A complete guide to the best festivals of Montreal, season by season

The best festivals and events in Montreal will show you a city that runs on a four-season cycle and treats culture like a contact sport—intense, joyful, and wildly participatory. It's one of the best things to do in Montreal: You only need to take one look below to see that Montreal doesn’t really do downtime—OK, maybe a bit in the winter, but even then you can catch us dancing to techno in snowsuits.

Winter doesn’t freeze the calendar, it kicks it off. Spring doesn’t thaw things out, it ramps things up. And by the time summer hits, the streets are basically one long block party with better lighting as the best terrasses at the best bars fill up. As for fall, well, it's just a generally perfect time in the city.