What's new in Montréal

With the change of the season, Montréal shifts gears into a period of new growth and new beginnings. From the sweetest culinary delights to exciting outdoor pursuits, here’s a few of the season’s top events you won’t want to miss.

• Spring in Montréal is stacked with festivals like Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival, the massive outdoor parties of Piknic Électronik, the chock-a-block St-Ambroise Montréal Fringe Festival and the soaring MURAL Festival. And there’s much more where that came from!
• The springtime thaw also brings sugar shack season, the annual harvesting of the maple trees in and around Montréal for their internationally-known and beloved syrup. Expect hearty meals featuring thick pea soup, fluffy omelets, baked beans and sausages, all served up with some of Québec’s finest maple products and accompanied with traditional music and games.

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

• The Montréal Museum of Fine Arts (MMFA for short) hosts the blockbuster exhibition The Torlonia Collection: Masterpieces of Roman Sculpture from March 14 to July 19, 2026. Admission also gains you 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. And in collaboration with the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal (or the MAC to those in the know, whose homebase in the Quartier des Spectacles is currently under extensive renovation) Comfort and Indifference: Recent Acquisitions by the MAC exhibits new works added to their collections between 2020 and 2025, on show until May 3, 2026.
• Sharing a delicious piece of culinary and design history, the McCord Stewart Museum presents On the Menu—Montréal: A Restaurant Story (on now until October 18, 2026), looking at some of the city’s long-gone but still sweetly remembered dining establishments and their role in shaping the city.

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

Montréal has long been a gourmet’s paradise, with restaurants fêted by those in the know. And you don’t have to just take our word for it—as of 2025, the world-leading MICHELIN Guide has also bestowed its first stars and bibs to some of the city’s favourite eating spots now taking a well-deserved bow on the international stage. Here’s just a few of the tastiest events happening this spring:

• The Happening Gourmand returns for its 18^th edition, and like every year before it spotlights some of Old Montréal’s most memorable restaurants with special 2-course gourmet table d’hôte menus from March 6 to 29, 2026.
• For the 14^th edition of the Cabane Panache: Maple music festival, Promenade Wellington (one of the coolest streets in the world, no less) transforms into a sugar shack hotspot from March 19 to 22, 2026. Enjoy some tasty treats while taking in performances by local musicians. Yum!
• Coffee lovers won’t want to miss the Café Collectif 2026 at the Society for Arts and Technology (SAT) on May 1 to 3, 2026. Roasters and baristas will assemble to show off their wares and serve up the perfect brew. Expect tastings, speakers and workshops all in the name of the almighty coffee bean.
• This spring, the MICHELIN Guide will also release its latest round of star rankings and bibs on Montréal’s restaurant scene for its 2026 edition, and we’re already holding our breaths (and salivating) for the results.

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!

Ranging from #FOMO comfort to #YOLO luxury, Montréal’s hotel scene is a constant grower with glow-up renovations and new additions from trusted brands to boutique treasures.

• A new addition to the Downtown hotel scene, the Metcalfe Hotel Montréal features stylish rooms and workspaces amid the hustle-bustle. The on-site Benjamin Steakhouse Parisien specializes in French cuisine, and the heated pool is sure to relax.
• Housed in the historic National Trust Company building, the SONOLUX immersive art hotel pairs world-class comfort with unforgettable exhibitions of contemporary artists. The group exhibition Seeds of R/Evolution featuring works by Santiago Tamayo Soler, Jasmina Cibic, Skawennati and Kosisochuwku Nnebe runs until April 2026.
• The 15-room Maison Grinder in Griffintown is designed as a contemporary multi-storey house, offering a one-of-a-kind boutique experience that’s as home-away-from-home as it gets!

For more talk of the town, click here for the latest hotel updates.