It’s spring, and what’s more, it’s the first long weekend of spring. Montreal, where the party never stops, will slow down a bit for these three days of religious (for those celebrating Easter and Pesach) and family, friendly or even solitary festivities.
In any case, these will be three sweet days in the city, sure to warm the hearts of Montrealers emerging from a rather harsh winter, and make those visiting the city for the first (or thousandth) time fall in love. By the way, we’ve got a list of what will be open and closed in the city over the long weekend!
This weekend, we’ve got plans to make the most of our slow-life weekend …
Saturday April 19th
1 Are we going away for the weekend?
Yes, sometimes you have to leave Montreal to find it again… We don’t blame you, and we have a list of road-trips to spend the weekend in the city (but elsewhere) or rather in the country…
2.citizen spring
Reconnect with nature as it (finally!) wakes up, and take a studious approach with the kids and their amazement at nature’s little everyday miracles…
During its Printemps Citoyen (Citizen Spring) program,Espace Pour La Vie is organizing free family activities on the themes of discovery, love and conservation of nature and natural spaces throughout the month of April.
This weekend, the theme of the activities is “when transition tastes good”, and we’re looking forward to discovering new ways of eating and consuming, bringing us a little (more) closer to a lifestyle in equation with the natural world…
…and this Saturday, we’ve got a schedule of activities:
10h-12h: Au Naturel! Family Storytelling Hour
10:30am-1pm: Kiosk: Waste management awareness and waste sorting games
10:30 a.m.-12 p.m.: Zero-waste discussion and green cleaning product workshop
1pm-2pm: Hands-on: cooking workshop for children
1:50pm-3pm: Tree walk
2-5pm: Family activity: anti-gaspi challenge
2:30pm-3:30pm: Discovering the invisible: Interdependencies
3pm-4.30pm: Conference: Anti-wasteful cooking
When ? this Saturday, April 19, from 10am to 5pm
Where ? at the Botanical Garden, 4101 Sherbrooke Street East
How much? Free
3 – Fill up on chocolate bunnies…
Whether you’re celebrating Easter or not, now ‘ s the time to sample some of Montreal’s finest chocolates-in the shape of motorcycle-riding bunnies, basket-carrying bunnies, texting bunnies, little bunnies, big bunnies…
4 – See Alan Glass’s watercolour eggs at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts
When you think of the post-war Surrealists, you wouldn’t immediately think that an artist known in some circles as “the last of the great Surrealists” was a native of Montreal…
And yet, for the first time on Canadian soil, the Musée des Beaux-Arts is presenting an exhibition organized by Mexico City’s Museo del Palacio de Bellas Artes, devoted to the work of Alan Glass, a Mexican surrealist of Montreal origin.
Among the works on display are a series of watercolors populated by goddesses and mythical figures, painted eggs he sent to friends, and his ” assemblages“, scrapbooks in frames and suitcases, little theaters decorated with found objects, natural elements, drawings, little bits of stuff that become a mini-world.
The exhibition opened on April 17, and we heartily recommend it for this weekend, when, with a sigh of satisfaction, we’ll be able to marvel at everything…
When? April 17 to September 28, 2025
Where?at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke Street West
How much? Free for children under 25, $30 for over-26s (except Wednesday evenings, when it’s $15), and free for all Quebec residents on the first Sunday of the month. It’s a good idea to book online before you go!
5. Montreal Latino Film Festival
We’re going to see a film at the Festival de Cinéma Latino de Montréal, which runs from April 17 to 27 at the Cinéma du Parc (while there, we can hang out in Parc du Mont-Royal, and catalog the snowdrops and crocuses that have been sprouting everywhere since last weekend). We recommend Hola Frida, an animated film about the childhood of artist Frida Kahlo, for those of you with the whole family!
On Saturday April 19, the films to be screened are;
- Hola Frida at 12:45pm
- Dioses de Mexico at 3pm
- Historia y Geografia at 5:15pm
- El Jockey at 7:20pm
To see the full festival program and get your tickets, click here!
When? April 17 to 27, 2025
Where? Cinéma du Parc, 3575 Avenue du Parc
How much? for one screening: general admission $15.25 / students $11 / seniors $12 / 3-16 years $10
6.Bad Girls Only at the Musée des Beaux-Arts
To round off the Women’s Months, we went to see the new exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts– Bad Girls Only. As bad girls go, all Montreal women (and Montrealers, some of whom can also be described as bad girls) will love it.
In French, it’s Présumées Coupables: les femmes et les sept péchés capitaux. It opened today and runs at the museum until August 10, 2025. It’s a small exhibition, bringing together 28 European works – drawings and engravings – from the early modern period (late 15th century to early 17th century), but it’s extremely rich.
When? March 26 to August 10
Where? at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, 1380 Sherbrooke Street West
How much? Free for children under 25, $30 for over-26s (except Wednesday evenings, when it’s $15), and free for all Quebec residents on the first Sunday of the month. It’s a good idea to book online before you go!
7. we’re going to vote in the federal election, early voting
April 18 to 20 is the advance voting period for the federal election. Would we rather be lying on the grass? Maybe we would. But is voting a precious right and, come to think of it, the most empowering move we’ll make this weekend? Yes – even more than buying vegetables at the market and inventing a new hot-and-cold radicchio salad for Sunday brunch.
Everything’s happening so fast this election that we’re a little dizzy, and that’s normal!
Sunday April 20th
1 We’re going egg hunting with the kids… just like in the country.
Sometimes you wish you could have the best of both worlds; living downtown, but with a big backyard to grow lettuces, raise a few chickens, lie in the warm grass in the summer after the rain, and go on egg hunts with the kids and family at Easter.
2.brunch with family and friends
We love brunches in Montreal, and any occasion is a good opportunity to get together with family, friends or lovers over eggs Benedict,avocado toast and a mimosa, to hang around the table and debrief the last few days/months/weeks.
3.pop-up: Easter chocolates
You can never have too much chocolate… at chocolatier Damien André’s pop-up, open every weekend in April. We’re particular fans of the diplodocus eggs…
When? Open every Saturday and Sunday in April.
Where? 2675 Notre-Dame Street West
Monday April 21st
1. we’re going to the market
This little weekend day will help us make the transition from winter to spring – renewal, symbiosis with nature… it’s the new (new) us, and Montreal, like our hearts, thaws in April.
And so, we’re going to take a trip to one of the city’s public markets, and munch on a local green vegetable, and taste the regional produce because we’ve got the time, and because we’re too used to breezing through Métro on the way home from work…
Have a great weekend!
and for those who need a long walk to digest all that chocolate, our favourite walks in Montreal are here!