Dreaming of visiting Rio de Janeiro or Trinidad and Tobago during Carnival season? Street parties sure look like a lot of fun, with their sea of colorful costumes and cacophonous riot of music. Well, the wait is over: Montreal is getting its own this weekend!
Organized as part of the AfroMonde festival, this free carnival is a local celebration of world cultures. The highlight of the event is a parade of traditional clothing, music and dance that takes place in the Old Port on August 28 at 2 p.m.
Wherever you’re from, you’re welcome to participate, organizers say.
“Living and working in Montreal, we can easily forget where we come from.” Agnès Moume founded the AfroMonde festival in 2009 to address the lack of cultural events aimed at children of immigrants. “Thanks to immigration, we now have a lot of Afro-Kébecers who were born here, like some of the generations before them. AfroMonde is simply a celebration of diversity among the population of Montreal,” she says.
Registered Carnaval participants will gather in their costumes at Clock Tower Beach. From there, the colorful crowd will make their way to the festival’s main stage where the festivities will continue until 11 p.m.
Festival goers are expected to hit the dance floors with world flags. You can expect artists such as Saya Percussion, Shakky, Natural Fyah, Kayla Allen, Adan De Dios, Mello G and more.
If you can’t make it to Carnival, AfroMonde’s schedule includes plenty of other free activities from August 25 to 28.
Registration for the Carnival is online. Get the details below.
AfroMonde Carnival
Cost: Free
When: August 28 at 2:00 p.m
Where: Clock Quay, Old Port of Montreal
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