The Music Never Stops at Montreal Jazz Fest by Shelley Seale

The Montreal Jazz Festival - the most famous music festival in the world - features 11 days of nonstop musical entertainment in the heart of downtown Montreal. Approximately 2.5 million people each year venture to this cosmopolitan Canadian destination to enjoy the festival’s 700-plus concerts, including 450 free outdoor performances. Three thousand artists from 30 countries perform, with sounds ranging from jazz and blues to Brazilian, African, reggae, contemporary and electronica. Recent years have seen such big names as Bob Dylan, Aretha Franklin and Steely Dan.

“It’s not only the best way to catch some of the world’s most renowned artists,” says publicist Hugo Leclerc, “but it is the best place to discover new musicians from the world over. We bring to Montreal a variety of music that people can’t find anywhere else; it’s the ideal destination for music lovers.”

The 25 stages and venues are all within a five-minute walk of each other, and the downtown location makes it easily accessible to visitors. A quadrant of blocks is closed to traffic during the festival, creating a cultural oasis of cafés and bistros, street performers, an art gallery and a separate play area for children.

The first Festival International de Jazz de Montreal was held at the 1967 World Fair site and proved a successful media event, attracting more than 12,000 spectators. Three decades later, it has become the largest jazz festival in the world, celebrating its 30th anniversary in 2009. The milestone will inaugurate the opening of two extraordinary new facilities: the Maison du Festival de Jazz, which will focus on music promotion and conserving the festival’s heritage, and the Place du Quartier des Spectacles, a revitalized site capable of holding larger crowds and providing a permanent Montreal tourist attraction.

Leclerc’s best advice is to order your festival tickets early. “Leonard Cohen’s three performances were sold out within a week, and Van Morrison’s 2007 concert sold out in 10 minutes,” he says.