Explore cutting-edge sights and sounds at MUTEK
Music Festivals and events
MUTEK has long been one of Montréal’s most forward-looking festivals, marking a high point in a packed summer calendar. Back for its 26th edition, MUTEK’s trend-setting blend of innovative electronic music, groundbreaking visual experiences and peeks behind the curtain at the most cutting-edge tech in arts always guarantees a mind-expanding late-summer experience. Featuring an international roster of artists, MUTEK takes it to the dance floor and the art gallery in equal measure, with many parties and performances entirely free of charge.
An eye-popping program
Running from August 19 to 24, 2025, MUTEK’s 2025 edition—subtitled 2025, A New Cycle—showcases the electronic avant garde at some of Montréal’s most innovative venues. With the Esplanade Tranquille as a home base featuring many free live performances, MUTEK’s programming features 80 live performances by an international cast of luminaries and game changing upstarts, immersive experiences and a head-spinning array of digital expression. The MUTEK Forum, running August 20 to 22, 2025 brings together the digital arts world in a buzzing network of artists, curators, tech professionals and researchers. MUTEK also fosters new creations through its MUTEK AI Ecologies Lab, drawn from applications from across Canada. With mentoring, support and space to create, the resulting projects are all presented as part of MUTEK’s programming.
The festival’s marquee events include a mouth-watering array of musical experiences, from DJ sets to noise shows, contemporary composition to breakbeats. This year’s lineup includes Speedy J, Ida Toninato & Pierre-Luc Lecours, L M O, Thisquietarmy & Mothrspace, Phèdre, Ouri, Yu Su, James Holden & Waclaw Zimpel, Gayance, Cassy, Nicola Cruz, upsammy & Valentina Magaletti, aria and many, many more. Find the full festival program, along with listening links and further information here.
MUTEK takes it to the dance floor and the art gallery in equal measure, with many parties and performances entirely free
Sound + Vision
Utilizing the latest and greatest in live performance technology, MUTEK’s program always includes performances where the visual takes on as big of a role as the audio it’s there to accompany. This year, artists like Ash Fire, Gadi Sassoon & Portrait XO feat. 555n, Guillaume Côté, i+eo, K-Phi-A and Motia & Nait Saves will all present sets sure to keep audiences talking for months afterwards. UK artist Max Cooper will also present his newest project Lattice 3D/AV (alongside his new album On Being) with an epic show at Théatre Maisonneuve at Place des Arts on August 21, 2025 featuring lasers, projections, sound and dynamic technologies.
Immersive environments
MUTEK has long also acted as a springboard for new digital arts projects, and the 2025 edition includes the Canadian premiere of Keon Ju Maverick Lee and Pinyao Liu’s ReVerie: Sense. Allowing viewers to participate directly by whispering dreams into a specially programmed AI system, ReVerie creates a one-of-a-kind environment through voice, image and machine learning.
Bringing the electronic outdoors
Besides nightly free programming at Esplanade Tranquille, MUTEK 2025 also transforms the Quartier des Spectacles into the MUTEK Village Numérique from August 14 to 28, 2025. With a series of indoor and outdoor installations, festival-goers can experience an unforgettable self-guided wander through a series of state-of-the-art digital art pieces. MUTEK 2025 also marks the festival’s first time presenting an intriguing triple-bill show at the outdoor Théâtre de Verdure in the heart of Parc La Fontaine featuring Guillaume Coutu Dumont & Line Katcho, Ouri and The Bionic Harpist & Techno Para Dos on August 20, 2025.
Ahead of the curve
Each year, MUTEK offers playlists on both Spotify and Soundcloud featuring festival performers both known and newly discovered. And those looking for an even deeper dive into the world of MUTEK need look no further than virtual.mutek.org, stuffed with interviews, recordings and digital documentation from the organization’s international operations in Mexico, Dubai, Barcelona and its home city of Montréal.
Mark Hamilton
Mark Hamilton is the community director for QueerMTL, an internationally-touring musician with his projects Woodpigeon and Frontperson and a graduate studies student of history researching LGBTQ+ activism in the city. He’s lived in Montréal since 2015, during which time he’s most often spotted atop a BIXI bike usally running a few minutes late.