The Bulletin: Everywhere you look, it's Berlin DJs, flying bodies, pyrotechnics, and circus battles [Issue #136]

Montreal’s out here doing the most this weekend—or is this just another day in the city's summer season?

Circus battles in churches! Wrestling in the streets! Spicy food fests! Poetic park takeovers! Two, count 'em, two full-scale cultural festivals asking you to dress up for free entry!

You’ve got Filipino eats at Premiers Vendredis, slow-burning cinema at Cinéma du Parc, and Verdun Beach throwing down with body slams and picnic tables. Plus: Berlin DJs, backyard piquette parties, and a pop-up queer market if your Sunday could use a little sparkle.

Let’s get into this weekend’s chaos (and make sure to mark down July 20 in your calendars; you'll find out why below).

Activities, parties, points of interest, art exhibitions, you name it: These are the weekend events you don't want to miss.

Thursday

🌳 Festival RU returns with a program of outdoor performances, installations, and poetic street art around Mont-Royal Avenue and Parc des Compagnons.

🎪 Montréal Complètement Cirque brings free outdoor circus shows, acrobatics, and family-friendly events to Saint-Denis Street and Place Pasteur for the next ten days.

🍢 The Asian Night Market lights up T&T Brossard this weekend, with over 40 vendors serving up street food in an unbeatable summer-night atmosphere.

🛍️ Out of the is closing up shop after 7 years with a 40% off farewell sale before the studio shifts focus to other projects.

🎹 Juno-winning artist akaMatisse leads a genre-blurring night of classical piano, orchestral textures, and mellow beats at OSMO x Marusan.

Friday

🤸 The Cabaret du Jugement Dernier returns with a gravity-defying circus competition inside a transformed church sanctuary, where acrobats, aerialists, and contortionists battle for glory.

🌮 Premiers Vendredis food festival returns at Olympic Park this weekend with a spotlight on Filipino culture, featuring 40+ food trucks, live music, and performances curated by Filipinos of Montreal.

🎥 Cinema du Parc launches HEATWAVE, a new summer film series running through July and August and featuring slow-burning works by Sofia Coppola, Claire Denis, and more.

💃 La Murga celebrates two years with a salsa-packed anniversary party featuring live performances by the ensemble, all-vinyl DJ sets from TUMBAO, and a celebratory dance floor.

Saturday

🌈 A one-day queer market is on at Casa del Popolo, offering handmade goods spanning jewelry, ceramics, and knitwear alongside special cocktails.

🇯🇵 Festival Matsuri returns for two days of Japanese eats, live entertainment, and family-friendly fun—free entry if you dress the part!

📚 Pastiche celebrates its third edition with jazz, readings, and hors d’oeuvres at a BYOB launch party at Café Tenini.

Sunday

🌀 Berlin-based label Giegling touches down in Montreal for a rare terrasse set alongside Ferias heavyweights, plus a visual installation.

💥 Verdun Mega Beef throws down with six street wrestling matches outside Verdun Beach, plus a special food menu, cold drinks, and ringside picnic tables for those who book early.

Did you RSVP yet?

The Main is throwing its first-ever block party—and you are invited!

It’s our way of saying thanks—for reading, supporting, sharing, and showing up. So we’re bringing together some of our favourite people we’ve met along the way: Bar WILLS, La Spada, DJ HIDI (Hideyuki Imaizumi), and DJ JoJo Flores.

Also on the guest list? A full cast of characters from stories past, present, and future alongside friends, family, and our favourite dogs. Come out, say hi, grab a drink and a bite, and party with us!

RSVP here—and save the date: July 20.

WHAT TO EAT & DRINK IN AND AROUND MONTREAL

Scope the latest restaurant openings, recommendations on where to eat, plus new menus, old classics, and everything in between.

Buboy reopens in Chinatown with fresh pancit, halo-halo, and classic Filipino comfort food available this week for the new location’s soft opening.

La Courtepointe and Herman Brasserie launch their KARAOKE lagar collab on July 3, with Herman taking over the taps alongside more drinks and a German-inspired sausage dish.

Marci’s announces a July musical lineup, with weekly Friday and Saturday performances starting July 4 with German DJ SHERM.

Rebl Café celebrates a soft-opening in the Rebl Club lobby, offering bold design and a tight drink list ranging from caffeinated classics to surprising sips, like a cherry vanilla matcha latte.

Herman Brasserie hosts a pizza food truck on July 5, serving up cold beer and hot slices from noon.

Gato Tacos Mezcal returns with Dunham Smokehouse on July 5, dishing out brisket tacos in Sutton and Bromont ahead of Dunham’s restaurant opening.

Parapluie teams up with Nolan July 5 and 6 for a weekend of collaborative dining and live French rap on Nolan’s terrace, plus fresh piquette cans from @grndgui.

Jean-Talon Market’s spiciest event is back on July 5 for a second edition of the delicious free program highlighting all things spicy and the artisans behind them.

The team behind Le Violon launches Dalmata, a new gelateria coming soon (and currently hiring!) in the Mile End.

Flying Tables kicks off a Sichuanese brunch pop-up at Sep Lai on July 6, featuring bold flavours, seasonal spices flown in from Sichuan, and live guzheng music.

Mellön Brasserie hosts its first summer market on July 6 with handmade goods, ceramics, books, hot sauce, flowers, and more, plus fun wine pours by À Boire Debout.

Recent opening Estiatorio Marmo brings dual energy to Bois-Franc, operating as a sunny café by day and elegant Mediterranean steakhouse by night.

Partida Takeover at Mauve Vin & Fleurs offers a night of Spanish natural wines on July 6, with Partida Creus by the glass, pours by Dieu du Vin, a special menu from La Gracioca, and cheeses by Pinullet Queseria Urbana.

A Québécois-Chinois four-course pop-up hits Le Bellerive on July 6 as Dobe and Andy team up with Simon Delest—two seatings and one drink included.

Bernice Bakery celebrates five years with a sober bakery rave on July 6, featuring a live DJ, giveaways, and day-time dance floor energy.

Dominica-inspired dishes meet Quebec ingredients at Molenne on July 7 as Chefs Sutherland Haskell and Jesse Hoffman join Chef Louis-Joseph for a one-night-only dinner.

Le Chien Fumant and Park unite for a two-night collaboration at Park on July 7 and Le Chien Fumant July 8, led by chefs Maksim Morin and Antonio Park and rooted in 15 years of friendship and creativity.

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Want to work together? Contact partnerships@themain.com

Here, you'll find a weekly round-up of the latest local news, from entertainment to current affairs and more.

There's a LOT of stuff happening in the month of July, but lucky you, we mapped it all out. Read more.

A highway once split Montreal in two—now a meadow of 21 women’s names is blooming above it, rewriting how the city remembers and reconnects. Read more.

Montreal’s food scene just dropped 26 new reasons to eat out—from sandwich counters to fire-cooked Haitian BBQ, this month’s lineup is loud, sharp, and seriously worth a reservation. Read more.

More than half a million meatballs later, Mr. Amerigo is still making them all the same—at two Saint-Henri and NDG restaurants where the real recipe is memory, muscle, and a father’s hands. Read more.

The trash isn’t going anywhere fast—Montreal’s move to biweekly garbage pickup is sparking backlash, odours, and confusion as the city pushes toward a zero-waste future. Read more.

They thought they found a deal—then came the mouse droppings, mould, and furniture left behind: a young couple’s first Montreal apartment turned into a moving-day nightmare. Read more.

An empty lot near Milton Park just became a global garden rooted in Indigenous traditions—where the Three Sisters grow beside okra and sage, and reconciliation is planted alongside community. Read more.

Five years after protestors toppled and decapitated John A. Macdonald’s statue in downtown Montreal, the city still hasn’t decided what to do with it—and won’t even show a photo. Read more.

A plan to transform a long-neglected corner of Westmount into a dense hub of towers and retail is dividing locals—between those craving housing and foot traffic, and those clinging to the borough’s low-rise past. Read more.

Montreal’s housing crisis hit a grim milestone this moving day, with rents soaring, vacancies low, and hundreds still without homes. For some, like Egor Matveev—who lost his apartment to a fire mid-June—it’s more than statistics. It’s personal. Read more.

The REM is hitting pause for six weeks—so if you commute between the South Shore and downtown, expect packed buses, free shuttles, and a testy summer. Read more.

With thousands still scrambling for housing before July 1, Projet Montréal has rolled out new incentives to shift more affordable rentals into non-profit hands. Read more.

Quebec City’s latest move to preserve its francophone identity? Requiring buskers in two tourist hubs to sing only in French—or not at all. The new rule feels less like cultural celebration and more like artistic censorship. Read more.

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And that wraps yet another weekly bulletin. We’ll be back with more curiosities, local stories, and events to discover next week.

If ever you catch something we should know, don't hesitate to reach out to us on Instagram.

👋 Masthead: Philip Tabah, Founder & Head of Creative / Daniel Bromberg, Co-Founder & Head of Operations / Jean-Philippe Lauzon, Co-Founder & Head of Tech / JP Karwacki, Managing Editor / Amber Spector, Social Media Manager / Anahi Pellathy, Editorial Intern