Montreal Cultural Calendar

Jellicle Cats come one come all, Jellicles return to the Jellicle Ball! 2026 is the year Cats: The Jellicle Ball goes to Broadway, and all good things come in threes; we are excited and proud to present the the 3rd installment of the Jellicle Kiki Ball: Now & Forever! With newfound inspiration and new categories yet to be explored in Montreal, you're in for a cat-tastic time.
Will you be the Jellicle Choice this year, and be reborn in the Heaviside Layer?
(…fine. If we must address the 2019 movie, we're doing so with a twist!)
Walkers Registration:
https://forms.gle/oZZMxQwghjEzfhwt8
Lip Sync Registration:
https://forms.gle/EbmyBWqXUzRZfSw89
Trans community discount registration:
https://forms.gle/GLvsCkDQUdvcCQgu6
CATEGORIES
Beginners Performance
(🏆)
Bring it in a country Western look.
Beginners Runway
(🏆)
Bring it in a 1970s look.
500$ GP Designers Delight
(🏆)
Bring a design based on any Hanna-Barbara feline character (with a reference).
Face
(🏆🏆🏆)
Bring it as Luna (FF), Artemis (MF) or Diana (GNC) from
Sailor Moon
, with a crescent moon accessory.
Realness
(🏆🏆)
Bring it as a
Cats (2019)
cast member (with a non-
Cats
reference).
Runway
(🏆🏆🏆)
Bring it in a look inspired by
Josie & the Pussycats (2001)
with a reference.
Comm vs Comm
(🏆) For your 10s,
bring a chant incorporating a quote from
The Lion King
movie or stage musical.
Hands Performance vs. Arms Control
(🏆🏆) Inspired by the 90s cartoon
CatDog
,
Arms Control: Bring it as Cat; Hands Performance: Bring it as Dog.
Lip Sync
(🏆)
Bring it in a cat-themed lip sync performance (for your 10s, you may choose a song from any BROADWAY musical, or any cat-related song (be it by title or artist).
Performance
(🏆)
Bring it as a nekomimi.
Old Way vs. New Way
(🏆🏆)
OW: Cat in the Hat; NW: Thing 1 & Thing 2
Bazaar
(🏆)
Bring it as a feline sidekick, with a reference.
Body
(🏆🏆)
Choose a sports team whose mascot is feline, and bring it in the team’s colors, with a reference.
Sex Siren
(🏆🏆)
Bring it in a nude illusion with leather accessories, in honour of the Canadian Sphynx.
MC -
Silk
Pinklady
,
The GNC voice of the Canadian Ballroom scene since their 2022 debut, Silk Pinklady has commentated over 30 balls all across Canada, hosted workshops, and has mentored many commentators to their own grand prizes and OTY Awards
DJ Pleasure (Legendary Canadian Father Pleasure Juicy Couture)
DJ Pleasure is one of this generation’s phenomenal DJs. He is multi-talented and versatile with more than meets the eye. Pleasure grew up in Scarborough, Ontario. His love for the arts started at a very young age where Pleasure nurtured a sincere passion for music.
In the Ballroom scene, Legendary Canadian Father Pleasure Juicy Couture is recognized as the first Canadian Legend of European Runway in Canadian ballroom culture. As a respected leader and Father of the Canadian chapter of the Iconic Kiki House of Juicy Couture and integral member of the Toronto Kiki Ballroom Alliance, he shaped the elegant, expressive runway style that defines the category today.

Co-presented with
NOW society
and
Jahsun
BLK D'OR
, an exploration of free black expression that seeks new sounds, harmony, dissonance & authentic cultural exchanges. Curated by none other than Kalmunity initiator
Jahsun
, the evening will feature a series of spectacular combos that will have us travelling. This intimate session blends freeform cosmic soul, jazz, and wordsmiths with special Suoni guests rounding out the experience. Get a load of this:
Part of the Un Echange: Trading Places: Trueque tri-city residency
Soulsonic bath:
Sam I Am Montolla
(MTL)
Star Dust:
Fred Bazil
(sax) (MTL)
Jahsun
(drums) (MTL)
Constellation 1:
Adrian Avendaño
(drums) (VAN)
Markus Floats (
bass) (MTL)
Fahmid Nibesh
(guitar) (MTL)
Skin Tone
(saxophone / mbira) (MTL)
Aleida Perez
(violin) (CDMX)
Jason Selman
(cornet / poetry) (MTL)
The Opening:
D-na
(poetry) (MTL)
Christelle Saint Julien
(harp) (MTL)
Constellation 2:
Anju Singh
(violin) (VAN)
Julie Richard
(tuba) (MTL)
Aaron Leaney
(saxophone) (MTL)
Ravish Momin
(drums) (MTL)
Stella Adjokê
(poetry) (MTL)
Twilight:
Zibz Blackurrent
(dubpoetry) (MTL)
Zach Frampton
(piano) (MTL)
Constellation 3:
Engone Endong
(sound design) (MTL)
Zach Frampton
(piano/keys) (MTL)
Cabral Jacobs
(saxophone) (MTL)
Jahsun
(drums) (MTL)
Tanya Tawhida Evanson
(poetry) (MTL)

Before the Son et Solidarité: Sounds for Palestine show come support artists and activists at our Art and Action Solidarity Market. All funds raised will go to benefit the Edward Said Music Conservatory and the Elham Fund who directly support Palestinians in Palestine.
With Artists and Activists:
Seif Hajem · Asma Bari · Amine Masmoudi · Fermons le bureau de la honte · Lelelines · Stefan Christoff · Regards Palestiniens · Popolo Press · Rickie Leach · Sletate • Musicians for Palestine Montréal · UJPO · Levantina Shop · Kufiya Souk and more!

Blacks’ Myths
is a band founded by composer and bassist Luke Stewart with drummer Warren "Trae" Crudup, and has since developed into a sonic research and performance project concerned with the idea of History, of Memory, of the power of creating a tuned state of being. The journey through Sound lies the meditation on the history of blackness, the personal memory lens of an increasingly complex world full of alternate facts and rehashed stories. History thus becomes Mythology, in the ways in which we experience its weighty meanings in our lives. Through accessing the power of Sound, the story unfolds in physical frequencies that can re-tune the sub-conscious being otherwise known as the Spirit. The specific historical themes come from lived experience, stories told.
Toronto-based improviser
Karen Ng
has established herself as a unique musical force nationally and internationally, performing with some of Canada’s most prized artists such as The Weather Station, Andy Shauf, Do Make Say Think and many more. One of Canada’s leading improvisers “with a breathtakingly wide musical scope” (Musicworks) she also collaborates regularly with ad hoc ensembles in the wider improvising scene across Canada, in Europe and the US.
Years after the final chords of their old punk rock band, Vancouver guitarists and composers
Alvaro Rojas and Cole Schmidt
reunite and celebrate with a new LP and repertoire of guitar duets,
Nondual
.
Riffs, counterpoint, drones and improvisations twist and turn in the contemporary style. Songs, minimalism, collage and abstractions are all invited to the block party, and hang around in the park until the streetlights turn on.
Cole Schmidt
composes music for multi-genre improvising psychedelic chamber jazz ensemble SICK BOSS, drone improv unit LETTR OPENR, and the collaborative project with cellist and composer Peggy Lee, FOREVER STORIES OF: MOVING PARTIES.
As a guitarist, he performs regularly with Marin Patenaude, KneeJerk, and Peggy Lee’s Echo Painting. Cole has been curating DIY shows in Vancouver for over 15 years. He was part of the multidisciplinary outfit Sawdust Collector, and works as an Artistic Director for the Vancouver International Jazz Festival and Barking Sphinx Performing Society.
Alvaro Rojas
creates adventurous and colourful music that combines and recontextualizes the world around him. His diverse projects include Afro Peruvian prog - jazz (GRAN KASA), drippy electronic tinged guitar+string quartet soundscapes (MUSIC FOR 22), and an upcoming release on Susie Ibarra’s Habitat sounds label based on translating the patterns of nature.
His concert pieces have been performed by many of Canada’s finest new music groups, including the Turning Point Ensemble, Aventa Ensemble, Microcosmos String Quartet and others, and has collaborated with artists such as Susana Baca and Georgia Anne Muldrow.
Presenting a mega-watt collab from local luminaries
James Goddard
(sax + more),
Jahsun
(percussion)
Markus Lake
(bass),
Cabral Jacobs
(saxophone) &
Engone Endong
(electronics). Hot!