Where The Sun Rises In The South

Canada's second largest city, Montréal started life as Ville Marie in the mid-17th century, a French missionary colony that soon became a fur trade center. In 1760, during the Seven Years' War between Britain and France, driven by commercial and imperial rivalry, Montréal fell to the British. Waves of Anglo immigrants started to come and around 1831, residents of British origin became the majority in the city. In those days, Montréal was split geographically along cultural lines: English speakers tended to live "west" of Boulevard St-Laurent while French speakers occupied mostly the "east". I put east and west in brackets because that is how those areas are traditionally known but the descriptions are not quite accurate. Using this traditional logic, the St. Lawrence river would be located in the "south" but it actually sits in the east. So whenever you see the sun rise over the river in Montréal, rejoice because it will likely be the only time you will ever see the sun rise in the "south".

Montréal grew rapidly in the second half of the 19th century and by 1860, it was the largest city in British North America. economic boom attracted many French Canadians from surrounding rural areas so much so that, by 1865, the French again made up the majority of Montréal’s population. The heavy French and British influence over the centuries led to the city's current character where 56% of its population speak both languages. The co-existence of the two cultures has not always been smooth, though: British dominance in business and finance left Francophones feeling alienated, and separatists gained strength in the 1960s and 1970s. Two referendums on French Canada sovereignty have taken place to date in the Québec province, where Montréal sits: the first in 1980 was rejected by 60% of the electorate while the second in 1995 had a much narrower margin, rejected by 51% of voters.

French and English were not the only influences - immigration from other countries such as Italy, Haiti, China created several communities in the city, with many cultures celebrated in parades and festivals. And speaking of festivals, Montréal, once known as the city of 100 steeples, could nowadays be called the city of 100 festivals. The highlight is the Festival International de Jazz de Montréal, the largest jazz festival in the world that takes place every year in late June/early July for ten days. The festival's current incarnation attracts over 2 million visitors and features some 3,000 artists from 30 countries performing in 15 concert halls and 8 outdoor stages, the latter free. Compare that to the roughly four artists and 12,000 spectators in the first festival in 1980. Jazz is not my favorite music genre but the great thing about this festival is that it includes other genres such as rock, reggae and blues so there will always be an act you like regardless of your musical taste. And with so many free concerts, you will discover some great artist you had never heard of. In this year's festival, I saw a great British musician called Jamie Cullum who played a very energetic show mixing jazz, pop, rock, soul and rap. I know, it sounds like too much of a mish-mash but trust me…if he ever comes to your town, don't miss him.