Friday on My Mind is a highly subjective, curated rundown of five of the cooler things happening in Montreal during the weekend.<\/p>\n
\t\tMontreal Clown Festival\t<\/p>\n
All weekend at various venues<\/p>\n
You may not have realized that Montreal has a clown festival, but I\u2019m betting it doesn\u2019t surprise you that we have one. Of course we do. It\u2019s so Montreal \u2014 and I\u2019m not referring to the clowns who \u201corganize\u201d the festival of orange cones and construction sites on the city\u2019s streets.<\/p>\n
I\u2019m riffing on the idea that Montreal is arguably the biggest centre for circus culture in the world, with Cirque du Soleil of course but also plenty of smaller but equally happening outfits like Cirque \u00c9loize and Les 7 Doigts. With circuses come clowns, though nowadays these clowns are usually not the classic old-school ones with garish makeup and brightly coloured suits. Today a clown can sport a wide variety of looks, as long as it\u2019s not a straight banker\u2019s suit.<\/p>\n
Vanessa Rigaux, the artistic and general director of the Montreal Clown Festival, said Montreal is the perfect place for such a festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s needed here because there are so many clowns that are actually living in this city,\u201d said Rigaux. \u201cYou can\u2019t name a clown necessarily when you see them on the street. You can name a circus artist who\u2019s going by on a unicycle. There are so many (clown) workshops happening. I can\u2019t believe it. It\u2019s supply and demand. There\u2019s that much demand for clown workshops.\u201d<\/p>\n
But why is there so much demand for clown workshops ici?<\/p>\n
\u201cI think Montreal is that kind of arts-magnet city. It\u2019s one of those cool factors and arts factors that draws all kinds of artists to the city, and Montreal is that kind of city,\u201d said Rigaux. \u201cIt\u2019s hard to define, but it\u2019s so special. It has those older French European traditions that we\u2019ve held on to. We converge all these different languages and cultures, and I think the clown lives in that area and the city just speaks to that. And it\u2019s not every city.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0410-city-col-kelly.jpg\")
Vanessa Rigaux (in purple), the artistic and general director of the Montreal Clown Festival, said this city is the perfect place for such an event. With her, from left: Jan Dutler, Coralie Lali Lala, Marie Corseri, Joe De Paul, Les Talons Fous (the two clowns in makeup), Fran\u00e7ois Blouin, Youmna Moacdieh and Benjamin Tremblay Carpentier. Dave Sidaway \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n
The ninth edition of the Montreal Clown Festival \u2014 which kicks off Friday and runs until April 18 \u2014 features 50 performers from Montreal and elsewhere, and it offers contemporary clown performances, physical theatre and absurdist theatre. Venues include Casa del Popolo, Maison de la culture Claude-L\u00e9veill\u00e9e and the Ges\u00f9; the latter is the site of the opening cabaret on Friday.<\/p>\n
There is a Clownf\u00e9rence, with discussions and workshops, and there is a panel on contemporary Bouffons (I\u2019ll let you make your own jokes here). Naturally there\u2019s also a show called Le Grand Imb\u00e9cile; \u201cit\u2019s totally ridiculous,\u201d quips Rigaux.<\/p>\n
Rigaux says you could describe most of those shows as Fringe Fest-style fare, noting that the festival started at the late, great MainLine Theatre on St-Laurent Blvd., the longtime epicentre of the Fringe Festival.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s still a very underground festival,\u201d said Rigaux. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be the next Cirque du Soleil.\u201d<\/p>\n
Tickets: mtlclownfest.com<\/a><\/p>\n \t\tGala Dynastie\t<\/p>\n Saturday at Th\u00e9\u00e2tre Maisonneuve of Place des Arts<\/p>\n Gala Dynastie, which celebrates its 10th anniversary this year, has switched formats this time around. Instead of a competition, it\u2019ll strictly be focused on paying homage to personalities from the local Black community. Some of the people in the spotlight include hip-hop pioneer Jenny Salgado, longtime CBC Radio columnist Duke Eatmon, film producer and director \u00c9ric Idriss-Kanago, poet Rodney Saint-\u00c9loi and seasoned TV executive Andr\u00e9 B\u00e9raud.<\/p>\n Tickets: galadynastie.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\tGerard Van Herk\t<\/p>\n Saturday at Foufounes \u00c9lectriques<\/p>\n Gerard Van Herk, co-founder of the legendary Montreal \u201980s indie band Deja Voodoo, plays one of his old haunts from back in the day, in a triple bill with headliners The Meteors and Bloodshot Bill. The Meteors are a psychobilly band from England that\u2019s been playing this punk-inflected rockabilly since 1980. Montreal\u2019s Bloodshot Bill has been perfecting what he calls \u201chonky tonk punk\u201d for over 25 years. Just because there aren\u2019t enough nifty musical genres mentioned here, let me add that Deja Voodoo invented sludgeabilly and that Van Herk currently plays music that may well have some echoes of his old band. He\u2019ll be on guitar and vocals with Bloodshot Bill on drums. Bloodshot Bill also will be delivering an opening set. Is this all clear? Let me put it more simply: This will be super cool, but be warned that there might be older people on stage and off.<\/p>\n Tickets: lepointdevente.com\/billets\/themeteors<\/a><\/p>\n \t\tFestival de la Voix\t<\/p>\n All weekend at various venues <\/p>\n This eclectic fest features all kinds of different styles, mostly in venues in the West Island. Linda Morrison brings her bluesy, jazzy music to St. Columba-by-the-Lake Church in Pointe-Claire, Saturday at 2 p.m. Persuasion pays tribute to Santana at the Lakeshore Unitarian Universalist Congregation in Lachine, Saturday at 8 p.m. Soprano Myriam Leblanc is at St. Veronicas Parish in Dorval, Sunday at 4 p.m. The festival continues through April 28.<\/p>\n Tickets: festivaldelavoix.com<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\tRaye\t<\/p>\n Sunday at Place Bell<\/p>\n British singer-songwriter Raye arrives in Laval hot on the heels of the release of her ultra-ambitious second album, This Music May Contain Hope, which features retro soul, spoken word, old-school jazz and even some house. Yes, fun, so this should be interesting.<\/p>\n Tickets: evenko.ca<\/a><\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0410-city-col-kelly-2.jpg\")
\u201cIt\u2019s still a very underground festival,\u201d said Vanessa Rigaux (in purple), the artistic and general director of the Montreal Clown Festival. \u201cI don\u2019t want to be the next Cirque du Soleil.\u201d Dave Sidaway \/ Montreal Gazette<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0410-kelly-2.jpeg\")
Persuasion pays tribute to Santana as part of Festival de la Voix. Photo: Festival de la Voix<\/p>\n