Things to do in Montréal this September 2025

Welcome to Montréal!

To enjoy the best the city has to offer during your stay in September, please don't think of yourself as a tourist, but as one of us. Whether you're here for a few days, a few weeks or a few years, we're counting on you to enjoy Montréal in a spirit of respect, responsibility and celebration!

Montréal’s famed festivals continue to entertain and delight throughout September, from the Labour Day weekend to the beginning of autumn. Throughout the city, car-free pedestrian streets are the place to be for outdoor festivals, shopping, socializing and dining — keep your eye out for gourmet food trucks, especially at the First Fridays gathering at the Olympic Stadium every first Friday of the month!

Explore the many free things to do this fall, which range from outdoor performances to

cultural festivals. See incredible street dance performances at the JOAT Festival international de street dance until September 1 in the Quartier des spectacles. 

From September 4 to 6, Palomosa Festival celebrates the diversity of lively music with a full schedule of pop, rock, R&B, Latin, and electronic acts on Parc Jean-Drapeau. 

Ariane Moffatt and the Quartier des spectacles Partnership invite everyone to a giant dodgeball tournament at Place des Festivals on Saturday, September 6, starting at 1:30 p.m. As part of Place aux jeux, the esplanade will be transformed into two life-sized playing fields where teams of 25 people will face off. The singer will be on site to join in and cheer on the players.

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The annual fun of Jackalope takes over Jacques Cartier Pier this year from September 12 to 14, uniting the excitement of skateboarding, bouldering, BASE jumping and breakdancing.

See incredible contemporary dance performances during Festival Quartiers Danses, from September 4 to 14 at Place des Arts. Get out on the open-air dancefloor yourself with professional dance instructors during TEMPÉO, Dance and Music Festival, on the Esplanade of Place des Arts from September 10 to 14.

Literary festival Le Festival international de la littérature (FIL) features readings, workshops, exhibitions and more from September 24 and to October 4 at Théâtre Outremont. Catch short, family-friendly alleyway performances during Le FAR Festival des arts de ruelle until September 7. And get the scoop on new fashion trends and runway looks at Montréal Fashion Week from September 23 to 30, with runway shows, shopping events, workshops and more.
All kinds of exceptionally great music, from indie-pop to classic soul, fills the city’s venues during POP Montréal International Music Festival, along with panel discussions, free kids activities, art shows, film screenings and more fun from September 24 to 28. MAPP_MTL, Montréal’s international projection mapping festival, presents lively, light-filled digital projections and musical performances from September 22 to 27.

The Montreal International Black Film Festival screens features and shorts from Québec, Canada and around the world, from September 24 to 29. From September 18 to 21, immerse yourself in the atmosphere of a real Western village in the heart of the Old Port at Festival Shériff, as you enjoy an authentic Southern culinary experience plus line dancing, country music, inflatables and a mechanical bull.

Electronic dance music takes over Parc Jean-Drapeau every weekend during the warm months at Piknic Éléctronik, when the whole family can spend the day dancing, eating from food trucks and generally basking in the sun. Speaking of family-friendly activities, head to SOS Labyrinthe in the Old Port to swing from the rafters — literally! The adventure sports site also puts on special activities throughout the season, including the popular Blackout nights every Thursday.

TO GET AROUND TOWN

To get where you’re going hassle-free, public transportation is the way to go. The STM has special offers on fares and a handy tool to plan your trip quickly and efficiently. You can also download the Transit and Chrono apps for up-to-the minute bus schedules. 

Passeport MTL

The easiest way to visit dozens of Montréal attractions, museums and more at a discount is by getting your own key to the city: Passeport MTL, whose special fall edition will help you experience the best of this colourful season.

September’s foodie adventures

On September 11, gather at the SAT to watch 20 of the world’s top baristas compete on stage to be crowned champion at The Barista League: North America competition. Come and see what “not your standard barista competition” is all about.

Get the last days out of the warm days and evenings at the city’s pop-up spaces, with urban oases like the Old Port’s Marché des Éclusiers restaurant and farmer’s market and major events like First Fridays, a food truck at the Esplanade at the Olympic Park. 

This month is a great chance to enjoy outdoor dining, be it on a sidewalk terrace (aka prime people-watching spots), a rooftop terrace, a hidden terrace or a green terrace. We challenge you to compare-and-contrast them all.

To fill up on fresh produce and local goods, explore the city’s beautiful public markets, including Jean-Talon Market in Little Italy and Atwater Market in Saint-Henri. Montréal’s smallest market, the Public Market of Lachine, in the southwest, also offers a great selection of products year-round to go with its quaint design.

Le vin dans les voiles is a natural, organic and biodynamic wine agency based in Montréal that offers fascinating wine tasting and educational events. Peruse the calendar here. The workshops happen in French, but hey — wine is a universal language!

Indulge in more incredible food at Montréal’s variety of restaurants, where there’s always something new and exciting to nosh on. Discover Montréal’s newest restaurants and buvettes, and don’t miss a classic Montréal brunch, whether you’re looking for elegance or comfort food. For some crowdsourced favourites, try Montréalers’ favourite lunch restaurants, from Old Montréal and downtown to Villeray or the South-West. Get a taste of long-time Quebec classics like smoked meat, poutine and Montréal bagels and keep on ticking the boxes on your must-eat list with these other musts for foodies in Montréal.

Explore superb restaurants and cafés along Beaubien Street in the Rosemont-La-Petit-Patrie neighbourhood (also where you’ll find Little Italy).

Downtown, explore the wide variety of excellent meals at gourmet food halls  including Time Out Market, Marché Artisans, Le Cathcart and Le Central — or venture out to the de la Savane metro station to explore Le Fou Fou in the huge and tawny Royalmount mall.
Get your caffeine fix at Montréal’s indie coffee shops — and why not snag some fresh-baked doughnuts to go with it! Add more sweetness to your life at Montréal’s best bakeries and pastry shops, best chocolate shops and candy shops.

Eat plant-based with our ultimate guide to vegan eating in Montréal or join the debate over who makes the best pizza in Montréal — or the best tacos. Warm up with authentic Japanese ramen and Vietnamese pho.

By night, discover the city’s 31 top cocktail bars, inventive Montréal microbreweries and late-night eats. Or mix Montréalesque cocktails at home with gin, vodka, rum and more specialty spirits from these Montréal specialty alcohol and spirit makers.

May is also an excellent month to have dinner and see a show at the Casino de Montréal: live music and cabaret shows will entertain you and your date while you enjoy incredible seafood and more on the grill at Le Montréal, a gourmet buffet at Pavillon 67, and quick delicious eats at L’Instant.

Canada’s biggest action sports festival is returning from September 12 to 14 at the Jacques Cartier Pier in the Old Port. JACKALOPE is the epitome of sports festivals, uniting a whole cultural scene every year to celebrate and amaze at the world’s most iconic athletes in a feverish mix of skateboarding, bouldering, BMX, breakdancing and more.

Watch some of the world’s best cyclists compete in the Grand Prix Cycliste de Montréal on September 14 in Mount Royal Park, and stop by the fans village in Parc Jeanne-Mance at the foot of Mount Royal.

Watch (or join!) the runners of the Marathon Beneva de Montréal on September 19 to 21. The start of the Sunday races is at Espace 67, in Parc Jean-Drapeau. 

If boats are more your jam, don’t miss the Salon du Bateau à Flots de Montréal boat show from September 25 to 28 in the Old Port.

For skateboarders, the Vans Skatepark on the Olympic Park Esplanade is the place to be — it’s also where you can try rock climbing at Nomad Bloc, and kids can play on the inflatable games of Îlots76. And, not quite a sport but definitely an adrenaline booster, La Ronde amusement park is open for another season of roller-coaster thrills under the sun.

Catch the Montréal Canadiens after the summer break as the NHL pre-season kicks off at the Bell Centre! Cheer on the CF Montréal soccer team at home at the Saputo Stadium throughout the month, the Roses MTL female soccer team at various locations, the Montréal Alliance basketball team at various locations and the Montréal Alouettes football team at the Percival Molson Memorial Stadium. You can also catch the Royal de Montréal team compete in the Ultimate Frisbee Association games at Complexe sportif Claude-Robillard. If you can’t make the games in person, watch all the soccer, football, basketball, MMA and more at Montréal’s sports bars.

The Grand Chelem Baseball Centre, located downtown, invites you to step up to the plate: whether you’re an elite player or a casual hitter, Grand Chelem offers baseball and softball training for all levels and any age. 

Make a splash before the end of the season with Rafting Montréal, where you can combine your love of water with your search for thrills and spills, or with EcoMaris, a non-profit, social enterprise dedicated to reconnecting humanity with the ocean aboard Québec’s first ever environmental sail training ship.

The fall season is in hyperdrive in museums and galleries around town, as they kick off their rentrée culturelle, so get the full low-down in our seasonal exhibition overview.

See the world’s best and most moving news photography at the World Press Photo Exhibition, presented at Marché Bonsecours in Old Montréal, running throughout the month.

At PHI, take in Lap-See Lam: Shadow Play, the artist’s first major exhibition, featuring 30 bold and subversive beaded sculptures, as well as Nico Williams: Bingo, two immersive installations inspired by Chinese folklore, both until September 14. And back by popular demand, the immersive exhibition The Horizon de Khufu brings the Great Pyramid of Giza to life as you walk through a virtual reality world, exploring the galleries and corridors to the tomb of the pharaoh Khufu, see the top of the pyramid and even sail on the Nile.

Visit the Montréal Museum of Fine Arts to enjoy a selection of exhibitions, including Berthe Weill, Art Dealer of the Parisian Avant-garde and Worlds of Wonder: The Surrealist Journey of Alan Glass.

At the Musée d’art contemporain de Montréal in Place Ville Marie, catch the fall exhibition In Praise of the Missing Image, starting on September 11. Part of the 19th edition of the MOMENTA Biennale d’art contemporain, it’s a group show that focuses on what escapes visibility, silences and gaps in individual and collective memory.

Go to Pointe-à-Callière, Montréal Archaeology and History Complex in Old Montréal for their exhibition Knights, showing throughout the month, bringing these legendary figures back to life through an exceptional selection of objects, including the collection of European weaponry and armour from the Stibbert Museum in Florence, Italy. Also on view throughout the month, Building Montréal is a testament to the men and women who shaped the city, from the past to the present. Explore Montréal’s history in this astonishing exhibition that offers a uniquely captivating and engaging experience.

You’ll also be near the kid-friendly Montréal Science Centre, where you can explore interactive exhibitions that investigate the scientific world, like the permanent exhibition Human: a voyage to the very heart of human evolution through a fully interactive and highly energetic environment.

The McCord Stewart Museum bridges past and present in its exhibitions, which throughout the month of September include Africa Fashion, opening on September 25, a travelling exhibition from the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, and one of the largest ever exhibitions dedicated to the creative energy of designers from across the African continent, from the 1960s to today.

Visit MEM – Centre des mémoires montréalaises, a cutting-edge museum dedicated to the voices of Montrealers presiding over the corner of Boulevard Saint-Laurent and Rue Sainte-Catherine. Until September 21 you can catch A Mile in My Shoes, an exhibition by the Empathy Museum featuring a re-imagined shoe shop where every pair of shoes has a story to tell, relayed in an audio portrait of a significant moment in the life of the shoes’ owner.

At the Montréal Planétarium, tickets to any of the shows gets you access to Rouge 2100: A Martian Adventure, an exhibition running throughout the month that offers a journey in five chapters and as many rooms, where we realistically imagine the first steps of a rare humans in 2100 on the fascinating red planet. A fantastic world that also questions the place of humans in our universe and the fragile balance that must be maintained if all species are to prosper.

Travel back in time as you tour the rooms of Château Ramezay and visit the historical site of Château Dufresne near the Olympic Stadium. The Musée des Hospitalières de l’Hôtel-Dieu de Montréal explores the history of medical care in Montréal with the exhibition Exploring a Hospital Heritage. (Don’t miss out on exploring the museum’s beautiful grounds, too, i.e. the Monastery Garden, which is beautiful in fall.)

Not far from the city, climb aboard railway cars, learn about the history of the railroad and explore miniature railways at the Exporail the Canadian Railway Museum.

Discover the vivid history and present of Québec ceramics at the Musée des métiers d’arts du Québec. And for another slice of Québec history, visit Montréal’s stunning churches and sacred sites.

Experience a massive immersive art experience in surround-sound and laser light at OASIS Immersion, where Root for Nature extrapolates on biodiversity in all its splendour.

Speaking of immersive experiences, the Fabulous FAB Exhibition is an all-around trippy space spanning three floors in the Centre Eaton de Montréal, where you can experience no less than 20 extraordinary worlds. See it to believe it.

And don’t forget Montréal’s plethora of small, independent art galleries, from Bradley Ertaskiran to Hugues Charbonneau, Galerie B-312, SBC Gallery and Ellephant downtown, Oboro and MAI in the Plateau, Centre Clark and Dazibao in Mile End, Galerie d’Outremont in Outremont and many, many others in every neighbourhood.

Montréal’s cultural calendar is packed this season, with entertainment for everyone on the city’s many stages.

Among the world-class theatre, dance, opera, circus and more gracing the city’s stages throughout September, you’ll find Hamilton: yes, Lin Manuel Miranda’s Hamilton! The epic saga of Alexander Hamilton, based on Ron Chernow’s acclaimed biography, is finally coming to the Montréal stage at Place des Arts’ Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier, until September 7. Set to a score that blends hip-hop, jazz, R&B and Broadway, Hamilton has had a profound impact on culture, politics and education, and it’s our turn to see why. 

The feel-good CHOIR! CHOIR! CHOIR! returns to Montréal after a hit appearance last year, which saw a packed-full Théâtre Maisonneuve audience stand, sway, laugh and sing their hearts out as one. 

Opera lovers, prepare for Mozart’s Don Giovanni, the brand new production by Opéra de Montréal presented at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier from September 27 to October 5. The music’s timelessness is on full display in this maelstrom of tragedy and dark comedy, seduction and self-destruction.

Following her previously sold-out tours, British comedian Sarah Millican returns to Montréal with her brand-new stand-up show: Late Bloomer. Catch it at Théâtre Maisonneuve on September 22. 

Until September 21 at the Segal Centre, Big Stuff is a rip-roaring two-person play starring Matt Baram and Naomi Snieckus that unpacks the emotional and absurd aspects of loss — from basement clutter to memories that linger.

Dance-wise, the Festival Quartiers Danses kicks off at Place des Arts’s Cinquième Salle on September 4 and presents cutting-edge contemporary dance by choreographers Barbara Diabo, Charles Brecard and Étienne Gagnon-Delorme of Les Grands Ballets Canadiens. Check all the rest of the goodies out at the fest, which runs until September 14 and this year 38 choreographers and companies from 5 countries.

From September 11 to 20, Grands Ballets presents Bella Figura at Théâtre Maisonneuve. The mixed bill brings together creations of rare intensity: Voluntaries by Glen Tetley, Fête sauvage by Hélène Blackburn, an excerpt of NEBE by Jérémy Galdeano and Věra Kvarčáková, and the titular Bella Figura by Jiří Kylián. Not to be missed.

On September 23 at Place des Arts’s Ciquième Salle, The City of Tales is an adaptation of a Persian dance-play that blends satire, symbolism and rhythmic storytelling to explore identity, self-alienation and the cost of pursuing societal status.

Live music in September

We’ve got the perfect overview of Montréal’s big, can’t-miss concerts in 2025 so you can plan your highlights of the year.

At Place des Arts, music shines throughout September with a Mexican Serenade on September 12 at Cinquième Salle, Italy’s Esteriore Brothers on September 16 at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier and Brazilian jazz by the great Hermeto Pascoal on September 18 at Cinquième Salle.

For classical music lovers, the month offers everything from Mahler, Joyce and Yannick on September 23 to Brahms & Dvořák on September 25 to 27 — see the full Place des Arts programming here.

At the Bell Centre this month, catch the Deftones with IDLES and The Barbarians of California on September 8, Falling in Reverse with Slaughter To Prevail, Hollywood Undead and Point North on September 11, Keith Urban with Chase Matthew, Alana Springsteen and Karley Scott Collins on September 19, Korn with Gojira and Loathe on September 20, $uicideboy$ with BONES, Night Lovell, Germ and Chetta on September 26, and Lorde with Blood Orange and The Japanese House on September 27.

You’ll find all sorts of fun music shows at MTELUS, including Jessie Murph on September 1, Dystinct on September 2, Berlioz on September 11, The Pogues on September 12, Wet Leg on September 13, Landmvrks on September 14, Our Last Night on September 16, Los Angeles Azules on September 17, Bruce Dickinson on September 18, SYML on September 19, Viagra Boys on September 22, Jok’Air on September 24, Steven Wilson on September 24 and 25, Tom Odell on September 29 and Sex Pistols on September 30.

The world’s best EDM artists come to New City Gas to get you moving. See the full programming here.

At the SAT this September, don’t miss Kybba on September 17 and Jacques Greene with NOSAJ THING on September18, among others. See the full programming here.

At Théâtre Fairmount in Mile End, catch Giggs on September 4, Two Lanes on September 5, DUCKWRTH on September 6, Morgan James on September 10, Foxwarren on September13, Autoheart on September 16, Peach PRC on September 19, SEXTILE + AUTOMATIC on September 23, múm on September 24, Blue Hawaii + Yunè Pinku on September 26 and Jadu Heart on September 27.

Groove to live soul, disco, jazz, funk, salsa, Cuban music Fridays and more at Le Balcon, where you can have dinner with a show, go dancing, and enjoy a gospel brunch on weekends.

Hear live jazz nightly at Montréal’s amazing jazz and blues clubs, like Diese Onze and Upstairs Jazz Bar & Grill. And go out dancing late into the night at Montréal’s dance clubs.

Indie venuesCasa del Popolo and Sala Rossa have chock-a-block full monthly programs featuring both local and visiting bands, which you can find here. Look here for the many live events at hole-in-the-wall Barfly. Same for Bar Le Ritz PDB, where there’s a show nearly every night. Explore the lineups at Le Ministère and Turbo Haüs, and follow L’Escogriffe on Facebook to stay on top of all their upcoming shows. L’Hémisphère Gauche, up in Little Italy, is packed with music lovers for their nightly shows, as is Quai des Brumes on the Plateau — it never takes a night off.