POP Montreal is a grass roots festival created and supported by people who love music and live performance. Founded in 2002 by Daniel Seligman, Noelle Sorbara, and Peter Rowan (who has since moved on down the 401), it has expanded in scope and vision every year, and will celebrate it's 9th anniversary from September 29th to October 3rd this fall.

Each year, the five-day festival presents more than 400 artists. Delivering a bold cross-section of art forms and events, the festival includes symposium discussions, artisan and visual art exhibitions, fashion shows, film screenings, and, of course, a few all-night parties. For musicians and artists, fans, curators, critics, record labels and industry, POP Montreal is the North American festival that provides a dynamic introduction to the next generation of musical talent and independent art forms.

The Mission

Pop Montreal remains firmly rooted in the ethic and aesthetics of the Montreal music community. Hyperbole aside, we truly believe that Montreal is a special place, populated by a lot of amazing people who adore music. And we know it’s an amazing place to have a five-day party.

We are committed to providing opportunities for independent musicians, promoters, fans, and creative minds all of types to participate in what we truly believe is a world class international event. We will never become a compromised showcase for formulaic and uninspiring acts and their big record execs. We’re more interested in being a curated event for truly unknown artists and forgotten legends that we feel deserve a unique platform. We will never offer an entire lineup of obvious flavor-of-the-year acts. You will see the occasional superstar and breakthrough act, but most of all Pop Montreal is where you will see the headliners of the future play to their first excited crowds at intimate venues. Pop is where you will see 90 year old crooners jamming with 20 year old wünderkinds.

We’re always looking for people to get involved. Grassroots means something that happens from the ground up. It means it’s not sketched out in focus groups and executed by marketing plans. It means you have an idea and you say, ‘who’s with me?’ and you make it happen. This is how Pop Montreal continues to grow. So if you want to be part of the greatest party in the world, get in touch.

The segments

Film Pop: Showcasing the latest in independent and underground cinema with 20+ films, Film Pop explores the vibrant intersection of movies and music. This unique series of screenings and special events creates ideal opportunities for niche exposure.

Puces Pop: With over 100 taste-making presenters, this two-day curated fair presents a wide spectrum of quality independent cultural entrepreneurs from zine makers, record labels, fashion designers and more. It also features unique events and workshops (stenciling your own t-shirts, dance troops and more).

Art Pop: Through a dozen curated gallery exhibitions, numerous interdisciplinary performances and a silent art auction, Art Pop brings together the musical and visual arts, highlighting the vital role each plays in popular culture.

Symposium: This series of conferences and workshops represent one of the greatest public manifestations of reflexion on the subjects of art, culture and music in Montreal.

Kids Pop: This new segment features loads of all-ages activities aimed at sharing artistic practices across the generations.

Other Pop Montreal events outside of the festival

-Pop-Off Tours: Spring promotion tours in Canada, East Coast USA and beyond!

-Drakes Series: A quarterly curated POP series at Toronto’s fanciest boutique hotel stage.

-Fringe Pop: A 10 day feature outdoor stage at Montreal’s St-Ambroise Fringe Fest.

-Showcases: “POP presents” at select international events. Official POP Showcase at SXSW2008

-Frénésie de la Main: For pedestrians at the annual St. Laurent Street Fair, POP’s beer tent is always a highlight.

-St Viateur Street Festival

-Bike In Series at the McAuslan brewery

-Local Club Events: Welcome to Club Lambi! POP hosts year round events and parties at this new hotspot. And in a lot of other places too!

What the press has to say about Pop Montreal...

“Pop Montréal has retained an integrity, ingenuity and playfulness that is truly rare – if not utterly unique.” - Montréal Gazette

“To sum up Pop Montréal: every city should have one.” - Globe and Mail

“Picking out specific highlights is eclipsed by the sheer aftertremors the entire festival has had on the city as whole.” - MIRROR

“Le festival Pop Montréal, importante manifestation musicale.” - La Presse

“Pop Montréal is a tastemaker’s dream.” - DOSE

“Pop Montréal’s continued commitment to presenting unconventional programming at unconventional venues allows the festival to maintain its renegade status.” - EYE WEEKLY

“This year, the city that moves on Canada Day quite sensibly threw what maybe the country’s best indie culture fest.” - TORONTOIST

“Le festival Pop Montréal vise de plus en plus outre les paramètres de la simple sauterie musicale.” - ICI

“L’éclaté festival Pop Montréal célèbre ses cinq ans en présentant une programmation aussi foisonnante qui promet plein de découvertes.” - VOIR

“Pop Montréal will have you music heads running around town like headless chickens.” - HOUR

2008 quotations

« Le plus audacieux des festival musicaux montréalais. » - Nightlife Magazine

«La force de Pop Montréal : l’ouverture. La vraie. Il s’y passe des choses comme nulle part ailleurs.» - Le Devoir

«Franchement, il faudrait être sourd et aveugle pour ne pas y dénicher au moins une bonne découverte, une légende immanquable, un groupe de qualité. » - La Presse

«Le festival Pop Montréal continue de proposer une programmation aussi riche qu'éclatée. » - Voir

“If ‘the city is hockey’ during the winter months, the city is Pop in early October.” - Montreal Gazette

“WHY IS POP MONTREAL SO MUCH FUN, WHILE OUR OWN CMJ IS MORE LIKE A PAINFUL, SWEATY RITE OF PASSAGE” - The Village Voice

“Part of the fun of Pop Montreal, though, is that the city's pop is inextricable from the rest of its art and culture.” - Pitchfork

"Montreal’s undisputed champion of cartoon-stoned, shitfaced and lippy, all-out-floorboard-trembling music festivals.” - Montreal Mirror

“Pop's piece de resistance remains its feisty homegrown talent.” - Spin Magazine

“Pop Montreal is the best festival.” - Now Magazine

"Pop Montreal, has emerged as one of freshest and most offbeat musical festivals in the world." - Richard Florida

“With each year, it becomes more evident why Pop Montreal is the only club-crawl music festival in North America that features its host city in its brand name, because no other music festival goes to such great lengths to incorporate local history, architecture and infiltration ideology into its programming.” - Eye Weekly

“ Pop Montreal is an omnivore's smorgasbord, the Bayreuth Festival of this new paradigm: It makes both that venerable Wagner marathon and more straight-up rock festivals such as Glastonbury in the U.K. (where rapper Jay-Z was jeered this summer) seem by comparison like out-of-it rubes who haven't yet learned how to rub their bellies while patting their heads.” - The Globe & Mail

“A parallel universe where pop music’s golden gods, indie hipsterati and avant-garde underclass are placed on equal worshipful footing.” - Eye Weekly

“Manna for music geeks” - Mclean’s Magazine