Osheaga 2015! Montreal Weekend
I love music festivals. That said, I haven’t been to many. I initially really LOVED the lineup for Osheaga in Montreal, but I couldn’t convince any of my friends to come on what seemed like an expensive and complicated vacation. At the last minute, one of my college friends was able to get her passport expedited, and with another college friend, we were able to make it happen – affordably! My friends drove to up from Delaware, picked me up in NYC, and we continued through scenic upstate New York to Canada, where for some reason they decided to let us cross the border 🙂
Festival Highlights:
Some of my favorites were Florence and the Machine, Of Monsters and Men, Twenty One Pilots, Young the Giant, and Weezer. In addition to the street art, there were tons of art displays and some fun activities like body painting and an H&M photo booth! See more photos on my instagram: https://instagram.com/staceycreative/
Of Monsters and Men #osheaga A video posted by Stacey Nicole (@staceycreative) on
Lodging:
We chose to stay in an Airbnb which cost us each about $25 per night. It was a bare bones 2 bedroom apartment in an amazing location. It was a bit dirty, and carrying our luggage up from the $10/night parking spot behind the building via spiral staircase wasn’t fun. Still, it was comfortable, convenient, and cheap! We were located right near McGill University off of Rue Sherbrooke, and there were more cafes (including 24hr ones) than we knew what to do with. We were able to have a big yummy brunch each day for a reasonable price, alongside tons of other Osheaga wristband wearers.
Entertainment:
It was my friends’ first time in Canada, but since I had been to Montreal before, on our first night I led my friends on a walk through the neighborhoods I remembered enjoying on previous visits. We went to Old Montreal and bought our obligatory Maple products at a souvenir shop, and had dinner at the prettiest sports pub I’ve ever seen! Apparently La Cage Aux Sports is a Canadian chain, but the location we went to had flower-filled, open-air seating on the second floor, free popcorn, and a view of the sexy men of Montreal. After stuffing ourselves with burgers and a taste of Canadian beer, we walked along Rue St. Denis in the Latin Quarter and browsed the hip bars and restaurants on our way back home.
After the next day, the first day of the festival, it took us approximately one million years to get home after Florence and the Machine performed. Exhausted, we collapsed once we finally made it home. The next night, we decided headliner Kendrick Lamar was not worth the hours of tortured waiting to escape after the set, so we went home a bit early, after Weezer, and decided to explore laid-back Montreal nightlife a bit.
Crescent street is apparently the place to go if you’re looking for clubs. We weren’t feeling the craziness, and apparently neither were many other people because it felt kind of quiet and we were practically begged to enter bars. Instead, we did the seemingly impossible and found a chill, reasonably priced pub on Crescent street. I had a Sangria-Beer hybrid for 6 Canadian bucks and we shared some of the best fried appetizers I’ve ever had. Our waitress was pretty entertaining as she tried to swipe our chip-less American credit cards in a nifty tableside credit card reader (ubiquitous in Canada!). Soon our stone-age credit cards will be caught up to the rest of the world, sorry!!
Eating:
You can’t go to Montreal (apparently) without trying Poutine, and at the festival we made sure to have plenty. There were a lot of food areas all over the festival and it was worth exploring to see the different options. Poutine, in case you didn’t know, consists of french fries topped with pieces of delicious cheese and drowned in gravy. Yumm. But also, ugh. It is pretty heavy. The pulled pork Poutine was particularly delish, but actually the regular kind, served in a much more reasonable portion size, was my favorite. Sadly, I didn’t get to try the General Tso’s Poutine at the Asian station. If Poutine isn’t your thing, there were also plenty of sausages, burgers, and pizza cones to go around!
On our last morning, we dragged our tired butts out of bed at 6am and grabbed some hot drinks and pastries from the essential Canadian Tim Hortons to fuel our long drive home. It’s what Robin Scherbatsky would do.
Fashion:
I really wanted to start a “butt cheeks of Osheaga” tumblr after seeing so much butt cheek hanging out of underwear-cut denim shorts. Aside from that unfortunate trend, there were crop tops and bra tops galore, tons of overalls, and all the fashion-y festival staples you’d expect. Nobody was dressed too crazily, but I was happy to see Osheage ban Native American headdresses. If you are planning on going next year though, definitely bring sneakers or other super sturdy shoes because standing on rocks and in mud while getting stomped on isn’t great for dainty sandals. Also, hoodies and ponchos are a must – we huddled up under an umbrella on a grassy hill during one of the rain showers and were so glad for our hoodies!
Sum Up:
Can’t wait for next summer’s festivals!!!!!
I love Montreal and if the Osheaga lineup is good next year, I would consider coming back! If I do, I will definitely schedule more time for exploring Montreal itself and revisiting some of my favorite art museums there. Fun as Osheaga was, I’m also looking forward to exploring new festivals with new vibes next summer!!
1abominably
February 17 @ 9:51 am
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