In addition to the last weekend of the Festival international de jazz de Montréal and the Festival d’été de Québec, other events will enliven the cultural scene. Here are some ideas.
The Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) takes the national capital by storm on Thursday. Imagine Dragons and the Foo Fighters will host the Plains of Abraham on Friday and Saturday evening. New this year: free and intimate mini-concerts will take place across the city, including Robert Charlebois and Ariane Roy.
The Cinémathèque québécoise’s summer cycle, dedicated this year to horror cinema from here and elsewhere in collaboration with the Fantasia Festival, has been in full swing since last weekend. Among the 86 cult films, classics and flagship works of the genre that will be presented until August 31, we will be able to see or see again Psychosis and The Birds, by Alfred Hitchcock, The Shining, by Stanley Kubrick, but also the works of directors such as Julia Ducournau with Titane, which won the Palme d’or at Cannes in 2021. This weekend, Quebec horror cinema is in the spotlight with Les affamés, by Robin Aubert (Saturday at 6:15 p.m.), and Slaxx, by Elza Kephart (Sundays at 6 p.m.).
Gastronomy and music will be in the spotlight throughout the summer at the Botanical Garden. On Sundays, until August 13, music lovers gather in the Roseraie sector at 2 p.m. to listen to performances by various artists, including Louis-Jean Cormier (July 9) and Milk
The Plaza St-Hubert takes on a festive air. From Thursday to Sunday, the iconic commercial artery will be closed to traffic as part of the PlazaPalooza street festival. In addition to being able to take advantage of the “traditional July sidewalk sale”, passers-by are invited to a series of musical and DJ performances. In concert this Friday, Sarahmée is one of the artists who will take the stage during this free event.
Friday, July 7 will mark the start of the Festival de Lanaudière. Until August 6, the event will present around thirty concerts and events. For this first weekend, the OSM and its conductor, Rafael Payare, will offer an opening night honoring Beethoven’s Ninth. For Payare and Kozhukhin, on July 8, the maestro will this time join forces with the virtuoso Denis Kozhukhin to present the Second Piano Concerto. The following day, accordionist Richard Galliano, accompanied by the Molinari Quartet and double bassist Éric Lagacé, will make his debut at the festival, paying homage to jazz and classical music. Finally, as part of the Hors les murs series, on July 9 at the Alchimiste microbrewery, the 5ilience quintet will present their reinventions of well-known pieces and their new original works.
Throughout the month of July – from July 2 to 30 – the violinist, conductor of the Orchester symphonique de Longueuil and artistic director of the Stradivaria Festival, Alexandre Da Costa programmed 17 concerts indoors and on outdoor stages, in the region of Laurentians in large part, but also in Terrebonne, Knowlton, Montreal and Ottawa. We can see interpretations of great classics – including Brahms and Tchaikovsky – but also jazz music ensembles and French-speaking singer-songwriters such as Guylaine Tanguay or Claude Gauthier.
Shania Twain, Weezer, Pitbull and Charlotte Cardin are just some of the musical styles that will grace the stages of Ottawa Bluesfest, which runs until July 16. This festival may be the opportunity to see artists that you missed during their visit to Quebec, as Thundercat, Foo Fighters or Robert Plant and Alison Krauss will perform there.