Updated April 17, 2010

Montreal is a city at the mercy of an extreme climate. Whipped in winter by blizzards, it suddenly emerges after a short and unpredictable spring to a glorious and green-golden summer. Short but intense, Montreal's summer is loaded with exciting, interesting activities for locals and visitors alike.

For starters, here's the city's official summer activities page.

montreal.com also has a growing collection of files on major city and nature parks.

Mass physical events

The Féria du vélo takes place early June: the Tour la nuit takes place June 4 and the Tour de l'Île takes place June 6. Cyclists who sign up before April 19 get a discount.

The Montreal Marathon takes place September 5.

Bixi bicycles will be available from April 20 onwards. A year's subscription to the Bixi service will cost $68 tax inclusive until May 15.

Special soccer games with the Impact

Montreal's soccer team the Impact will be playing games throughout the summer, but most particularly will host visits from ACF Fiorentina on May 23, and from AC Milan for a friendly match on June 2 at the Olympic Stadium.

Canadian football with the Alouettes

The Alouettes play exhibition games June 13 and 19 and then the season proper begins on July 1. Tickets and info on the official site.

Grand Prix weekend, June 11-13

The Canadian Grand Prix has returned to Montreal after the absence of a year, bringing with it the first big blowout of the summer, not only a car race but 72 hours of club parties, street fairs, fashion parades, displays of vintage cars and, traditionally, the arrival in town of glamorous jet-setters who follow the Formula One schedule and its attendant scene.

Fireworks competition

The International des feux Loto-Québec is a major international fireworks competition that takes place on various evenings from June 12 to August 14 at La Ronde, on an island in the midst of the St. Lawrence River.

Although tickets can be bought for seats with a close view of the action and its accompanying music, it's a long-standing tradition in Montreal to walk up onto Jacques-Cartier bridge, find a spot on Île Sainte-Hélène, or simply stroll down to the eastern part of the waterfront to get a look at the display. Some folks even take a river cruise to get a better view.

Rain or shine, the shows begin at 10 p.m. Like last year, all the shows are on Saturday nights:
June 12: Taiwan
June 19: Italy
June 26: Poland
July 3: Portugal
July 10: Homage to Céline Dion
July 17: U.S.A.
July 24: Canada
July 31: Sweden
August 7: France
August 14: Closing show

To get to the bridge, take the metro to Papineau station. Chances are that on a fireworks night you'll only have to follow the crowd up Papineau for a couple of short blocks and then onto the bridge access, which looms directly over that part of town. The bridge is closed to traffic for at least an hour before and after the display. Note that there are no services, such as bathrooms, once you're on the bridge, although sometimes you can buy a popsicle or a bottle of water from itinerant sellers. Instructions for getting onto the islands follow.

Parc Jean-Drapeau (the Expo islands)

To get onto the islands, just take the metro to Jean-Drapeau. The island park is well worth a look around: site of Expo 67, Montreal's unforgotten world's fair, they still contain interesting buildings, sculptures, natural landscaping, the casino, vintage military installations, and also offer beautiful views of the cityscape. There is also plenty of paid parking: you can access the islands from Jacques-Cartier bridge, following the signs.

The islands offer:

Art and museums this summer

The summer art season always begins with Museums Day at the end of May, this year on May 30, during which most of the city's museums are free and there are free bus circuits making it easy to get from one to another.

The Montreal Museum of Fine Arts will be doing a show called We Want Miles from April 30 to August 29, a tribute to Miles Davis. Access to the museum's permanent collection is always free.

The Musée d'art contemporain is doing a big show of Quebec art giant Borduas to mark the 50th anniversary of his death.

The Canadian Centre for Architecture has a show called Other Space Odysseys which uses space travel as a springboard for various kinds of architecture and sculpture.

Shows under the stars

Repercussion Theatre is in its 22nd summer, and is producing Romeo and Juliet through August this year in parks around the city. The shows are done for donations.

A sequence of various kinds of shows takes place at Lafontaine Park's Theatre de Verdure throughout the summer. These shows are free.

Two national days, a week apart

Montrealers begin the high days of summer with the one-two punch of Quebec's Fête nationale (June 24, also commonly still called Fête de la Saint-Jean) and Canada Day (July 1, also the day on which many Montrealers end their apartment leases and move house). Both days are accompanied by parades, concerts and other festivities, although the June 24 holiday (and, more particularly, its eve) is the bigger popular event with many local outdoor parties in neighbourhood parks.

Jazz, comedy and francophone music

The three big street festivals that rock Montreal into the summer are Les FrancoFolies, a festival of French-language music and concerts (June 9-19), the jazz festival (June 25-July 6) and the Just For Laughs comedy festival (July 2-25, with the street fair portion to begin on July 15). All of these offer big name concerts plus a barrage of free street entertainment and people watching.

There are many more summer festivals in Montreal – please see our festivals page.

On the water

Throughout the summer, it's possible to hop on a boat and cross the river, take a whitewater ride or go for a river tour. The Navettes fluviales runs navettes from the Old Port to Île Sainte-Hélène and Longueuil from May 17 to mid-October on which you can bring a bicycle. Navark has special boat tours during the fireworks festival, runs a navette from east-end Promenade Bellerive over to the Îles de Boucherville provincial park and another from Lachine to Chateauguay, starting in June.

Croisières AML also has fireworks cruises, dinner cruises and trips downriver to Quebec and Charlevoix. And there's rafting and jet-boating on the rougher parts of the river.