Even more activities and plenty of new additions for

10 years of celebration and light!

Montreal, Tuesday, February 10, 2009 - For a full 10 years now, the MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival, presented as always by Hydro-Québec, has welcomed Montrealers into a festive winter wonderland with its unparalleled urban outdoor party. The Festival proudly announces today that its popular outdoor program, the Celebration of Light, will now bear the name of a brand new official presenter, BMO Bank of Montreal. For this 10th edition, we’re throwing an anniversary party over two long weekends in the heart of Old Montréal and on the Quays of the Old Port! Come discover and enjoy an impressive panoply of free activities for the whole family and an array of festive new additions from Thursday, February 19 to Sunday, February 22 and from Friday, February 27 to Sunday, March 1!

An anniversary edition that celebrates innovation!

The 10th Anniversary High Light Event presented by Hydro-Québec

This year, we’ve created a spectacular event for the first weekend of the Festival: on Saturday, February 21, towards 9 p.m., musicians and stiltwalkers will glide onto the BMO Bank of Montreal Celebration of Light site, inviting intrigued Festival fans to gather on De la Commune Street, in front of Pointe-à-Callière, where a multimedia spectacle awaits, combining circus arts, pyrotechnics, digital arts, acrobatics, music and gigantic projections starring 100 artists, acrobats, musicians, dancers, percussionists and fire-handlers! To cap it all off, DJ James Di Salvio will keep the crowd grooving wildly under a fireworks display that ignites the night sky at 10 p.m.! Join us for the must-see 10th Anniversary High Lights Event and celebrate the debut decade of winter pleasures!

The BMO Ferris Wheel and its carnival atmosphere

The Jacques-Cartier entrance on the Quays of the Old Port will be the meeting point for all those with a bohemian soul and a taste for fun… especially those who share a birthday with the Festival! Children will be the first to gaze in wide-eyed wonder at the carnival atmosphere of the Celebration of Light, with its BMO Ferris Wheel, its games of skill and the heated nomad tent featuring all-day entertainment from the members of NomadUrbains! A second unique tent-the BMO Power of Blue Lounge-will serve as a very special lounge where Fest fans can warm themselves in décor inspired by Mongolian yurts!

10th Anniversary Photo Exhibit presented by Hydro-Québec

Over its 10-year existence, the Festival has generated an impressive collection of special memories! To celebrate the decade, this exhibit of superb photographs by Jean-François Leblanc and Victor Diaz Lamich, at the entrance to Quay Jacques-Cartier, offers a pictorial overview of a decade of magical moments.

The Loto-Québec Giant Foosball

Foosball fanatics never imagined they could live out their passion like this! The Festival invites them to a wildly re-imagined version of the game, in which participants become live-action table-soccer players, doing their best to boot the ball into the opponent’s net! Who knew foosball could be this much fun-and take this much energy! Don’t miss it, at the Jacques-Cartier entrance, running continuously during official site opening hours.

The Milk Family Fun Zone

Starting at 1 p.m. on weekends and 6 p.m. on Thursday and both Fridays, bring the family and friends down to Parc De La Dauversière (facing City Hall), where the new Milk Family Fun Zone hosts shows featuring puppet shows, magic and street theatre in rotating performances to light up every child’s face-not to mention one of the most popular activities on the site, the incredible 120-metre Milk Ice Slide, returning to thrill Place Jacques‑Cartier!

Shows for the kids…

The BMO Shows get an early jump on the fun! On Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m., all children are summoned to scramble up to the BMO stage at the Jacques-Cartier entrance, where they can dance their little hearts out to music from one of their fave groups, Les Petites Tounes! It’s entertainment and exercise-the best way to conquer the cold!

… as well as skating workshops, carriage rides and happy hour electronica!

The BMO Skating Rink in Bonsecours Basin, open to all every day, has its own new wrinkle: one-hour skating workshops, at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and Fridays, and at noon on Saturdays and Sundays. Furthermore, enjoy rotating performances from the Patin Libre and Ballets sur Glace de Montréal troupes. Since all roads lead here anyway, why not treat yourself to a free trip on the BMO Shuttle? And grownups can ease into a Festival evening during our Winter Bar Happy Hours presented by Porto Cabral, at île Bonsecours, featuring a different DJ every night (DJ Soundshaper, DJ Oly Arsenal, DJ Julian Prince and DJ Clifford Brown).

The party kicks off in high style!

On opening night (Thursday, February 19) the BMO Bank of Montreal Celebration of Light sets the tone for two weekends of pure winter pleasure: kick things off at 7:30 p.m. with Get this Party Started!, part of the Quays of the Old Port Events presented by Hydro-Québec, with a cast of characters and percussionists opening the festivities! Once the crowd has been warmed up, cue the Grand Opening Concert at the BMO stage, with Alfa Rococo, at 8:15 p.m. The bash heats up with the 10th Anniversary Fireworks Countdown, a Quays of the Old Port Winter Fireworks event presented by TELUS and showcased exclusively during this concert in the BMO Shows series. Then, the inaugural evening gets on the good foot with dancing in the AXA GiveItYourMinimum Sphere-the wildly popular 20-metre heated sphere, returning to the program by popular demand!-featuring DJ Soundshaper and VJs Clandestine and Fafard, from 9 p.m.

… and just keeps getting higher from there!

The BMO Shows

Thanks to the BMO Shows series, the Celebration of Light pours music into the night! At 8:15 p.m., festivalgoers can enjoy a series of shows beginning with the opening concert starring Alfa Rococo and including performances from Payz Play (February 20), Mauvais Sort (February 21), Bonjour Brumaire (February 27), and L’Expérience du Soleil Invaincu starring Christopher Williams, presented as the kick-off to the Montreal All-Nighter (February 28).

The Quays of the Old Port Events presented by Hydro-Québec

Almost every evening at 7:30 p.m., the Quays of the Old Port Special Events, presented by Hydro-Québec, invite Festival fans to join in the communal fun: after Get this Party Started! on opening night, the Winter Tams-tams offer a very Montreal evening featuring the characters, dancers, musicians and percussionists of Kumpa’nia and hosted by François Gadbois (both Fridays, February 20 and 27); the Union de Feu conjures Sublima, starring performers, dancers, and fire-handlers; Calling All Nighthawks! heralds the night-time hours with entertainers and fire-eaters; and finally, at 1:30 p.m. on the last day of the Festival, Pointe-à-Callière Port Symphonies end the festivities on a classical note.

The Quays of the Old Port Winter Fireworks presented by TELUS

At 8 p.m., the Quays of the Old Port Winter Fireworks presented by TELUS light up the night! Start with a bang during the grand opening performance, then join in the Grande Pétarade-an exciting collision of pyrotechnics and sound effects inspired by the famed Hispanic mascletas-(Fridays, February 20 and 27), and take things to an explosive new level with the Celebration of Light Fireworks (Saturday, February 21) and Spotlight on the All-Nighter (Saturday, March 1), two scintillating pyrotechnics displays to light up both Festival weekends!

The AXA GiveItYourMinimum Sphere

Rest assured, partygoers of all ages, the AXA GiveItYourMinimum Sphere is back for another Festival! Start off gently on the first weekend (Saturday, February 19 and Sunday, February 20, from 1:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m.), when zany Zalaé and grouchy ol’ Monsieur Craquepoutte from the popular program Toc Toc Toc await the young ones with photos and autographs! For a second year, the evening gets rolling in the original and impressive 20-metre heated inflatable sphere, where techno fans, dance fiends and curious festivalgoers can let loose while keeping warm! From 9 p.m., the masters of audio and video take turns heating up the dancing masses: DJ Soundshaper and VJs Clandestine and Fafard (February 19), DJ Nu Ravers on the Block and VJ MA’ (February 20), DJ Julian Prince and VJS 301 (February 21), DJ Bliss and VJ Hpnotik (February 27), as well as DJs Mini and X-Cube and VJs Homing and Makirim, booked especially for the All-Nighter.

Warming oases in the winter cold

To best enjoy the many outdoor activities offered by the BMO Bank of Montreal Celebration of Light, you’ll want to take a break from time to time and warm up a little! And you’ll have plenty of oases to choose from: start with a visit to the AXA GiveItYourMinimum Photo Studio, housed under the Hydro‑Québec Dome, where you’ll enjoy basking under warming infrared rays, gather at Braziers Place, featuring illuminated characters and street entertainers, or sample the sausages and marshmallows at the Brazier Bar and excellent hot and cold beverages at the Maple Milk Kiosk. In the Jacques-Cartier Pavillion, the popular two-storey Bistro SAQ will definitely remain one of the Festival’s favourite gathering spots, renowned for the quality and diversity of its wines and Quebec cheeses (every evening from 6 p.m. to 11 p.m., from noon on weekends, and right up until 3 a.m. during the All-Nighter). Fans can also stop by the Bistro SAQ Express right on the site.

The Celebration continues off-site

The Celebration of Light also includes off-site activities and events. On Friday, February 19 at 5:45 p.m., opening day of the Festival, join in the 12th edition of the Tuques Bleues Celebration and Snowshoe Event on Mount Royal, the annual nighttime benefit event hosted by Amis de la montagne. Featuring a healthy, invigorating hike and great food, the Snowshoe Event revives a tradition dating back to 1840, and also provides financing for the protection, conservation and enhancement of Mount Royal. Registration: www.lemontroyal.qc.ca.

In a different register, stop by the Soirée au clair de lune to explore the Biodôme under midnight-blue lighting and take a trip all the way up to the Observatoire de la Tour de Montréal to ooh and ahh at the Montreal sky while enjoying tales spun by spellbinding storytellers. From February 20 to March 7, 5:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. (and until 2 a.m. during the All-Nighter).

And gourmands rejoice! From Wednesday, February 18 to Saturday, February 21, the Festival of Quebec Cheeses, presented in collaboration with Complexe Desjardins, invites foodies to meet Quebec cheese makers and discover Quebec Cheeses!

A full schedule of High Lights!

Thursday, February 19, both Fridays, February 20 and 27: 6 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Saturday, February 21 (High Light Event): noon to 11 p.m.
Saturday, February 28 (All-Nighter): noon to 3 a.m.
Sundays, February 22 and March 1: noon to 6 p.m.

Get all the info…

For all the info on the outdoor program and all Celebration activities, fans can always head to the new BMO Blue Advantage Welcome Kiosk. Fans who present a BMO debit card will be eligible for special benefits!

All the info on the BMO Bank of Montreal Celebration of Light is in the free official brochure, available on the Festival site, from many Old Montreal businesses and stores, and from most Montreal tourist sites. You can also call the HIGH LIGHTS Info Line at 514 288‑9955 or toll-free at 1 888 477‑9955, or visit montrealhighlights.com.

The 10th edition of the MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival runs from Thursday, February 19 to Sunday, March 1, 2009. See you then!

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