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Hitting the Streets for Montreal’s Mural Festival

Talk about great timing! I was going to be in Montreal in time for the kick off to the annual Mural Festival. And you know how much I love murals.

Every time I travel to a new city, I try to go on a hunt for that cities’ murals, be it San Francisco, Berlin, Munich, Düsseldorf, and London. Every year I get out to see Vancouver’s murals too.

But props must be given to Montreal for founding the original mural festival in 2013.

Located on Saint Laurent Boulevard, Sherbrook Street, Mont Royal Avenue and alleyways in between, checking out the festival is not only a great way to see the artwork, but to get a lay of the land as a visitor.

This year’s mural festival was extra special because it was the first full festival since COVID-19 began. And it was headlined by none other than Shepard Fairey, the urban artist best known for his “Hope” poster, created for Barack Obama during his electoral campaign.

Him and his Obey team were unveiling a mural in his signature art style. It was funny because I was looking all around for it with no success. It didn’t dawn on me to look WAY up until I came across people walking up the street, opposite direction I was going, and pointing at what looked to be towards the sky.

There on the side of the building at the Mural Festival’s event zone (3527 St Laurent Street), was this towering and absolutely stunning piece called “Paix et Justice” (Peace and Justice). It’s quite mind-boggling that it took all but 2 days to complete!

Here are some more awesome murals and murals in progress that I came across:

And everywhere you looked, there were pop up stores, workshops, concerts, and A/R exhibits and ton of outdoor dining. Much excitement. Blazing hot too, but a fun afternoon. Hooray for urban art!