FESTIVAL DATES for 2009 are SEPT 30-Oct 4.

The event

POP Montreal is a grass roots festival created and supported by people
who love music and live performance. Founded in 2002 by Daniel
Seligman, Noelle Sorbara, and Peter Rowan (who has since moved on down
the 401), it has expanded in scope and vision every year, and celebrated it’s 7th anniversary from October 1st to 5th last fall.

Each year, the five-day festival presents more than 400 artists.
Delivering a bold cross-section of art forms and events, the festival
includes symposium discussions, artisan and visual art exhibitions,
fashion shows, film screenings, and, of course, a few all-night
parties.
For musicians and artists, fans, curators, critics, record labels and
industry, POP Montreal is the North American festival that provides
a dynamic introduction to the next generation of musical talent
and independent art forms.

The mission

Pop
Montreal remains firmly rooted in the ethic and aesthetics of the
Montreal music community. Hyperbole aside, we truly believe that
Montreal is a special place, populated by a lot of amazing people who
adore music. And we know it’s an amazing place to have a five-day party.

We
are committed to providing opportunities for independent musicians,
promoters, fans, and creative minds all of types to participate in what
we truly believe is a world class international event. We will never
become a compromised showcase for formulaic and uninspiring acts and
their big record execs. We’re more interested in being a curated event
for truly unknown artists and forgotten legends that we feel deserve a
unique platform. We will never offer an entire lineup of obvious
flavor-of-the-year acts. You will see the occasional superstar and
breakthrough act, but most of all Pop Montreal is where you will see
the headliners of the future play to their first excited crowds at
intimate venues. Pop is where you will see 90 year old crooners jamming
with 20 year old wünderkinds.

We’re always looking for people to get
involved. Grassroots means something that happens from the ground up.
It means it’s not sketched out in focus groups and executed by
marketing plans. It means you have an idea and you say, ‘who’s with
me?’ and you make it happen. This is how Pop Montreal continues to
grow. So if you want to be part of the greatest party in the world, get
in touch.

The segments

Film Pop:
Showcasing the latest in independent and underground cinema with
20+ films, Film Pop explores the vibrant intersection of movies and
music. This unique series of screenings and special events creates
ideal opportunities for niche exposure.

Puces Pop:
With over 100 taste-making presenters, this two-day curated fair
presents a wide spectrum of quality independent cultural entrepreneurs
from zine makers, record labels, fashion designers and more. It
also features unique events and workshops (stenciling your own
t-shirts, dance troops and more).

Art Pop:
Through a dozen curated gallery exhibitions, numerous interdisciplinary
performances and a silent art auction, Art Pop brings together the
musical and visual arts, highlighting the vital role each plays in popular
culture.

Symposium: This series of conferences and workshops represent one of the greatest public manifestations of reflexion on the subjects of art, culture and music in Montreal.

Kids Pop: This new segment features loads of all-ages activities aimed at sharing artistic practices across the generations.

Other Pop Montreal events outside of the festival

-Pop-Off Tours: Spring promotion tours in Canada, East
Coast USA and beyond!

-Drakes Series: A quarterly curated POP series at Toronto’s
fanciest boutique hotel stage.

-Fringe Pop: A 10 day feature outdoor stage at Montreal’s
St-Ambroise Fringe Fest.

-Showcases: “POP presents” at select international events.
Official POP Showcase at SXSW2008

-Frénésie de la Main: For pedestrians at the annual St.
Laurent Street Fair, POP’s beer tent is always a highlight.

-St Viateur Street Festival

-Bike In Series at the McAuslan brewery

-Local Club Events: Welcome to Club Lambi! POP hosts
year round events and parties at this new hotspot. And in a lot of other places too!

What the press has to say about Pop Montreal...

“Pop Montréal has retained
an integrity, ingenuity and playfulness
that is truly rare – if not
utterly unique.” -
Montréal Gazette

“To sum up Pop Montréal:
every city should have one.” -
Globe and Mail

“Picking out specific highlights
is eclipsed by the sheer aftertremors
the entire festival has
had on the city as whole.” -
MIRROR

“Le festival Pop Montréal,
importante manifestation
musicale.” -
La Presse

“Pop Montréal is a tastemaker’s
dream.” -
DOSE

“Pop Montréal’s continued
commitment to presenting
unconventional programming
at unconventional venues allows
the festival to maintain its
renegade status.” -
EYE WEEKLY

“This year, the city that moves
on Canada Day quite sensibly
threw what maybe the country’s
best indie culture fest.” -
TORONTOIST

“Le festival Pop Montréal vise
de plus en plus outre les paramètres
de la simple sauterie
musicale.” -
ICI

“L’éclaté festival Pop Montréal
célèbre ses cinq ans en présentant
une programmation aussi
foisonnante qui promet plein
de découvertes.” -
VOIR

“Pop Montréal will have you
music heads running around
town like headless chickens.” -
HOUR

2008 quotations

« Le plus audacieux des festival musicaux montréalais. » - Nightlife Magazine

«La force de Pop Montréal : l’ouverture. La vraie. Il s’y passe des choses comme nulle part ailleurs.» - Le Devoir

«Franchement, il faudrait être sourd et aveugle pour ne pas y dénicher au moins une bonne découverte, une légende immanquable, un groupe de qualité. » - La Presse

«Le festival Pop Montréal continue de proposer une programmation aussi riche qu'éclatée. » - Voir

“If ‘the city is hockey’ during the winter months, the city is Pop in early October.” - Montreal Gazette

“WHY IS POP MONTREAL SO MUCH FUN, WHILE OUR OWN CMJ IS MORE LIKE A PAINFUL, SWEATY RITE OF PASSAGE” - The Village Voice

“Part of the fun of Pop Montreal, though, is that the city's pop is inextricable from the rest of its art and culture.” - Pitchfork

"Montreal’s undisputed champion of cartoon-stoned, shitfaced and lippy, all-out-floorboard-trembling music festivals.” - Montreal Mirror

“Pop's piece de resistance remains its feisty homegrown talent.” - Spin Magazine

“Pop Montreal is the best festival.” - Now Magazine

"Pop Montreal, has emerged as one of freshest and most offbeat musical festivals in the world." - Richard Florida

“With each year, it becomes more evident why Pop Montreal is the only club-crawl music festival in North America that features its host city in its brand name, because no other music festival goes to such great lengths to incorporate local history, architecture and infiltration ideology into its programming.” - Eye Weekly

“ Pop Montreal is an omnivore's smorgasbord, the Bayreuth Festival of this new paradigm: It makes both that venerable Wagner marathon and more straight-up rock festivals such as Glastonbury in the U.K. (where rapper Jay-Z was jeered this summer) seem by comparison like out-of-it rubes who haven't yet learned how to rub their bellies while patting their heads.” - The Globe & Mail

“A parallel universe where pop music’s golden gods, indie hipsterati and avant-garde underclass are placed on equal worshipful footing.” - Eye Weekly

“Manna for music geeks” - Mclean’s Magazine

Artists that have played for Pop Montreal

2002: The Walkmen, Stars, Blonde Redhead, Arthur H, Interpol, The Dears, Broken Social Scene, Vulgaires Machins, Les Breastfeeders, Amon Tobin, Gros Mené, Julie Doiron, The Constantines, Yann Perreau, Hot Hot Heat, Martha Wainwright.

2003: The Arcade Fire, Buck 65, The Unicorns, Malajube, The Besnard Lakes, Black Dice, Et Sans, Pony Up, Metric, Sloan, Wolf Eyes, Chromeo, The Distillers, Galaxie 500, Queens of the Stone Age, Tiga, Shades of Culture.

2004: Franz Ferdinand, Kool Keith, An Albatross, The Black Keys, Tegan and Sara, Frog Eyes, We Are Wolves, Duchess Says, Jorane, Ghislain Poirier, Subtitle, The Weakerthans, Socalled, Magnolia Electric Co., Mission of Burma, Patrick Watson, Torngat, Billy Talent, Death From Above 1979, Lil' Andy, The Constantines, Flogging Molly, The Hold Steady, Apostle of Hustle, Holy Fuck, Les Georges Leningrad, Karkwa.

2005: Beck, Wolf Parade, Gonzales, Antony and the Johnsons, Billy Childish, Champion, TTC, Islands, Woodhands, Land of Talk, The Dirtbombs, Joseph Arthur, Wintersleep, Most Serene Republic, Plants and Animals, CPC Gangbangs, Cadence Weapon, Navet Confit, Black Mountain, Deerhunter, Think about Life, Lovely Feathers, Zoobombs, Priestess, Asobi Seksu, You Say Party We Say Die!, Tokyo Police Club, Kings of Leon, Architecture in Helsinki.

2006: Spank Rock, Joanna Newsom, Roky Erickson, Tapes n’ Tapes, Regina Spektor,
Ramblin Jack Elliot, Sunset Rubdown, Awesome Colour, Basia Bulat, Omnikrom, Glass Candy & Chromatics, Kid Sister, Beach House, Akron/Family, Fucked Up, Dr. Octagon.

2007: Patti Smith, Michel Pagliaro, Jamaica To Toronto, Final Fantasy, The National, Bun B,
Cody ChesnuTT, A-Trak, Pere Ubu, Jay Reatard, Radio Radio, Thunderheist, Caribou, Miracle Fortress, Bonjour Brumaire, Half Japanese, MAN MAN, Yeasayer, Eric's Trip.

2008: Burt Bacharach, Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Ratatat, Sister Nancy, Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, Hot Chip, Dark Meat, The Bug, Silver Apples, Zombie Zombie, Jean-Jacques Perrey, Socalled's Porn Pop, Herman Dune, Chad Van Gaalen, The Death Set, Dan Deacon, The Persuasions, The Dodos, WIRE.