🍦🧋Verdun Porch Parties, Parks, and Popping Bubble Tea

Bonjour-hi to you today mon ami / amie,

Last night, thanks to my former co-worker’s pilfered CraveTV password, we discovered Empathie—a show about Montreal’s collective neuroses, set in the fictional Mont Royal Psychiatric. Apparently, there’s a phrase: la tristesse me suit, which translates to “sadness follows me.” How perfectly Montrealer—turning severe seasonal depression into poetry, while the rest of us just buy vitamin D supplements and complain about the STM.

In this week’s issue…

Edited by Eleanor R.

CITY NEWS

🏙️ What's Happening Around Town

The Canadian government has created a dental care plan that's refreshingly complicated, requiring you to check if you're the right age, income bracket, and special circumstance before applying. Children under 18 can apply immediately, which makes sense since they have the least say in their oral hygiene destiny. Adults aged 35-54 must wait until May 29th, presumably to build character through prolonged tooth pain. The application requires your Social Insurance Number, tax returns, and infinite patience with government websites.

The city decided Rue Murray desperately needed "improvement," which naturally meant ripping up the entire street and trapping everyone's cars underground like some urban archaeology experiment. They're burying electrical wires and widening sidewalks because apparently what Griffintown was missing was more space for pedestrians. The construction crew graciously promised to minimize noise and dust from 7 AM to 6 PM.

FEEL GOOD

💗 Stories That Make Me Fall In Like With This City

After weeks of gloom, Montreal basked in nine hours of sunshine Monday—Residents emerged like cave dwellers, sunglasses in hand, only to be warned the reprieve won’t last. Nothing like hope, swiftly followed by disappointment…

1. Montreal pledged $25 million over four years to tackle homelessness—an earnest shot at addressing complexity. The city calls it "social cohabitation" and "inclusive environments," refreshingly bureaucratic, but real. Community organizations have until June 19th to apply—if they can decode the application requirements and create proposals that might actually make a difference.

2. Montreal has launched its summer cultural initiative called "Vague estivale," which roughly translates to "we're going to fill every park with accordion music and call it art." The city promises vibrant performances at Théâtre de Verdure, presumably because nothing says summer like sitting on concrete benches watching interpretive dance about climate change. This demonstrates Montreal's unwavering commitment to being culturally significant, even if it means forcing culture upon unsuspecting joggers.

NON-PROFIT

🤲 A Cause Just Cause

Moisson Montréal: A Leading Food Security Organization for Community Engagement

Moisson Montreal is Canada's largest food bank that somehow turns every dollar into $15 worth of food distribution magic. Since 1984, they've been quietly handling nearly a million monthly food requests across Montreal while coordinating 292 community organizations. With $148 million in annual food distribution and a daily need for 53 volunteers, they've mastered the art of feeding people efficiently. The week of May 29th presents a perfect opportunity to contribute to an organization that's already figured out how to do maximum good without the usual nonprofit drama.

FOOD

🍽️ Food & Drink Buzz

Let’s be real—after that rainy spring, we all deserve a fun, chewy pick-me-up. Enter bubble tea: sip it, chew it, snap it. Whether you're team taro, brown sugar loyal, or just here for the pearls, Summer is prime boba season and we’re here to share some of our favs with you. 🧋✨

🍹 Boba Boba - 138 Atwater Ave (Atwater Market)
💡 Fresh, funky, and fiercely authentic. They only serve ‘The Good Stuff.” Perfect refresher for a walk through Atwater Market.

Signature order: "Sunny Side Up" and "Guava’Matcha."

🧋 Theora - 4445 Saint Denis Street
 🥭 Mango Matcha with Coconut Jelly — because basic bubble tea is just not as fun. Sweet, juicy, and chewy enough to slap your taste buds awake. Try the cheese foam or a boba waffle and sip like a legend, you.

Signature order: Mango matcha latte + Matcha bubble waffle

🧋 Chicha San Chen - 7 Av Viger O, Chinatown
🍃 This Taiwanese boba haven isn't just about tea—it’s a full-on flavor journey. With locations across Canada, and brews that have earned awards from the International Taste Institute, Chicha San Chen delivers quality, freshly pressed-to-order tea, and warm chewy pearls. One sip and you’ll get the hype.

Signature order: Bubble Volcano, Lemon Wonderland, and premium loose-leaf teas.

🦌 The Alley - Multiple locations across Montreal
🍯 Chic meets chewy. One of my personal favourites, their Deerioca pearls are brown sugar royalty, and the vibes? Immaculate. Whether you’re having roasted oolong or posing with snow strawberry, it’s giving main character energy—tea, but make it fashion.

Signature order: Brown sugar Deerioca milk tea, royal No. 9, seasonal fruit teas.

Got more? Reply to this email and tell us!

PEOPLE OF MONTREAL / GENS D’ICI

🧍Vic Chan

“I want my art to remind people they can use their free will in strange and fantastic ways.”

Vic grew up as “the kid who could draw”—part of a small brotherhood where every pencil stroke was a badge of honour. In a family of high achievers—a nuclear safety inspector, an actuary, a nutritionist—Vic’s choice to pursue art felt like a rebellion. “I wanted to be a great artist,” he says. “I didn’t just wanna be a regular guy who does art.”

That quiet defiance comes from somewhere deeper. Vic’s mother, who had polio as a child, never talked about her disability. “We didn’t really know what that was—so we grew up with it as normal,” he says. Her strength shaped him, even as her experience created an unspoken fear of possibility. “She had a limited sense of possibilities, and it felt impossibly restrictive.”

His roots trace back to Mao’s Cultural Revolution, when intellectuals and educated people were labeled as enemies and persecuted. “They demonized bourgeois values like art and education,” he says. That kind of trauma sank deep into his family’s story, leaving Vic with a chip on his shoulder—and a drive to create art that doesn’t fit the mold.

That rebellious streak shows up in unexpected places. In Montreal he once lived in a loft that was converted into an S&M dungeon by a dominatrix (He helped). “We turned the place into a complete S&M setup, whips and everything,” he says. “That’s why I love Montreal—it’s a city that can surprise you at any moment.”

Art became Vic’s way of carving out his own story—whether he was working in restaurants around the city, replicating famous works of art, crafting furniture, or contributing to productions for Fox, HBO, and Amazon on the sets of X-Men: Apocalypse, The Handmaid’s Tale, Workin’ Moms, and The Boys. “Film is the most powerful art form out there,” he says. But he’s also explored everything from independent films to performance art and commissioned paintings—each piece a chance to push boundaries and challenge the status quo.

“I once stood on stage and drooled into a bucket,” he says of a performance piece meant to “jolt people out of their perception of normalcy.”

For Vic, art isn’t about meeting a bar—it’s about smashing it altogether. “I want my art to remind people they can use their free will in strange and fantastic ways.”

If you would like to commission artwork from Vic, email him at [email protected]

BOROUGHS

🧭 NEIGHBOURHOOD SPOTLIGHT

📍 Porchfest Verdun: Where Music Meets Lawn Chairs

Verdun’s about to turn into the world’s longest backyard party—Porchfest is here, and you’re invited! On May 31st (or June 1st if the skies get moody), hundreds of local artists will transform stoops and sidewalks into stages for folk, jazz, punk, and everything in between.

Imagine this: you’re strolling down Wellington, coffee in one hand, friend in the other, and you hear a violin drifting from a balcony. A few porches down, there’s a jazz quartet turning a driveway into an impromptu dance floor. That’s the magic—no tickets, no velvet ropes, just pure community vibes.

It’s not just about the music (although it’s definitely about the music). Porchfest is a chance to wave at neighbours you’ve only ever seen carrying groceries, discover hidden musical gems, and maybe even realize your future bandmates were living across the street all along.

Pro tip: Bring a chair, a blanket, and your curiosity—then just wander. You’ll find yourself swept up in a parade of porch-based joy. Because when life gives you a porch, you turn it into a stage.

Come hang out here.

EVENTS

🎟️🎪 Weekend Plans That Don't Suck

FRIDAY (May 30)

🎉 Mont-Royal Street Fair (May 29–June 1)
Ave. du Mont-Royal, Saint-Laurent to De Lorimier | all day
🛍️350+ merchants, 60 patios, street performers—chaotic good in the best way.

🧪 Festival Eurêka! (May 30–June 1)
Parc Jean-Drapeau, at the foot of the Biosphère | various times
🔬 Robots, slime, lasers—Quebec’s wildest outdoor science party for all ages.

🎬 Les Sommets du cinéma d’animation (May 26–31)
Cinémathèque Québécoise | various times
🌀 Indie toons, trippy shorts & student gems—animation nerd paradise, unlocked.

🔥Zumba Fitness
Concordia Le Gym | 12:00–1:00 PM
It’s cardio, but also a party. Shake it like it’s the weekend already.

🎭 St-Ambroise Montreal Fringe Festival (May 26–June 15)
Plateau + Mile-End | various times
🤹‍♀️ Weird, wild & 100% unfiltered—the most fun you’ll have outside a theatre seat.

🎪 National Circus School Graduate Showcase (May 29–June 8)
TOHU, 2345 Jarry St. East | 8PM
🤸‍♀️ Cirque-level stunts, student-powered magic—this is where stars are born.

SATURDAY (May 31)

☀️🌻🕶️🍓Open-Air Summer Markets (All Summer)
Various Locations | Various Hours
Serving looks and local goods

🎉 The Big Bounce Canada (May 31–June 15)
Carrefour Angrignon | 🎟️ Grab your tickets early, darling
Canada’s biggest inflatable playground is bouncing into town—literally.

🐴⚔️ Don Quixote (Until June 7)
Salle Wilfred-Pelletier | 8PM
✨ Ready to get swept off your feet by a knight who’s a little extra?

Taverna Miresia | Mario Bella Anastasia
Théâtre Maisonneuve, Place des Arts | 3PM
🎭 Where theatre meets tavern—expect drama, music, and a side of mystery.

SUNDAY (June 1)

💃🕺 Ballroom Dancing
Concordia Le Gym | 4:00–5:30 PM
Bring a partner and prepare to spin, dip, and possibly fall in love 💘.

🌀 Môme Montréal: Where reality takes a backseat.
175 Sainte-Catherine O. | 10AM - 8PM
🔮 Get ready to question everything you thought you knew.

LIVE MUSIC

🎶 Music & Nightlife

For those still possessing the energy for after-dark activities:

🎤 Thursday, May 29

• MIKE
  Fairmount Theatre | 8:00 PM
  🎙️ Underground legend. Lo-fi beats. Big feelings. Don’t sleep.

• SOOLKING
  L'Olympia | 8:00 PM
  🌍 Hip-hop meets Maghreb heat—get ready to vibe all night long.

🎶 Friday, May 30

• Barry Manilow: The Last Montréal Concert
  Bell Centre | 7PM
  🌟 The icon. The farewell. The glitter.

• Murray Head – Farewell Tour
  Théâtre Maisonneuve, Place des Arts | 8PM
  🎤 OG of dramatic pop says goodbye—expect nostalgia and fierce vocals.

• RAMPAGE (ÎLESONIQ presents)
  MTELUS | 6:00 PM (18+)
  ⚡ Bassheads unite. It's loud. It's wild. It’s a full-body wobble.

• Félix Leroux | 10 PM
  Salle Claude-Léveillée, Place des Arts
  🍷 French folk charm with lyrics that hit harder than your ex.

• Mahler’s Song of the Earth (with Rafael Payare)
  Maison symphonique, Place des Arts | 7:30PM
  🎻 Intense. Epic. A little existential. Come cry in 6/8 time.

🎼 Saturday, May 31

• 🎼 Ode to Joy | Beethoven’s 9th (Limited seats)
  Maison Symphonique | 7:30 PM
  Beethoven didn’t go deaf for this to be ignored. 🎻

• 🎧🎉🍸QUEERCORE: Pop Punk + Alt Rock Dance Party

  Complexe Sky | 11PM - 3AM

  Break hearts, not nails ❤️🌈

🔥 Sunday, June 1

• Central Cee
  MTELUS | 7:00pm
  UK drill royalty in the building—bring your bars and energy.

• Cynthia Jean-Louis | Les Noces de Perles
  Salle Claude-Léveillée, Place des Arts | 8:00pm
  💎 A pearl of a performance.

OUTRO

Well, I had fun—did you? If you found something useful, share it with someone you like. If you didn’t… share it out of spite. Confuse your enemies.

Until next week,

If you have any suggestions on stories to cover, new restaurants or events then please reply directly to this email. We read every. single. email. 🥲

So uhh..