The story
Montreal en Lumiere in Montreal
Light installations, an ice slide and a zip line turn Place des Festivals into a cold-weather playground each February for Montreal en Lumiere, paired with a gastronomy program built around visiting international chefs. Launched at the turn of the millennium by the same organizers behind the city's jazz festival, its signature Nuit Blanche night extends museums and galleries into all-night hours alongside free late-night transit.
Montreal built a winter festival around the idea that the coldest months deserve their own spectacle rather than a season to endure indoors, and Montreal en Lumiere, launched at the turn of the millennium by the same L'Equipe Spectra team behind the city's jazz festival, has spent more than two decades filling late February and early March with light installations, outdoor activities and a gastronomy program built around visiting international chefs.