Content

SPRING 2018 IN THE QUARTIER DES SPECTACLES: NEW PROGRAMMING STARTS APRIL 9

Media note | For immediate release

Montreal, March 9, 2018 - This spring, come to the Quartier des Spectacles for the best of the season: the return of 21 Balançoires/21 Swings, giant chess and free guided walking tours of the Quartier, as well as the return of Les Jardins Gamelin. There are also new features this year, with Our DNA by Patrick Bérubé presented on the Promenade des Artistes and a very special event for cyclists, Mouvements libres, a unique collective ephemeral artwork on May 25!

21 BALANÇOIRES/21 SWINGS: APRIL 9 TO MAY 27

The return of 21 Balançoires/21 Swings for its eighth season on the Promenade des Artistes is the surest sign that spring has returned to the Quartier des Spectacles! This interactive installation is part street furniture and part game; Montrealers and visitors amuse themselves day and night with a unique cooperative musical experience. A musical note plays with every movement of each swing, creating melodies that delight kids and adults alike!

PATRICK BÉRUBÉ, OUR DNA: APRIL 9 TO MAY 27

First presented as part of last year's KM³ public art walk, Our DNA (Notre ADN) by Montreal artist Patrick Bérubé returns to the Promenade des Artistes. The immense spiral staircase - a Montreal urban icon - embodies the neighbourly, relaxed culture of the city's back alleys.

PROMENADE DES ARTISTES, APRIL 9 TO MAY 27, 2018

21 Balançoires/21 Swings
Sunday to Wednesday: 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.
Thursday to Saturday: 10 a.m. to midnight

A work by Daily tous les jours (Mouna Andraos and Melissa Mongiat)
Developed with the participation of Luc-Alain Giraldeau, professor in the UQAM Faculty of Science
Music design: Radwan Ghazi Moumneh
A production of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership
+ information

Patrick Bérubé, Our DNA
A work by Patrick Bérubé (Montreal, Canada)
A production of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership
+ information

MORE SPACE FOR PEDESTRIANS AND THE RETURN OF GIANT CHESS: MAY 3 TO SEPTEMBER 9

The Quartier's visitors and residents will have more of Sainte-Catherine Street to enjoy, with the return of the pedestrian zone between De Bleury Street and Saint-Laurent Boulevard. Up for a game? Try out one of the giant chessboards!

Starting May 3, a fun new layout comes to Sainte-Catherine St. and the Place des Festivals, where local workers will appreciate the chance to have lunch outside in the sunshine or bask in the fountain's cool mist. Details to follow.

SAINTE-CATHERINE ST. PEDESTRIAN ZONE

May 3 to September 9, 2018 Between De Bleury and Saint-Laurent + information

GIANT CHESS

May 3 to 27 and August 2 to September 3, 2018 Noon to 8 p.m., on Sainte-Catherine between Clark and Saint-Laurent
+ information

GUIDED WALKING TOURS OF THE QUARTIER DES SPECTACLES: MAY 3 TO OCTOBER 8

Montrealers and visitors alike can learn all about the city's cultural heart thanks to the Quartier's free, two-hour guided walking tours. Led by graduates of the Institut de tourisme et d'hôtellerie du Québec (ITHQ), the walks bring the district's vibrant history to life and reveal little-known facts about the luminous pathway, the Quartier's public spaces and some of the city's iconic venues, including Place des Arts and the Monument-National.

FREE GUIDED WALKING TOURS OF THE QUARTIER DES SPECTACLES
Recommended by TripAdvisor

May 3 to October 8, 2018
Departure: Place des Festivals, corner of Balmoral and Sainte-Catherine West
Duration: 2 hours
French: Thursdays at 5:30 p.m. and Sundays at 10 a.m.
English: Saturdays at 4 p.m. and Tuesdays in July (3, 10, 17, 24, 31) at 5:30 p.m.

Registration will open in April.
Private group tours can be organized on request.
Information: visite@quartierdesspectacles.com - 514-879-0009 ext. 232 (weekdays only)
+ information

LES JARDINS GAMELIN: MAY 17 TO SEPTEMBER 30

Much to the delight of Montrealers, Les Jardins Gamelin will be back for a fourth season, starting with a grand opening on the evening of May 17. Having quickly become a favourite gathering place for friends and families, the Jardins will once again have a varied line-up of entertainment and activities, from dancing to concerts of all kinds, seven days a week. The snack bar and its warmly lit patio will host local students and workers for lively happy hours, with music provided by the Jardins' DJs.

The Sentier urbain organization will also be back to look after the green side of the Jardins and do outreach work through workshops and community involvement in its urban agriculture projects. Lastly, Janet Echelman's emblematic suspended sculpture, 1.26, returns to brighten the sky over the Jardins until September 30.

LES JARDINS GAMELIN

May 17 to September 30, 2018
7 days a week until 11 p.m.
Place Émilie-Gamelin

Grand opening, all welcome: May 17, 2018
A production of the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership
+ information

MOUVEMENTS LIBRES: MAY 25

Cyclists, from casual riders to all-season commuters, are invited to be part of a unique experience: Mouvements libres, an ephemeral group artwork to be created in the streets of the Quartier des Spectacles. Thanks to the AgitPOV - a small device that displays a word of the rider's choice on their bike wheel - participants will be part of a mobile textual performance and roving artwork.

The experience is based on Bike Wheel, a sculpture by Alexandre Castonguay presented in front of the Grande Bibliothèque de Montréal as part of KM3 (August 30 to October 15, 2017). Mouvements libres is produced by François Bernier in collaboration with the Quartier des Spectacles Partnership.