Nightlife Scene

With a reputation for wild nights, Montreal is a major party destination, especially for American tourists looking to benefit from the lower drinking age (18 years of age). The number of festivals and sporting events in the city has also meant that an entire industry has sprung up around taking care of those who come to the city specifically to get down.
Montreal nightlife can be divided up into a few different flavors. There is the bar scene, the club scene, and the after-hours / underground scene.

The Bar Scene

Montreal has two ‘main drags’ when it comes to checking out the bars downtown. The first, and most commercial is on Crescent street, specifically the section which starts on Sherbrooke street and bisects De Maisonneuve and St Catherines, ending at Rene Levesque. Some of the more famous nightclubs and bars on this street include Sir Winston Churchill, Brutopia, Newtown, the Hard Rock Café and Hurley’s. During the F1 race in June of each year, Crescent street is closed to vehicle traffic and hosts the F1 Street Festival, which lasts almost a week. Each night is sponsored by a particular manufacturer and many exotic and race cars are put on display.

The Club Scene

A more hipster-oriented stretch of nightlife runs up St. Laurent Boulevard, starting at Sherbrooke street and heading north for many blocks. Also known as ‘The Main’, this part of St. Laurent is home to many restaurants, lounges and small concert venues, as well as the pedestrian mall on Prince Arthur street just off the boulevard. Clubs and bars like the Academy Lounge, Diablo, Jupiter Room, Club Soda, Sala Rosa and Barfly are notable.

St. Catherines street also has a few interesting hot spots scattered along its length. The most interesting of these is Foufounes Electrique, an ‘alternative’ nightclub and concert venue that takes its name from a naughty French term. The multi-level club has several interesting rooms and terraces and is very popular.

After-hours

Not everyone wants to go home at 3 am, the official closing time of any establishment serving alcohol in Montreal. Some people choose to dance until dawn, and many of them do it at Stereo, an after-hours club run by DJ David Morales. The club is specifically designed to provide an optimum audio experience for club goers, with a sprung dance floor and acoustically engineered wall and ceiling panels. It plays primarily house music and is located on St. Catherines street east.

For a more varied musical selection, you can also try Circus, and after-hours club located at the edge of Montreal’s Gay Village on St. Catherines. If your are looking for something a little more underground, you can check out one of the many rave parties that are held in Montreal on the weekends, featuring electronic music in the drum and base, trance and hardcore styles. The easiest way to find these parties is to look for flyers near an after-hours club, or go online and search for one of the many websites in the city devoted to the rave scene.