch party.
• The Korean Film Festival Canada is back for its 11th edition, highlighting films and media artworks delving into Korean, pan-Asian, and Asian Canadian perspectives.

Friday

• Marché ASIASIE's three-day market for Asian Heritage Month features more than 30 merchants from several corners of the continent alongside workshops and cultural performances from May 24 to 26.
• The Montreal Comic Arts Festival (MCAF) will take place on May 24, 25 and 26, 2024.
• The international beer festival Mondial de la bière is the largest in North America, and it's on now until May 26th.
• The 4th edition of Afrotonik's Get Down series is going down with top selectors TOKYO and DJ GHXST, as well as special guest GREEZY and hosts BENXOLI and MOOTANDA.
• The South Asian Film Festival of Montreal, dedicated to exploring and introducing Montreal to filmmakers of South Asian origin, begins.

Saturday

• Mile end en fête's neighbourhood festival will take people through the streets of the neighbourhood with art, music, culture and more on May 25 and 26.
• Nightclub Francesco’s doing a mysterious after-hours party with the FLTK Collective. Let loose and have at 'er.
• This year's edition of the storytelling festival Festilou is featuring performers trained in Rakugo, a traditional Japanese storytelling technique—should be wild.
• Don't miss the vintage pop-up happening at Messorem from 1pm to 7pm.
• Evoking New Orleans-style music street parties, Dame Festive: Musique de Rue is a new festival featuring 15 performances spanning genres from jazz to reggae in Lachine.

Sunday

• Weather's looking good, so consider either Tam Tams or Piknic Électronik and its five artists playing across two stages this weekend in Jean-Drapeau.
• Shop for new wall art at L'Affichiste during their prosecco-fuelled pop-up.
• The PHI Centre has launched the Canadian premiere of Broken Spectre by award-winning Irish artist Richard Mosse, a 75-minute video with a selection of large-format photos revealing exponential environmental devastation in the Amazon Basin.

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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.

• An all-star cast featuring Zamalek, the terrasse of Wills, and chef Danny Smiles are serving up street-style kebabs on May 25.
• Saint-Henri donut destination Léché Desserts is hosting its first after-hours guest chef events tonight, May 23rd.
• Catch local chef about town Mike Chanthamynavong taking over the kitchen at Salle Climatisée until the end of the weekend on May 26.
• The Vieux-Port Steakhouse's cornerstone terrasse in Old Montreal is reopening, so go get some before it's packed up tight with Grand Prix goers.
• Montreal's pizza artist Dan Krystal will be at Turbo Haüs and Café Big Trouble to serve fermented sourdough Sicilian square pizzas on May 25.
• As the restaurant Jaja celebrates its first anniversary on May 28th, they'll be joined by Hochelaga's Hélicoptère and wine agency Ward & associés.
• Pop-up experts from Castel Francos are continuing to keep things weird in their own way with sandwiches, strawberry pies, and Shirley Temples this weekend.
• On May 28th, go try some new vintages from @anders.frederik.steen and @anneblauert with a pop-up hosted by La Cave de Mamie and Deux Caves.
• Taverne Sur Le Square's 'brommelier' Jon Cercone can be found with good wines and mac and cheese at Bistro La Franquette on May 26.
• Plateau nightclub/lounge extraordinaire Apt 200 is going to hold a reopening party on May 24.

History and all the hits

To understand Jewish food in Montreal, it helps to know about the history of Jews in Montreal and all of the best places to eat the Ashkenazi, Sherpardic, and diasporic variations of its cuisine. This is the only guide you'll need. (The Main)

A guide to Jewish food in Montreal with the Wandering Chew’s Kat Romanow

From the local legends and institutions to new generations, this is your complete guide to the five neighbourhoods holding the keys to Jewish food in Montreal.

R. D. Barry

Let's go to the Dep

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

You from Montreal? Here's your homework

Montreal is as appealing for its beauty as for its shadows. Here, the novelist Mona Awad recommends books that are “both dreamy and uncompromising” that prep anyone—local or not—to experience the city. (New York Times)

Melons: A part of our heritage

The Montreal melon made the city famous-ish more than 100 years ago, and it's starting to reappear thanks to seed companies trying to unearth it after being forgotten for decades. (24 Heures)

Some weak sauce

It's not so much the message here as it is the funny way this promotional video from the PQ looks, complete with images of babies, continually walking towards the camera, and its finale shot of some random lake. (Montreal Gazette)

The Parti Québécois is pitching independence — in English

“It is important to recall we are all in the same boat, all united by the same citizenship and the same destiny,” says Paul St-Pierre Plamondon.

Montreal GazettePhilip Authier

Art attack! 🎨

How artistic spaces brought Griffintown back from the brink of an economic recession, political uncertainty around separation, and a brain drain of young Anglos and immigrants to Toronto and the U.S. in the 1990's. (Seven Days)

Griffintown: The Montréal Neighborhood That Art Saved | Seven Days

Fonderie Darling, a massive exhibition space, residency program and hub for contemporary art, is revitalizing Griffintown.

Seven DaysAlice Dodge

Reviving the Paris of the North?

While artists and venue owners are interested in this idea, they have some reservations, worrying whether staying open all night is worth the trouble while others question whether city-sanctioned 24-hour events will be expensive and crowd out the underground parties for which Montreal is famous. (CBC Montreal)

Montreal artists and venue owners support 24-hour party district - with reservations | CBC News

Earlier this year, the administration of Mayor Valerie Plante held public consultations for a 24-hour nightlife district to be created in a still-undetermined sector of downtown. While artists and venue owners are interested in the idea, they have some reservations.

CBCMax Moller

Don't demolish, just polish

Quebec's housing stock is one of the oldest in Canada. In 2017, 71% of homes dated before 1996 and 24% before 1961. Traditional buildings, built before the second half of the last century, were designed to last 120 years without major work. (Le Devoir)

Les bâtiments existants comme antidote à la crise du logement

Le manque d’entretien et la démolition hâtive des immeubles fragilisent le parc immobilier. Ainsi que la planète.

Le DevoirMarco Fortier

Flowers, flowers, everywhere so let's all take a pic

In recent years, artificial flowers have been multiplying in restaurants, cafes, hair salons and florists in major European cities, and now the trend's arrived in Old Montreal. Some are saying that attention has to be given to its potential for plastic waste, however. (La Presse)

The good, the bad, and the groovy

This feature-length film about poverty in Montreal is set against a soundtrack that includes rap, blues, rock, and country and western music. The film deals with the universal themes of hunger, hope and love and is named after an actual Montreal restaurant that's been serving those in need for over 25 years. (NFB)

Au Chic Resto Pop, Tahani Rached, provided by the National Film Board of Canada

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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