What's new in Montréal

• Montréal is hands-down one of the world’s leading festival cities, and the summer festival calendar is chock-a-block with heavy hitters and lesser-known fests every week of the season. Popular favourites including the nonstop dance party Piknic Électronik, the bustling St-Ambroise Montréal Fringe Festival, the street-art celebration MURAL Festival, the experimental sounds of Suoni Per Il Popolo, the feats of derring-do of MONTRÉAL COMPLÈTEMENT CiRQUE, the eye-popping Festival International Nuits d’Afrique, the celebrations of queer joy Fierté Montréal Festival and Wild Pride and the unmissable headliners of Osheaga will leave everyone buzzing all summer long.

• Named for one of the city’s most transformational mayors, Parc Jean-Drapeau has in recent years undergone a major glow up featuring new gathering spaces and unique outdoor experiences. The three living Mosaïcultures sculptures created from native plants saw over 600,000 visitors last year (and there’s a new on-site buvette for snacks and drinks!), and the Cinéma flottant program of films viewed from floating devices in the Aquatic Complex are always a hit. The Mount Boullé wilderness area offers full immersion in nature including the newly restored Grande Poudrière Ponds, all just minutes from the Montréal Métro. If that weren’t enough, the park also welcomes some of the season’s largest festival events to boot.

• Montréal has long been one of North America’s culinary hot spots, and the storied MICHELIN Guide has returned with its 2026 edition of international must-eats, bestowing new stars and bibs to some of the finest restaurants in the city! Make those reservations now! 😋

• 2026 marks the major Montréal milestone of the 50^th anniversary of the 1976 Summer Olympics. There’s special events, commemorations, concerts and exhibitions planned for the Olympic Park and Stadium, Parc Jean-Drapeau, the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts, the McCord Stewart Museum and other locations throughout the city.

• In advance of this year’s UCI Road World Championships running September 20 to 27, 2026, the Go Bike Montréal Festival (from May 24 to 31, 2026) celebrates one of the city’s favourite modes of transport. Highlighted with the beloved Metropolitan Challenge, Tour de l’Île de Montréal and the Night Ride—where riders deck out their cycles with lights and costumes—Go Bike closes typically busy streets for bikes only. And summer’s also the perfect time to check off a Montréal bucket list bike ride!

• No question, Montréal is a city stuffed with beautiful walks (including a must-see wander through the Botanical Garden in epic full-bloom, and summer brings the chance to strut your stuff down one of Montréal’s car-free streets closed to vehicle traffic until the autumn!

• Montréal’s famed outdoor patios return for the summer months, and locals and visitors alike take in the air and people-watch while refueling with brunches, beverages and tasty snacks day-and-night. 

Montréal’s top-tier arts spaces present an exciting list of unmissable exhibitions and cutting-edge artistic premieres all summer long.

• The city’s Summer Olympics celebrations include a return visit by the legendary Nadia Comǎneci, who made the world’s front pages by scoring the first-ever perfect 10.0 in Olympic gymnastics (not to mention winning three gold medals), including an event where she’ll gather with 50 other women named Nadia for a unique meet and greet.
• Montréal 1976: An Olympic Feat at the McCord Stewart Museum commemorates the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Summer Olympic Games, featuring a multimedia celebration of one of the biggest moments in the city’s history running until September 13, 2026. Sharing a delicious slice of the city’s culinary and design past, On the Menu—Montréal: A Restaurant Story (on now until October 18, 2026) takes a loving look at some of the city’s long gone but still sweetly remembered dining establishments and their role in shaping the city’s eating habits and gourmet memories.
• The Montréal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA for short) hosts the blockbuster exhibition The Torlonia Collection: Masterpieces of Roman Sculpture until July 19, 2026, Richard Avedon: Immortal—Portraits of Aging, 1951-2004 until August 9, 2026 and the 1976 Summer Olympics celebration En piste! Les sports inspirent l’art running June 15 to October 12, 2026. Museum admission includes entry to Rising Suns: Art from the Confederacies of the Great Lakes and Rivers until October 11, 2026, and the ongoing overview From the Functional to the Fabulous: 600 Years of Decorative Arts and Design featuring some local icons including an original BIXI bicycle. 

• The legendary theatre space Caf’Conc’ re-opens its doors with a Montréal-centric program of music, comedy, drag and cabaret regularly featuring local icons Coco Belliveau, Tranna Wintour and Rita Baga. Originally constructed in preparation for Expo 67 as part of the Marriott Château Champlain hotel, the Caf’Conc’ (short for Café Concert) has long played a nostalgic role in Montréal’s cultural fabric. The Caf’Conc’ Célébrités series features a francophone artist in the plush, intimate hall, in the process paying tribute to the venue’s historic stature.
• The hugely popular spooky Netflix series Black Mirror Experience comes to life at Infinity Experiences in the Old Port of Montréal, in its world premiere presentation. Through a blend of eye-popping physical sets paired with immersive VR technology, parties of up to six have the opportunity to live out an all-new Black Mirror episode unlike any other. After this, watching TV won’t ever feel the same!
• Housed in a former ferry ship and moored in the waters of the Old Port of Montréal’s Pier 14, Bota Bota, spa-sur-l’eau has charmed and calmed locals and visitors alike since its opening in 2010. This year, they’ll expand with a second ship featuring new whirlpools both indoor and outdoor featuring unbeatable vistas of the city, a state-of-the-art large-scale sauna and four new cold plunge pools. We already feel more relaxed just thinking about it!

Find more of the season’s must-see exhibitions and special events here.

A year-round culinary destination

Montréal’s status as a gourmet’s paradise went up a rightful notch following the MICHELIN Guide’s appearance in the city last year, shining the spotlight on some restaurants long fêted by those in the know including Restaurant Europea, Mastard and Sabayon.. This year, they awarded two local favourites with highly sought-after stars.

•  Hoogan et Beaufort, under the guidance of chef Marc-André Jetté, utilizes wood-fired cooking in its mouth-watering creations based on locally sourced seasonal ingredients. But that’s not all—alongside the restaurant’s star, Chef de Vin Hugo Duchesne also received the 2026 Michelin Sommelier Award. Nestled in the Rosemont—La-Petite-Patrie neighbourhood, a visit here also offers a glimpse of Montréal life outside of its busiest tourist areas.
• Offering some of Canada’s finest omakase experiences, chef Vincent Gee’s eight-seat Sushi Nishinokaze is well worth the wait for a seat, featuring masterfully constructed sushi on expertly cooked shari rice, all served up on a “living gallery” of old and new ceramics that changes every month. What it may lack in size, Nishinokaze more than makes up for in taste and genuine experience.
• Resting on the border between Little Italy and Mile Ex, 2026 Bib Gourmande recipient Restaurant Limbo features a unique take on Italian food influenced by both French and British cooking, served in a gorgeous dining room with a stainless-steel bar. Bonus points for their creative remakes of classic film posters like Apocalypse Now and album covers including My Bloody Valentine’s Isn’t Anything rechristened with the restaurant’s name. Limbo joins Montréal’s other Bib Gourmandes Annette bar à vin, Cadet, Casavant, Le Petit Alep, Parapluie and Rôtisserie La Lune.
• And that’s not all! MICHELIN also added six Montréal establishments to its list of Recommended Restaurants: Bar St-Denis, Hélicoptère, Juliette Plaza Bistro, Kitano Shokudo, Oncle Lee Kǎo and Renoir.
• Canada’s 100 Best list of restaurants and bars also shines a spotlight on Montréal’s La Lune, Limbo, Sushi Nishinokaze and Pasta Pooks on their 2026 list, bringing the city’s hold on the list with 28 placements including the unpretentiously delicious Mon Lapin, ranked at No. 2.
• Celebrating its 15^th anniversary, First Fridays – The Montréal street food festival is back at Montréal Olympic Park with an unbeatable collection of food trucks and the epic vistas of the city’s Olympic past. Yum! 

New restaurants join Montréal’s dining scene every season, and this spring there’s some new kids on the block opening their doors all over the city. See our list of new must-try spots here!

Iconic Montréal must-sees

No first visit to Montréal is complete without a visit to some of the city’s most beloved and recognizable sites and sights. From the top of Mount Royal to the underground RÉSO city network, our list of 10 unmissable MTL experiences awaits!