Lovely Montreal, recently named the UNESCO City of Design, is celebrating its 375th anniversary in 2017. A host of celebratory events are planned, among them The Walk of the Giants, a bespoke anniversary production starring the colossal marionettes of the Royal de Luxe Street Theatre Company. Other scheduled special events include the unveiling of Leonard Cohen: A Crack in Everything at the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art. The mammoth retrospective, created exclusively for the anniversary, will include a number of new, commissioned works by area and international artists who were creatively inspired by Cohen.

Other performances include The Wall Opera, the seminal concept album (and later film) by Roger Waters brought to the opera stage. Already recognized as a global leader in public art, Saint-Laurent Boulevard will become an even more impressive outdoor work of art during the Spade & Palacio Mural Tour. Throughout the celebrations the Jacques Cartier Bridge across the St. Lawrence River will be a-twinkle with light displays. Great views of the city can be enjoyed from the newly opened observation deck and interactive digital museum at Au Somme Place Ville-Marie. For an overview of the city’s fascinating history, the open-air Cité-Mémoire in the old quarter of the city tells Montreal’s tale via 25 video projections cast onto heritage buildings every evening from darkness until 11 p.m.