Skip to main content

Old Port of Montreal presents new attraction development opportunity in lively festival district

News
Igloofest old port montreal

Montreal’s festival culture attracts Canadian and international tourists all year round

In partnership with CBRE Ltd., The Old Port of Montréal (OPMC), a major tourism site in Canada, is arranging negotiated invitations to bid to refurbish or completely redevelop its Hangar 16 site. Located on Clock Tower Pier, Hangar 16 is a 42,000 SF waterfront parcel with a distinctly industrial character and infinite refurbishing or redevelopment potential.

The OPMC seeks to redevelop this parcel to capture new audiences and further drive this highly animated all-season recreation area.

A city and a site famous for festivities

Montreal is well-known as an international city attracting tourists and enchanting residents with world-class happenings and festivals. Every month features a new series of shows and events in tune with the seasons and the latest trends, and this year’s post-pandemic summer is no exception.

Montreal’s festival culture is famous for lighting up the city morning, noon and night and certain districts, like the Old Port of Montreal, are tried and true hotspots where tourists find blasts of culture and colours again and again, season after season.

Old Port Montreal

Montreal’s festival culture offers places like the Old Port of Montreal a steady stream of visitors year after year, coming from around the world, from the US, and from across the country.

Many come to know the city for its big-name, high-end events, like Cirque du Soleil, the Just for Laughs comedy festival, the Montreal International Jazz Festival, the Formula One Grand Prix, or the international fireworks competition series. More still come back for the hundreds of diverse indoor and outdoor festivals that animate the city and its festival sites.

The Old Port is one of the city’s most well-known festival-friendly sites and this year’s summer program includes some of the city’s most colourful cultural events, such as the Holi Festival of Colours, the Orientalys Festival where East meets West through food, music, dance, art, and culture, National Indigenous Peoples Day, and the AfroMonde Festival celebrating the diversity of African cultures as they exist around the world.

This year the site will also be home to foodie events like the Montreal Street Food Festival, the Grand PoutineFest (an ode to one of the province’s most famous and beloved dishes), and the special 10th edition of First Fridays rallying over 50 food trucks and renowned chefs, the largest gathering of its kind in Canada.

A celebrated hotspot welcoming millions of visitors

The Old Port features many repeat-visit activities that drive same-day, overnight, short-term, and permanent resident markets. Visitors are well served by a thriving ecosystem of accommodations, restaurants, shopping, and entertainment within walking distance along the riverside and easily accessible by the sector’s underground and street-level public transportation linked directly to the Montreal-Trudeau international airport.

harbour Old Port of Montreal

The site is also supported by an over 1,800-stall parking capacity, its own marina, the nearby international cruise terminal and Montreal Yacht Club, and is served by two major highways connecting the site to the famous Trans-Canada Highway as well as to its American neighbours just under an hour’s drive to the south.

Fun and fiery winter culture

Events change year to year making no two festival seasons alike. Visitors can count on fresh new programming to celebrate every season.

Wintertime in Montreal sets the stage for any number of thrilling activities that excite local residents and entice the curiosity of tourists. The Old Port’s skating rink welcomes a host of activities that feature live local DJs, outdoor karaoke, skating performances, and speed dating on Valentine’s Day.

It also offers rink-goers opportunities to curl up in cosy, outdoor lounge spaces. The Old Port has hosted ice canoe competitions as well as family ice fishing directly on the St. Lawrence. Every winter brings new surprises!

Originally the site of Montreal’s winter lights festival (Montréal en lumière), the Old Port now hosts Igloofest directly on-site, a world-famous electronic music festival including its popular snowsuit fashion competition. The site also lights up with a joyful winter wonderland vibe during the Old Port’s New Year’s Party.

Music, art, colour, culture

Nothing quite matches the excitement of spring at the Old Port as the days get longer and the sun comes out to play. This spring the Old Port was home to a field of tulips just in time for Mother’s Day. Other years have featured events like the Port Symphonies with composers and songwriters blending local steeple bells, ship horns, and locomotive whistles into unique musical scores. Innovation is always in full bloom!

As the heat warms up the city, the Old Port opens its quays to a diversity of international, new world, and next world cultures. On any given year, the site welcomes forward-looking visitors to events like the Start-Up Festival and has featured activities linked to contemporary art biennials, public art installations by up-and-coming artists, augmented reality tours, photo exhibitions, and photo contests.

This year it hosted activities from the 16th annual TransAmériques festival showcasing contemporary dance performances and a theatrical reading right on the Old Port’s urban beach.

Food and merriment

Summer at the Old Port also features delicious opportunities to explore and savour some of the latest and greatest from the world of foodies, in keeping with the city’s reputation for being a world-class dining destination.

food market old port of montreal

Previous years have featured events like an Asian night market, A Taste of the Caribbean, the Montreal Rib Fest, and a world beer exhibition. This year will feature the Montreal Street Food Festival, the Grand PoutineFest, and the First Fridays food truck event.

These food-lover events will all take place directly on the Old Port’s event platform right on Clock Tower Quay, a new event area designed with universal accessibility standards to better welcome visitors. The Old Port’s farmers’ market also attracts visitors looking to explore locally grown produce and enjoy delicious fare served by the riverside — a real favourite with the Airbnb crowd!

Fun and wonder

circus event old port of montreal

With the Cirque du Soleil’s summer home right on-site alongside the Montreal Science Centre, the Old Port site is also host to any number of exciting events in any given season. Streetside circus acts, a moon rock exhibition, the Copernicus satellite photo exhibition, and even a Guinness World Records event!

The site is also known for welcoming school groups and day camps that enjoy taking advantage of the site’s youth- and science-oriented activities, including those tied to the UN’s Women and Girls of Science events. And let’s not forget the yearly Canada Day festivities! The Old Port is the City of Montreal’s official festivity site for Canada Day where thousands gather for activities, military gun salutes, concerts, and fireworks too.

At the heart of the city’s festival circuit

Many of the city’s events and festivals make a point of parading near the Old Port to take advantage of its views and wide-open spaces and to tap into the over 6 million visitors it welcomes each year.

The site has seen the likes of the Lolë White Yoga Tour, any number of foot and bike races including the city’s yearly Tour de l’Île bike tour, the annual Montreal Marathon foot race, and this year will feature events of the World Triathlon Championship Series. At the end of the summer, the Old Port often hosts the Montreal In-Water Boat Show offering visitors and tourists a chance to board and explore all sorts of vessels, from leisure crafts to luxury yachts, directly in one of its basins.

Hangar 16 Old Port of Montreal

A veritable treasure trove of events and celebrations, every season is festival season at the Old Port making it an ideal location for new attractions looking to make a name for themselves in a thriving and exciting tourist destination.

Update: Applications for the tender are now closed.

Share this
charlotte coates

Charlotte Coates

Charlotte Coates is blooloop's editor. She is from Brighton, UK and previously worked as a librarian. She has a strong interest in arts, culture and information and graduated from the University of Sussex with a degree in English Literature. Charlotte can usually be found either with her head in a book or planning her next travel adventure.

More from this author

More from this author

Related content

Your web browser is out of date. Update your browser for more security, speed and the best experience on this site.

Find out how to update