What’s on in Montréal courtesy of Tourisme Montréal
EXPOS FEST
Montreal’s annual Expos Fest Celebrity Gala aims to raise $3 million by 2028 to support Le Pavillon Kat Demes at the Montréal Children’s Hospital. Thus far Expos Fest has raised $2.47 million.
Their 2026 edition will be held at the Embassy Plaza on April 25. Celebrity guests include iconic Expos skipper Felipe Alou, former Expos pitcher and National Baseball Hall of Fame inductee Randy Johnson – nicknamed “Big Unit” – as well as Montréal Canadiens icon Larry Robinson who was nicknamed “Big Bird” during his playing days.
Montreal’s annual Expos Fest Celebrity Gala Fundraiser will be held at the Embassy Plaza on April 25
“There is no real theme for our 2026 edition,” says Expos Fest founder and organizer Perry Giannias. “But I like “Think Big” with Big Unit and Big Bird!”
The Expos Fest online silent auction begins on April 11.
CLASSICAL MUSIC
Grammy-winning Orchestre symphonique de Montréal Conductor Emeritus Kent Nagano headlines “A German Requiem” by Kent Nagano (April 3 and 4), and the Orchestre Métropolitain presents German Waltzes and Latin Psalms with the Choeur Métropolitain (April 11). Both concerts at the Maison Symphonique.
The FILMharmonique Orchestra presents Star Wars: A New Hope – In Concert at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on April 10 and 11 (English with French subtitles).
THEATRE
The West End smash hit Bat Out of Hell: The Musical headlines Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier on April 5, featuring the music of Jim Steinman and Meat Loaf.
The Segal Centre for the Performing Arts presents Detroit: Music of the Motor City from Toronto’s Soulpepper Theatre, a high-energy celebration of the music that defined a city, from Motown to Hip Hop. Runs April 12 to May 3.
Statue of an Emperor on a Throne with a Portrait of Augustus, 1st c., Roman, Imperial Period, ancient: Pentelic marble; restored: white marble and one fragment of grey bardiglio marble, 164 x 51 x 101 cm. Torlonia Collection, Rome. © Fondazione Torlonia. Photo Lorenzo De Masi
Centaur Theatre Company closes its 57th season with the English-language world premiere of playwright Marie-Claude Verdier’s hard-hitting sci-fi drama Seeker which takes place in the year 2250 and follows a pair of exes hired by the US military to solve a mystery that could have consequences for all of humanity. Presented in partnership with Talisman Theatre from April 15 to May 3.
EXHIBITIONS
The Torlonia Collection: Masterpieces of Roman Sculpture exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts displays 58 life-like marble sculptures: Roman statues, busts, and sarcophagi; stunning bas-reliefs; mythological creatures; and striking portraits of gods and goddesses, emperors – including Marcus Aurelius, Hadrian and Commodus – and their wives. Runs to July 19.
FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT
The Harlem Globetrotters at Bell Centre (April 17) and Place Bell (April 18), Raffi brings his joyful children’s music to Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier (April 18 and 19 matinees), and Stars on Ice at Place Bell on April 30.
An evening with David Sedaris, America’s pre-eminent humourist and master storyteller will entertain at Théâtre Maisonneuve on April 7
CIRCUS ARTS
The 9th edition of the Montreal Clown Festival presents nine shows and cabarets in seven venues from April 10 to 18.
LITERATURE
Spend An Evening With David Sedaris – America’s pre-eminent humourist and master storyteller – at Théâtre Maisonneuve on April 7.
The Montrealer columnist and filmmaker Guy Rex Rodgers launches his explosive new book What We Choose to Forget – about the struggles of Anglophones, Allophones and other immigrants in Quebec – with a 5 à 7 in the Atrium of the Montreal Arts Council (1210 Sherbrooke East) near Sherbrooke Metro, opposite Parc Lafontaine, on April 16.
The 2026 edition of the Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival runs April 23 to 26 at the Hotel 10. Their online edition begins on April 13.
Montreal drag superstar Mona de Grenoble headlines her French-language touring show De la poudre aux yeux on April 22 and 23.
CINÉMA
The PARC AT MIDNIGHT cycle at the Cinéma du Parc offers nocturnal screenings in the great tradition of the famous rep-house “midnight movies” of the 70s. Films include Pink Flamingos by John Waters and starring drag icon Divine (April 3-5), the 1972 Jamaican classic The Harder They Come starring Jimmy Cliff (April 10-12), and Targets by Peter Bogdanovich and starring Boris Karloff (April 24-26).
The 42nd edition of the Festival international de cinéma Vues d’Afrique screens international features, documentaries and shorts by filmmakers from across Africa and the African diaspora, from April 2 to 11.
DRAG
Hilarious Montreal drag superstar Mona de Grenoble headlines her French-language touring show De la poudre aux yeux at Studio-Cabaret at Espace St-Denis on April 22 and 23.
Canadian rock icon Michel Pagliaro brings his Acoustic Saloon show to the Studio-Cabaret at Espace St-Denis on April 10
COMEDY
Comedy Superstar Nate Bargatze brings his Big Dumb Eyes World Tour to the Bell Centre on April 19.
POP MUSIC
Pop icon Lady Gaga headlines three nights at the Bell Centre (April 2-3-6), Canadian rock icon Michel Pagliaro brings his Acoustic Saloon show to the Studio-Cabaret at Espace St-Denis (April 10), British pop star RAYE at Place Bell (April 12), influential UK post-punk band The Chameleons at Théâtre Fairmount (April 13), Florence + The Machine returns to the Bell Centre (April 15), beloved Montreal heartland rockers Sam Roberts Band at the Olympia Theatre (April 24), British singer-songwriter Calum Scott two nights at MTELUS (April 26 and 28), and legendary Canadian heavy metal band Anvil rocks the iconic Foufounes Électriques (April 30).
Dubbed “Mr. Montreal” by the CBC, arts and culture journalist and columnist Richard “Bugs” Burnett knows Montreal like a drag queen knows a cosmetics counter.