Sunday, 24 February 2013

Fun in the cold

For a couple of weeks now there have been stage crews around Place des Arts. They were building something, but it wasn't clear at first. This Friday, I finally found out what was going on. There was yet another Montréal en Lumière festival. I was walking back from the comic book shop And heard a buch of music and saw some lights, so I though I'd pass by and check it out. The first thing I saw was that they had set up this laser machine that projected on a building wall. People would draw something and the laser projector would draw it up on the wall. That was pretty cool! I managed to shoot a video of someone writing a love message in Chinese.

Then again, a week later someone wrote this.
(It says: "we're looking for pot")

The night wasn't too cold and the snow wasn't all melting wet and gross all over. The area was all lit up with bright colourful lights everywhere. A couple of stages were set up where bands and DJs were playing music. Albeit, not really good music, but some people seemed to enjoy it and it made it all the more festive.





Some fireplaces were set up where people could huddle and warm up. Some of them even sold marshmallows on a stick that you could cook over the fire. That is super awesome! There were also some stands set up that sold alcohol in case you wanted to warm your guts with some liquor.


Further up Jeanne-Mance street, some heated futuristic plastic bubble domes were set up with bars in them where people could walk in, sit down, get their drink on and warm up while still be able to look at the pretty lights outside. There was also a ferris wheel in the back where you could hear the wussies screaming their heads off. Jesus, it's just a ferris wheel, not the super jumbo mega death roller coaster of ultimate doom 2000. Get a grip!




One thing that Montréal has been working a lot on is trying making the city visually more attractive. Especially around the new Quartier des spectacles (entertainment district - and by entertainment I'm not talking about hookers. Though the area used to be a popular spot for that kind of stuff) the city has been investing a lot in visual projections on buildings. I don't know if  you can see a little bit here in the video, not just the little projection on the white bubble dome, but also in the back on the UQAM college building in the back, what it looks like.


Finally, as I was heading towards the metro station, I had to walk on a little overpass that goes over lit up ice slide where people were just zooming by on little plastic sleds. That looked like a lot of fun! This little festival was pretty cool and apart from the booze that they sold on the site, they also had a bunch of cool little activities and also the traditional maple taffee on snow which is perfect for kids.


Montreal always has a festival almost for every season. In the summer, they even overlap each other because of how many there are. This city is great for that. And this little festival they set up really helps light up the mood at a time when people are getting completely sick of winter.

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