The Main Logo

The Bulletin: Going down the rabbit hole of Montreal's alleyways [Issue #86]

The Bulletin is a collection of what's happened, what’s happening, and what’s to come in and around Montreal.

The Main

The Main

July 18, 2024- Read time: 10 min
The Bulletin: Going down the rabbit hole of Montreal's alleyways [Issue #86]Photograph: Daph & Nico - Tourisme Montréal

Lights, cameras, and a whole lotta action: Big stage performances featuring the return of Just for Laughs(!), film festivals, big-name acts, and not one but three occasions to eat burgers are all taking place this weekend.

At the same time, we're not just looking at what's happening on the streets, but what's happening off of them as well. We've got our fair share of alternative culture and festivities, live music returning to the alleyways of Hochelaga for the seventh year running, and a deep dive into the history of the city's ruelles vertes detailed below. Oh, and a national stone carving festival with film noir being screened along the canal because why not?

Enjoy.


upload in progress, 0

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

Thursday

Friday

  • @ctrl_alt_fest, a micro-festival dedicated to underground nightlife at Place du @villagemontreal, will bring together local artists, groups and organizations of the city's nightlife for 100% free shows.
  • Method Man and Redman will be playing at @olympiamontreal.
  • @chodemmtl, Montreal's Vietnamese cultural festival, is returning to Bassin Peel from July 18 to 21 with a large street food market and performances.
  • The Canadian Stone Carving Festival, a three-day festival of stone carvers from across Canada congregating to display skills and creativity, will be at Place Royale until July 21.

Saturday

Sunday


Love Montreal? Support our content!

You like The Main, right? Of course you do. So why not get exclusive access to dispatches from your favourite city by subscribing as a paid supporter?

You'll not only get complete access to everything we have to offer whenever you want it, but you'll also receive:

  • Early access to exclusive features and content
  • Special invites
  • A 10% discount on everything in our store
  • Being able to impress people by knowing more about Montreal than they do
  • Good vibes

There's a new smash burger in town with the arrival of pop-up @loosiesburgers's new permanent Mile End address. | Photograph: @mtl.inmyhand / Instagram

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.

Nostalgia on the menu

Bringing together proven expertise in creating and running local haunts in the city, partners in life and business Alexandre Cohen and Raegan Steinberg have created Romies, a contemporary American bistro in Old Montreal. (The Main)

Romies: Creating a contemporary American bistro with midcentury charm
Behind a heritage stone façade of Old Montreal, Romies reflects the warm, throwback ambiance of midcentury dining gems in the United States.

Montreal next-gen Korean chefs

Jongwook Lee and WonGoo Joun, two Seoul natives, have changed what Montreal knows about Korean cuisine with their restaurant 9 Tail Fox and its tapas-style approach that blends heritage with fine dining techniques. Here's where they like to go eat. (The Main)

Jongwook Lee & WonGoo Joun’s Favourite Restaurants in Montreal
These Montreal restaurants are where co-chefs of the modern Korean restaurant 9 Tail Fox, Jongwook Lee and WonGoo Joun, recommend going out to eat.

Let's go to the Dep

As a locally-focused cultural magazine, we're working with the people who help enrich our city's identity by showing us just how beautiful and creative it is.

That's why we created the Dépanneur, where you can support locals, keep cash in the community, and connect with the people who are creating amazing things (every purchase also helps to support our editorial content, too).

Right now, you can subscribe to our coffee program collaboration with Dreamy Café that's fueled by freshly-roasted Montreal brands, and shipped straight to your door every month. And if you're subscribed to The Main? You get 10% off!


upload in progress, 0

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

Montreal's backstage of daily local life

Spiraling staircases, a skyline penetrated by steeples, grandfathered neon signs, relics from Expo 67—the iconography of Montreal is often recognized in the built forms the city's amassed throughout history. But then there’s where Montrealers live, and how they live there: The ruelles vertes, or green alleyways. (The Main)

Ruelles vertes: On Montreal’s green alleyway labyrinth of culture, nature, and history
How Montreal’s maze of alleyways creates behind-the-scenes space for locals’ daily life in everything from culture and gardening to democratized public space.

🚲 A keystone in Montreal's cycling culture

Before the advent of Strava, Zwift and carbon wheels, there was Elio, an iconic figure in the Quebec cycling world. His influence on cycling in the region is immense, thanks to his contribution and dedication. This is his story. (Urbania)

Une étape du Tour de France chez Elio
Prendre l’espresso avec un pilier du cyclisme québécois.

Big Ben is back

The parking lot of a family-run Granby canteen lit up once more with its nine-metre neon man: Chez Ben on s'bour la bédaine, the local shop whose name roughly translates to "we stuff our bellies at Ben's," has become synonymous with the retro sign of a man eating a hotdog. Now the sign's back up. (CBC Montreal)

A business photographed in the dark, with a neon sign that reads "best poutine." On the right is a large sign in the figure of a man holding food.
Photograph: Charles Beaudoin/Radio-Canada

All art through the lens of drag

Since 2019, Afro Drag has showcased Black performers in a range of disciplines. One Montreal show however has become more than a platform for drag; it's a multidisciplinary performance to highlight forms of Black art that mainstream culture is known to borrow and even steal from all the time. (CBC Montreal)

A person with a big green wig and purple shimmery body suit stands on stage with other performers.
Image: Carlin Holmes

The grind to survive

Something to consider in Quebec's fight to preserve its language's primacy: Franco-Ontarians are working to preserve their own language due to the lack of systemic support. Recent political challenges have shown that their gains remain precarious, highlighting the ongoing need for vigilance and advocacy. (The Rover)

The Grind: A Franco-Ontarian’s Perspective on Minority Language Rights – The Rover
Not all linguistic minority communities face the same challenges.

🪑Nine Easy Pieces

Montreal has been de-industrializing for decades and relatively cheap rent, skilled labour and large post-industrial spaces have enabled a thriving arts scene. Here are nine indie designers working in a variety of styles. (Dezeen)

Nine Montreal independent design studios to follow in 2024
Furniture made from lobster traps and informed by metal music culture appear in this cross-section of independent design studios in Montreal, Canada.

OK, wtf

Smoking crack, taking cocaine or injecting fentanyl, safe from prosecution, is now possible in Quebec. Except that the Legault government has informed almost no one, not even the police. (Radio-Canada)

Drogues : Québec a déjudiciarisé sans informer les policiers
Fumer du crack ou s’injecter du fentanyl, à l’abri de poursuites judiciaires, est maintenant possible au Québec, en vertu d’une directive modifiée.

What's to come of a Saint-Henri landmark

Abandoned since 1989, the former Canada Malting factory was recently purchased by a developer who wants an ambitious real estate project there. The revitalization of the Saint-Henri district site, which is home to a famous pink cabin, may however take longer than expected, as the former owner is threatening to repossess the land. (Le Devoir)

Revitaliser la Canada Malting s’avère plus compliqué que prévu
Un conflit entre l’ancien et le nouveau propriétaire du bâtiment met en péril son redéveloppement.

The EMSB: A ‘radical’ group

Joe Ortona, the chair of the English Montreal School Board, recently made headlines when he pointed out that the EMSB is better at teaching French than the Quebec government. Education Ministry statistics seem to confirm his point. (Cult MTL)

How the English Montreal School Board is challenging the CAQ, from the media to the Supreme Court
An interview with English Montreal School Board Chair Joe Ortona, who is heading up the EMSB legal challenge against CAQ laws.

🎣 To the water!

Live music pulses through the air as Henry Leung, one of many urban fishers dropping a line into the Lachine Canal, casts a lure into murky waters at a site wedged between a noisy festival and the high-rises of Griffintown. (CTV News)

Despite an industrial past, Montreal’s Lachine Canal now a popular fishing spot
Live music pulses through the air as Henry Leung casts a lure into the murky waters of the Lachine Canal at a site wedged between a noisy festival and the high-rises of Montreal’s Griffintown neighbourhood.

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.

    We use cookies on our site.