Saturday, February 27 through Sunday, February 28
The Nuit is still young!
Montreal, Monday, February 1, 2010 - The Nuit blanche à Montréal, presented by Hydro‑Québec as part of the MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival, celebrates its 7th birthday this winter. The age of reason? Not on your life! One look at the program will be enough to convince you that this year’s edition is especially zany, crazy and free-spirited, the perfectly magical kickoff for all other “Nuits Blanches” that follow, in cities the world over. This Saturday, February 27, High Lighters can discover the city by night, plunging into 180 activities-most of them free-spread indoors and outdoors over three quartiers and one pole (sector). Feel like dancing, clambering onstage, singing, swimming, laughing? Ready for stories, an artistically re-imagined Montreal underground and a night of endless surprises? The Nuit blanche à Montréal awaits you with all this and more; there’s so much action, you’ll be hoping for a lunar eclipse to keep the night going!
Nuit blanche à Montréal 2010 partner’s presentation promo song by aRTIST oF tHE yEAR
The Nuit on foot, by Metro and on our free shuttles
With 180 different ways to cut loose and only one night to do it all, our nighthawks will be happy to learn that the Festival has done everything possible to make (night)life easy for them! First, we’re pleased to announce that, for a 2nd straight year, thanks to the special participation of the STM, the Metro will remain open all night long! Next, step right up to board our famed free shuttle service-once again provided in collaboration with the STM-serving six routes with a total of 65 stops, including an express route to link up all the quartiers. Every 10 minutes from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., High Lighters can board the shuttles to make their way to any activity in its respective sector: the Quartier Vieux‑Montréal et Quays of the Old Port (Old Montreal and the Old Port), the Quartier des spectacles et Centre-Ville (Quartier des Spectacles and Downtown) and the former Quartier Plateau‑Mont‑Royal, now considerably expanded and renamed the Quartier Plateau‑Mont‑Royal et Mile-End. The Pôle Maisonneuve sector will be accessible by metro. We remind you that all our shuttles are linked in to CIBL 101,5 Radio-Montréal so that nobody misses a beat of night full of divine madness!
The site of the BMO Bank of Montreal Celebration of Light site: the heart of the Nuit
Every year, the Nuit blanche and the BMO Bank of Montreal Celebration of Light-unveiling its program next Tuesday, February 9-find a new way to prolong the pleasure. This year, we’ve expanded the site with a transformed Place des Festivals-and its new Espace L’Oréal-offering activities perfectly matched to Montrealers’ joie de vivre: dance, creative escapades, visual and aural experiences… Nevertheless, the Celebration of Light site in Place Jacques-Cartier in Old Montreal and on the Quays of the Old Port remains the absolute epicenter, meeting and starting point for every nocturnal joyride worthy of the event! Especially for the Nuit blanche, Calling All Nighthawks! sets loose its costumed characters and fire-eaters at 7:30 p.m., presented by Hydro‑Québec as part of the Quays of the Old Port Events. Next, at 8 p.m., it’s Pleins feux sur la Nuit blanche, an eye-popping full-colour pyrotechnics display, part of the BMO Fireworks series! Immediately afterwards, as part of the BMO Shows and to anchor the Nuit blanche with a fun-loving musical spectacle, les Denis Drolet rock the site with Chants de Plume, their tribute to this icon of Quebec song, served up, of course, with a shot of absurdist energy! Buckle up for one wild party!
The return of Art Souterrain
Once again this year, the night unfolds in the city’s basements with the return of Art Souterrain, featuring 104 projects spread over 10 zones, bringing a new artistic identity to the underground halls you walk through everyday. Four kilometres of underground corridors between Complexe Les Ailes and Place des Arts will be transformed into living art galleries with a diverse array of photos, videos, installations and performances.
VIsual art
However, the visual artistic component isn’t limited to the Art Souterrain event, sprouting up here and there throughout the night: for instance, Galerie Pangée has Valérie Jodoin Keaton, whose collection of intimate snapshots of our stars has everyone talking; the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts presents a workshop featuring a live model; Ctrllab allows us to relive wild parties of days gone by through the photos of Laura Marais; and Galerie Frame and Canvas invites nighthawks to learn how to build their own camera! Otherwise, head out to the Hydro-Québec Head Office to view its superb mural by artist Jean‑Paul Mousseau, or to the Belgo Building, which houses no fewer than 13 galleries and at least as many different exhibitions!
Cinema
Whether curious or looking for a fab way to warm up, cinema fans are in for a filmic feast: for instance, the Star Wars: The Clone Wars event in Cœur des sciences de l’UQAM, featuring the famed animated series as well as other elements of the Lucasian universe (watch out for Stormtroopers…). Like your silver screening in the great outdoors? Head to the Rendez-vous du cinéma québécois Ciné-parc d’hiver (Winter Drive-in) to enjoy treasures of Quebec film, including La Guerre des tuques, and Daniel Bertolino’s images of endangered peoples, on the Parc olympique outdoor site.
Stories, poetry, literature
Tall tales come in many guises this winter! Consider Théâtre de l’Esquisse, where no fewer than eight storytellers from Arbraconteurs await; the Super Manège Métallurgique in Cabaret du Roy where Productions du Diable Vert combine stories with electrified saws and a stroboscope, all of it accompanied by a fiery forge and ice sculptures (!); or Café Santropol, where graduates of the National Theatre School will write stories accented by the resto’s gastronomical magic. Elsewhere, Collectif Vx takes over four rooms in Opus Montréal to happily marry literary passages with multimedia.
Danse
It’s no surprise that Montreal will be dancing the night away during the Nuit blanche, whether it’s people cutting a rug or spectators enjoying the magic! studio TANGO montréal invites us to Initiation au tango argentin (Introduction to Argentinean Tango) while Studio Elle Hurle Another Sidewalk leans into rockabilly jive, rock’n'roll and boogie, from Elvis to Jerry Lee Lewis. Meanwhile, the Montréal Botanical Garden presents professional dancers who will thrill spectators with merengue, batchata and cha-cha-cha.
Design
Design will also be in action during this Nuit blanche! In fashion, come out to Noces de plastique d’Alexandra Duchastel, a collection of clothing created in part from materials collected by Lady Bag la clocharde, which can be seen in Vitrines du Village, corner Amherst St. and St. Catherine St. East! Or take in the pre-premiere of Onze, the outdoor fashion show presented by students of l’École de mode de Montréal on the Parc olympique outdoor site. If you prefer your lines a little straighter, head to Penser tout haut - faire l’architecture in the Centre de design de l’UQAM, an intimate look at 26 architecture offices based here and elsewhere. Interested in another perspective on quotidian décor? The Commissaires galerie-boutique beautifully rethinks the objects and furnishings of the everyday.
Expositions
Right in the heart of the Nuit blanche, the Canadian Centre for Architecture offers a most enlightening program featuring outdoor cinema, an ice bar, live music, projections, family programming, entertaining workshops and the final presentation of its exhibition Intermission: Films from a Heroic Future. Elsewhere, the exhibitions proliferate in divergent directions: in Galerie Zone Orange, Les channels de mademoiselle pairs works by artisans with literary pieces; five young artists and their works (photos, drawings, video installations and animated films) take over Galerie YellowFishArt; and the Galerie Lounge TD in the Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan presents, for the very first time in Montreal, the sketches and drawings of the legendary poet and singer-songwriter Leonard Cohen.
Flights of fancy
The Nuit blanche also brings back an array of unclassifiable delights to surprise and amuse. For example, the aréna Camillien-Houde forever changes the way you look at ice shows with Le Patin Libre and Ceci n’est pas un patin (This is Not a Skate), followed by a skating party! No skates at Coupe Bizzarre, but sharpened scissors will bring a new “edge” to your hairstyle! In District 101 Espace Créatif, enjoy Nouille Blanche, a strange brew of literary concoctions, tea, shared stories and interactive performances… Some people enjoy their Nuit blanche with a little news… from the Nuit blanche itself: therefore, on the Place des Arts esplanade, ARTVscope presents telescopic images of events and activities taking place on other sites!
Humour
Nighthawks who love a good laugh will flock to La nuit, on rit ! in Théâtre Telus, featuring final-year students of l’École nationale de l’humour, to the Juste pour rire toute la nuit triptych (a mini-gala, The Girly Show and Le Show XXX) in Studio Juste pour rire, or Total Crap, paying tribute to the very worst (and funniest!) in TV and film in the Vol de Nuit bar.
Night! Lights! Action!
The Nuit blanche wouldn’t be the Nuit blanche if it didn’t light up the night… and every face in the crowd! Feast your eyes upon the Stock Exchange Tower at Square Victoria, its façade transformed by illuminated windows, or gasp in wonder at the superb luminous tableaux of the old église Saint-Jacques, now the pavillon Judith-Jasmin in UQAM. The Place des Festivals offers up an interactive console, where creative nighthawks can re-illuminate the Maison du Festival Rio Tinto Alcan, as well as enjoy other little surprises…
Music
There’s no party without music… and the Nuit blanche is tuning up a jukebox full of events, from Bande à part’s Masked Ball in Métropolis to Karaoké Opéra-the name says it all-inviting the diva in everyone to emerge in Place-des-Arts Metro. Take in Symphonie nocturne (Nocturnal Symphony) at the Tour de Montréal (indoors and outdoors) where vocal ensembles Opus Novum, Allegro, Stakato, Arcantia, the Radio-Canada choir and Au chœur des refrains will enchant us, or Organo pleno in St. James United Church, unleashing five hours of uninterrupted organ music performed by the best musicians of the new generation.
Performances
The Galerie de L’UQAM celebrates its 40th anniversary with us, presenting works by the university’s graduates and profs, along with other artists; in the Foyer de la Cinquième Salle, Place des Arts, l’Abécédaire du corps dansant literally incarnates the 26 letters of the alphabet; the Gésu invites you to experience a collaboration between three creative forces (choreographer, composer, lighting director) who will work around a piece by artist in residence, Meena Murugesan; and in Objets Dansants Non Identifiés, windows serve as a prism for visitors who will watch two sides of the same dance in an apartment.
Sports
Why not combine fun and frolic by taking a sports break during the night? For example, soothe your soul with a little Yoga with a live DJ! at Zazen Spa Athlétique, join Les amis du mont Royal in descending the famed hill on snowshoes or cross-country skis from Smith House in parc du mont Royal, or let it all hang out in a game of Ultimate Frisbee at the Parc olympique Sports Centre.
Theatre
Of course, the Nuit blanche is the perfect setting for exciting nighttime theatre, including such standouts as Party de sous-sol chez Kurt Cobain (Party in Kurt Cobain’s Basement) in Théâtre La Licorne, blending Kraft Dinner, Guitar Hero, Nirvana and, of course, theatre. Making it up on the spot with customary flair, the folks in LAB’I, hold court in Les Katacombes bar with Création théâtrale instantanée, an “improvisational karaoke”. Finally, Galerie Off The Hook showcases marionettes in a presentation of its show Yorgo et le monde.
Get all the info on MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS
Of course, this is just a glimpse of the array of activities set to light up the city all night long from Saturday, February 27 through Sunday, February 28. Get all the info on the 7th Nuit blanche à Montréal from the free guide available on the Festival site, in all activity venues and locations, and from most Montreal tourist sites. Fans can also call the Info‑Lumière Line at 514-288‑9955 or, toll-free, at 1-888-477‑9955, or visit montrealhighlights.com.
New !
Programming of the Nuit blanche available in mobile-friendly version
Festival fans flocking to the Nuit blanche à Montréal can also consult the mobile-friendly version of the program on their cellphones and mobile devices at the following address: montrealenlumiere.mobi
The 11th annual MONTREAL HIGH LIGHTS Festival runs from February 18 to February 28. Don’t miss it!
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La Nuit blanche
à Montréal
IN NUMBERS
3 districts
1 area
6 circuits
65 shuttle bus stops
45 information agents (including 1 mobile squad)
4 STM operators
5 information desks
121 locations
180 activities
160 free activities
30 paying activities
25 activities all night long (until 4 a.m.)!
104 Art Souterrain (underground art) projects
10 zones
38 new partners
More than 200 partners
