14 things to do in Montreal today: Saturday, October 13

Even though this week’s Saturday doesn’t come with the same allure as last week’s, we’ve put together an eventful list of things to do that’ll hopefully make you forget that we don’t have Monday off. Here are 14 things to do today, October 14.

La Ronde’s 30-Hour Coffin Challenge

Six coffin dwellers have registered and been chosen to endure a challenge in which participants will spend 30 hours inside a coffin from October 13 to 14.

Participants must stay in the coffin for the entire 30 hours, except for a six-minute break every hour, to use the washroom. People who step outside the coffins for any reason, with the exception of the designated bathroom breaks, will be disqualified.

All players will have to eat their meals inside the coffin as well. No word yet on how strong coffin Wi-Fi is.

Registration is closed but La Ronde patrons are welcome to watch and cheer on the coffin-bound participants.

When: October 13 and 14
Time: 6 pm – 12 pm
Where: La Ronde
Price: Varying prices

Festival de Nouveau Cinema

The festival presents daring, one-of-a-kind films from here and abroad, ensuring their success as well as introducing audiences to auteur filmmakers.

Past guests include Atom Egoyan, Marc-André Forcier, Souleymane Cissé, Zacharias Kunuk, Denis Villeneuve, Guy Maddin, Léa Pool, Jim Jarmusch, Jane Campion, Alfonso Cuaron, Wong Kar-wai, Wim Wenders, Mohsen Makhmalbaf and Raymond Depardon.

When: October 13 and 14
Time: Varies per selection
Where: Various locations per selection
Price: $12 general admission, $10 students and seniors, $8 children

Pumpkinferno

Pumpkinferno (besides having a great name) showcases over 7,000 handcrafted pumpkins which are lit up at night along a one-kilometre path set against a 19th-century backdrop. Some are individual pumpkins and some are fused together to make some outstanding art.

When: From now until October 14 (then the 18 – 21 and 25 – 28)
Time: 7 pm – 10 pm
Where: Upper Canada  Village – County Road 2
Price: $12 – $16

MAPP_MTL Map Festival

Gardens of Light

September brought the magical Gardens of Light Festival back and October brings the beauty.

The lantern festival includes a lighted path through the Botanical Garden’s three cultural gardens, the Chinese, Japanese and First Nations Gardens, all looking at nature from a different perspective.

When: Every day in October
Time: 6 pm – 9 pm (until 10 pm on Fridays and Saturdays)
Where: Montreal’s Botanical Gardens
Price: $10.25 – $20.50

L’Off Jazz

The 19th edition of L’Off Jazz presents over 22 events taking place in 10 of the city’s most renowned venues.

The program offers a variety of seasoned jazz veterans, as well as the young, local jazz musicians from the Montreal scene.

When: Saturday, October 13
Time: Varies per selected show
Where: Varies per selected show
Price: $99 for an all-access pass, varies per individual show

La Ronde’s Fright Fest

As if La Ronde’s wild rides aren’t scary enough, they’ve added some ghouls, zombies and witches to the park this month to give thrill-seekers some added jolts at Quebec’s biggest amusement park.

Fright Fest returns for select days in October, today being one of them. It’s a spooky time as costumed monsters take over the park at night.

The park will offer a wide variety of places to get your scare on including new haunted houses, scare zones, frightening mazes and themed rides.

When: October 13 and 14 (then the 20,21, 27 and 28)
Time: 11 am – 10 pm
Where: La Ronde – 22 Chemin Macdonald
Price: TBA

Haunted Mountain

Haunted Montreal conducts Ghost Walks and carries out research into ghost sightings, paranormal activities, historic hauntings, unexplained mysteries, and strange legends from Mont Royal.

Join a tour conducted by professional actors and storytellers and learn about the mountain’s frightening past.

When: Saturday, October 13
Time: 8:30 pm
Where: Fletcher’s Field – Jeanne Mance Park
Price: $23

Light the Night Walk

The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Canada’s Light The Night Walk at Parc Jean-Drapeau gathers thousands of walkers of all ages carrying illuminated lanterns to raise money for blood cancer research.

White lanterns represent blood cancer, red lanterns represent sympathizers and gold lanterns are carried in honour of the memory of a loved one.

When: Saturday, October 13
Time: 5 pm – 9:30 pm
Where: Parc Jean-Drapeau
Price: Free

Parc Safari Zoo

Get your animal fix by heading to Parc Safari, an easy 40-minute drive off the island. The park offers an optional Safari Adventure upon entering, you can drive up and see a variety of exotic animals from your car including zebras, ostriches, buffalo, llamas, and camels.

Inside the park, take a walk down the Forest Trail where you have an amazing vantage point view of monkeys, hyenas, and bears. Don’t forget the lions, but we didn’t have to tell you that.

When: Weekends in October
Time: 10 am – 5 pm
Where: 280 Rang Roxham, Hemmingford
Price: Prices vary depending on age. Tickets available at the entrance or online

Years & Years Concert

Years & Years is a British synth-pop band, founded in London. The band consists of Olly Alexander, Mikey Goldsworthy and Emre Türkmen. Their music has been described as electropop, mixing R&B and 1990s house elements.

Years & Years is performing tonight at the MTELUS Theatre as part of their The Palo Santo Tour.

When: Saturday, October 13
Time: 8 pm – 11 pm
Where: MTELUS Theatre
Price: $35.75, available online

Marché des Éclusiers du Vieux-Port

Set up by the water in the Old Port, the mission of Marché des Éclusiers (Farmers’ Market) is simple: showcase Quebec products. There is no middleman. The quaint market gives producers the chance to sell their organic products directly to the public.

Though offerings at the market are seasonal, you’ll typically be able to find vegetables, bread, pastries, organic juices, breakfast, beef, pork, sauces, and cheese – all locally made.

Today is the farmers’ market’s last day until it closes up shop for the winter.

When: Saturday, October 13
Time: 9 am – 2 pm
Where: 400 Rue de la Commune Ouest
Price: Free admission

MGCIL Quidditch 

Today’s Quidditch tournament is as close to you might ever get to becoming a wizard.

Hosted at Jeanne-Mance Parc, a BYOB event (bring your own broom) will see a variety of teams (seven to nine people) face off in a huge Quidditch tournament with rules based on the same as the Harry Potter books, except the brooms won’t be flying, sadly.

It’s free to play and teams can register online and free agents can hop onto a spot here.

When: Saturday, October 13
Time: 2 pm – 6 pm
Where: Parc Jeanne-Mance
Price: Free

REWIND: Halloween 80s Dance Party

Bar La Shop is hosting an 80s Halloween Dance Party featuring new wave, synthwave, post-punk, Britpop, alternative and electronica music from the 1980s all the way up to the 2000s.

Expect to hear tunes from The Cure, Kraftwerk, Depeche Mode, The Smiths, New Order, Joy Division, Indochine, Duran Duran, David Bowie, Prince, Placebo, Fad Gadget, Blondie, Bjork, Billy Idol, The Vapors and so much more.

Guests who arrive before midnight are eligible to participate in the costume contest for a chance to win prizes.

When: Saturday, October 13
Time: 9 pm – 3 am
Where: Bar La Shop, 4177 rue Saint-Denis
Price: $10 at the door

See also

• Krispy Kreme confirms new downtown Montreal spot to open soon (PHOTO)
• The Montreal Canadiens unveil luxurious new food hall at Bell Centre
• Check out Montreal's mobile climbing gym before it closes for the winter
• Leonard Cohen's posthumous book has a poem dissing Kanye West