Coinciding with the emergence of foliage and fauna, Spring in Montreal also kicks off a celebration of fresh ideas, creativity, and collaboration, appropriately coined Montreal Digital Spring. Art and technology comes together in amazing ways, aimed at satiating tourists eager to plan their trips and highlighting the strengths of Montreal as a melting pot of various industries and the creative individuals that power them.
Last year, the event drew more than 500,000 visitors from all over the globe, and this year even more are anticipated across the over 150 activities planned. We’d recommend you see as many as you can while you’re visiting Montreal, but here are our top picks from this year’s Montreal Digital Spring.
Quartier des spectacles Lighting Plan
The Quartier des Spectacles and its luminous pathway serve as the heart of culture ascending on downtown Montreal. Along the path, festival-goers will find incredible video projections and artistic arrays of light along walkways and the surrounding architecture. Don’t miss the 21 Swings installation – a playful set of swings that each trigger a note to create a melody when used in unison.
Piknic Électronik
Located at an urban park just minutes from downtown Montreal, Piknic Électronik is an outdoor electronic music event with diverse programming that features top acts from Electronic music across over 20 individual events spanning from May 21st to September 24th.
Hackcité 375
To celebrate the 375th anniversary of Montreal, this collaborative event brings together teams to produce three digital interactive artworks.
C2 Montreal
This three-day immersive event brings together leaders in Commerce and Creativity to discuss industry trends and shape the future of business through talks, workshops, exhibits, keynotes, and more.
The Cinémathèque Québécoise Exhibit “Secrets et illusions”
The aptly named Secrets et Illusions showcases the magic of cinema, with a behind-the-scenes look at special effects and other “tricks” from the film industry that entertains us daily.
AURA
AURA transforms the Notre-Dame Basilica into a sonically and visually captivating luminous experience. The historic architecture combines with light and sound for a three-act multimedia sensory overload.
The screen mosaic at Place des Arts
In the Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme, a mosaic made up of 35 digital screens displays mixed contents including archive footage and personal videos. The idea is to give passerby and spectators attending performances at Place des Arts a chance to take a break between the different performance halls – offering a moment of decompression, like going through an airlock. The original design of the mosaic was created by the multimedia designer Éric Villeneuve (Multimédia Novalux).
Chromatic
Dedicated to professionals, this convergence of art, culture, and economy is comprised of a number of conferences, workshops, interactives, and meetings, all with the common goal of innovation and change.
#intersections vol. 5: Industry 4.0
#intersections VOL.5 : Industry 4.0 #intersections is a series of events combined with a networking platform that brings together actors of digital creativity and other industries around digital transformation issues. On June 6th, 4 experts from Montreal and Munich are invited to share their expertise on the topic of Industry 4.0 and how to build the digital enterprise.
Phi Centre’s Virtual Reality Garden
This installation puts a spotlight on Montreal-based virtual reality pioneers Felix & Paul Studios. Here, a powerful selection of seven of the studio’s cinematic VR experiences, including collaborations with Cirque du Soleil that provide a 360-degree view of four different performances. There is also a spotlight on the American White House, American Parks, and a bone-chilling Jurassic World experience.
SAT
The Society for Arts and Technology is a live creative lab for the curious creatives, seeking unconventional experiences. There, festival-goers will find familiar trends in digital technology applied to art and design in the most unexpected ways.
Cité Mémoire
Cité mémoire is a playful reenactment of the evolution of Montreal, demonstrated by characters loosely based on the historic figures that were integral to Montreal’s history.
To learn more about Montreal Digital Spring, click here.
