Best Festivals in Montreal: Dates, Locations, and Insider Tips

Montreal comes alive each summer with a vibrant array of festivals celebrating music, art, culture, and more. Whether you're a local or planning a visit, here's your comprehensive guide to the best festivals in Montreal for 2025.


May 2025 Festivals

1. Montreal Salsa Convention

  • Dates: May 14 – 19, 2025
  • Location: DoubleTree by Hilton Montreal, 1255 Jeanne Mance St.
  • Type: Dance Festival

Get your party shoes out and join the salsa festival. Watch both Canadian and international greats or learn to salsa for yourself with world-class instructors.

2. Festival Musiciens du Monde

  • Dates: May 14 – 18, 2025
  • Location: Centre des Musiciens du Monde, 5043 Saint-Dominique St.
  • Type: World Music Festival

Bringing together world musicians for a series of performances and workshops.

3. Aire Commune

  • Dates: Starting May 15, 2025
  • Location: Avenue de L’Esplanade and Rue de Louvain Ouest
  • Type: Outdoor Event Series

Every Thursday and Friday, join this lit cinq-à-sept with different themes like Soirée Tropicale and Fuego Festival. DJs playing in May include Ms Baby and Niabi, DJ Blaze, DJ Apollo, Richtanner, Samia, and Young Fresh.

4. Montreal Underground Film Festival

  • Dates: May 16 – 17, 2025
  • Location: Groupe Intervention Vidéo (GIV), 4001 Berri St., #105
  • Type: Film Festival

Showcasing low-budget, boundary-challenging, and guerrilla filmmakers from Canada, the United States, and France.

5. Pouzza Fest

  • Dates: May 16 – 18, 2025
  • Location: Various locations in Montreal
  • Type: Punk Music Festival

Let the punk heart in your chest rage it out. The Pouzza festival is all about the loud, the screechy, the noisy, the rebellious, the fun.

6. Porchfest NDG

  • Dates: May 17 – 18, 2025
  • Location: Notre-Dame-de-Grâce neighborhood
  • Type: Community Music Festival

Catch a wide variety of acts on the front porches and balconies of homes up and down streets from below Sherbrooke to above Monkland.


June 2025 Festivals

7. MURAL Festival

  • Dates: June 5 – 15, 2025
  • Location: Saint-Laurent Boulevard and surrounding areas
  • Type: Street Art Festival

Celebrating urban art across the city with murals, installations, and live performances.

8. YATAI MTL

  • Dates: June 5 – 8, 2025
  • Location: Hangar 1825
  • Type: Japanese Street Market

A Japanese street market with street food, vendors, Japanese drinks, shows, and cultural workshops.

9. Les Guinguettes

  • Dates: June 19 – 24, 2025
  • Location: Ancienne-cour-de-triage park
  • Type: Local Neighborhood Festival

A local festival nestled in by the Lachine Canal with music, food, and celebration of the neighborhood.

10. Montreal International Jazz Festival

  • Dates: June 26 – July 5, 2025
  • Location: Various locations in downtown Montreal
  • Type: Jazz Music Festival

Over 350 shows will be playing in the heart of the city with two-thirds completely free.

11. L’International des Feux Loto-Québec

  • Dates: June 26 – July 31, 2025
  • Location: La Ronde, Île Sainte-Hélène
  • Type: International Fireworks Competition

Don’t miss the world’s greatest pyrotechnic artists take center stage in this international fireworks competition.


July 2025 Festivals

12. Festival International Nuits d’Afrique

  • Dates: July 8 – 20, 2025
  • Location: Various venues in Montreal
  • Type: World Music Festival

Over 100 performances, activities, and workshops celebrating Montréal’s Caribbean, Latin American, and African diaspora.

13. SoulFest

  • Dates: July 10 – 13, 2025
  • Location: Square Saint-James and Le Balcon
  • Type: Soul Music Festival

Celebrating soul, motown, R&B, gospel, and funk music, transforming the site into a veritable outdoor dance floor.

14. Taste of the Caribbean

  • Dates: July 10 – 13, 2025
  • Location: Various locations in Montreal
  • Type: Cultural and Culinary Festival

Inviting guests to ‘taste their way through the islands’ with bold flavors, cooking and mixology demos, and a stellar lineup of homegrown award-winning musical talent.

15. Festival Portugal International de Montréal

  • Dates: July 11 – 13, 2025
  • Location: Various locations in Montreal
  • Type: Cultural Festival

Brings together mouthwatering cuisine, family-friendly activities, big stage performances, and shines a spotlight on the unique culture of Portuguese Montréal.

16. Just For Laughs Festival

  • Dates: July 16 – 27, 2025
  • Location: Various venues in Montreal
  • Type: Comedy Festival

Featuring the crème de la crème of comedic talent, JFL is not just the world’s biggest comedy festival, it’s quite clearly also the best.


August 2025 Festivals

17. Otakuthon

  • Dates: August 8 – 10, 2025
  • Location: Palais des congrès de Montréal
  • Type: Anime Convention

A Canadian anime convention promoting Japanese animation, graphic novels, related gaming, and Japanese pop culture.

18. MUTEK

  • Dates: Late August 2025 (Exact dates TBA)
  • Location: Various venues in Montreal
  • Type: Electronic Music and Digital Arts Festival

Dedicated to the promotion of electronic music and the digital arts, with a six-day event in Montreal.


Planning Your Festival Visit: Tips and Tricks

  • Book Accommodations Early: Hotels fill up quickly during festival season.
  • Use Public Transit: Montreal's STM system is efficient and convenient

Explore Montreal's hidden gems, top foodie spots, and must-see events. Share your journey with #MontrealDiaries!
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