Friday on My Mind is a highly subjective, curated rundown of five of the cooler things happening in Montreal during the weekend.
Mural Festival
All weekend on St-Laurent Blvd. above Sherbrooke St.
Murals have become a big deal in Montreal over the past 15 years or so, and one of the more happening mural collectives splashing their eye-popping work on the city’s walls over that period has been Projet Tyxna. I met up with the three members of the group — Fuse, Zek and Dodo-ose — in the parking lot just north of Moog Audio on St-Laurent Blvd., where they were busy working on a new piece as part of the Mural Festival. The fest continues through June 14.
Projet Tyxna’s Fuse works on a creation for this year’s edition of the Mural Festival on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
Fuse and Zek grew up within streets of where they were working and have known each other since they were toddlers in the lower Plateau. They became graphers, or graffiti artists, as teenagers and they’ve grown up with the art form, making the leap with many others from illegally spraying paint on walls to doing it legally as mural artists.
“People understand it more now because street art has become popular,” said Fuse. “So there is more openness from people to this culture now.”
Muralists Zek, left, and Dodo-ose from Projet Tyxna use a VR headset while sketching the line work for their new mural on St-Laurent Blvd. in Montreal on Thursday, May 28, 2026. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
They remember starting out doing murals on buildings near the old MusiquePlus studios on Ste-Catherine St. E., and that led to doing murals inside nearby bars, like Foufounes Électriques. Twenty years later, it’s a big business here, even a tourist attraction. Think about it: That giant Leonard Cohen mural has become one of the symbols of Montreal.
“It’s hard to find a wall in Montreal today,” said Zek.
“It’s hard to find a wall in Montreal today,” says Projet Tyxna’s Zek, right, working on a new creation with Fuse on Wednesday, June 3, 2026. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
Projet Tyxna’s most famous mural is Mémé la Main, a giant portrait of a rather wacky grandma wielding a spray-paint can, plastered on the wall of a building at the southeast corner of St-Laurent Blvd. and des Pins Ave. They originally painted it 13 years ago at that same location for the very first edition of the Mural Festival, and then completely redid it in 2023.
That mural represents the spirit of St-Laurent Blvd., said Fuse.
“St-Laurent represents the mix of all of the different cultures,” he said. “The mix of all the new people arriving in Montreal — it could be Italian or Portuguese or Chinese. Culturally, you have on this street punk, hip-hop, metal, electro.”
“Mémé has been around, she has the knowledge, but she’s also cool, in the sense that here she is in 2026 doing graffiti with the kids,” said Zek.
Fuse said the character is partly inspired by his grandmother Giselle.
“She was born around here, she used to go to Warshaw’s and she was open to people from different places,” said Fuse. “If you live on this street, the street colours your personality.”
Projet Tyxna’s work for this year’s Mural Festival is inspired by the video game Dead by Daylight. Evan Buhler / Montreal Gazette
The mural they’re currently working on for the Mural Festival is a great example of how today’s mural scene mixes street art with big business. It’s based on the popular video game Dead by Daylight and the festival asked Projet Tyxna to create it. The horror-themed video game, produced by Behaviour Interactive, is centred on a killer and those who survive the killing spree. But the guys from Projet Tyxna chose to shy away from the violent side of the game.
“We wanted to make it more mysterious than horror,” said Fuse. “It is two people being chased. It’s like a thriller.”
They will be holding a free, open-to-the-public block party on Saturday, June 13 from 3 to 10 p.m. in the parking lot by the mural on St-Laurent Blvd. just south of St-Cuthbert St. There will be a DJ and projections on the wall.
Information on the Mural Festival: muralfestival.com
Augusta Wind co-hosts the Fringe edition of the musical theatre show Broadway Babies. Montreal Fringe Festival
Broadway Babies: Fringe Edition
Friday at Club DD’s
This exuberant evening of wild musical theatre will be hosted by Augusta Wind, who starred in the MainLine Theatre production of The Rocky Horror Show, and Amy Blackmore, the executive and artistic director of MainLine Theatre and the Fringe Festival. This show is part of the Fringe and is the perfect example of everything that is so great about this indie Plateau-centric fest. It focuses on Broadway show tunes, but done in fun, edgy fashion. Yes, very Fringe.
Tickets at the door. Information: montrealfringe.ca
Kon-Fusion, “Montreal’s finest anarchist cumbia punk brigade,” launches a new album Friday. MTL Sauce Piquante
Kon-Fusion
Friday at Le Belmont
All you need to know is that this band is signed to MTL Sauce Piquante, a self-described “independent tropical punk rock record label,” and Kon-Fusion is, label co-founder Eli Levinson said, “Montreal’s finest anarchist cumbia punk brigade.” I mean, they might also be Montreal’s only anarchist cumbia punk brigade, but who am I to stress over that small detail?
They are launching their new album, Arriba de su Muro, and Levinson tells me “it is 10 tracks of rebellious rambunctious celebration, resilience, solidarity and resistance.”
Here is what you can expect Friday, according to the best-written email I’ve received this year: “A full-on Latin Punk Carnival complete with a piñata politician punching bag, great local bands including Mapuche electro singer Carmen Lienqueo, pirate rock and rollers Bad Uncle and tropical punks Sonido Pesao, plus circus performances and more!”
Tickets: lebelmont.ca
Don Pyle
Friday at BBAM! Gallery
Don Pyle will be reading from his new memoir, Rough Description: Love Letters and Ghost Stories From a Life in Music, which chronicles his life and career, a wild ride that included playing drums in the genius ’80s Canadian instrumental band Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet and co-writing the theme music for the Kids in the Hall TV show.
Tickets: bbamgallery.com
Kevin Morby
Saturday at the Beanfield Theatre
If you know, you know. One of the best American songwriters currently plying that trade.
Tickets: evenko.ca
Editor’s Picks