Taverne Tour returns to Plateau Mont-Royal from February 12 to 14, marking its 10th anniversary with over 100 artists across more than 20 venues. The Montreal winter festival spreads across Boulevard Saint-Laurent, Avenue du Mont-Royal, and Rue Saint-Denis, cramming international acts and local bands into the neighbourhood’s bars, taverns, and clubs.
Protomartyr headline multiple nights, while Christopher Owens brings his new material to the Plateau. Kap Bambino, Lydia Lunch with Marc Hurtado, and The Mystery Lights round out the international bookings. The festival has always worked by putting touring bands in rooms that feel one size too small, and that hasn’t changed.
Thursday pairs Protomartyr and Owens with Montreal acts Choses Sauvages and Afternoon Bike Ride. Friday stacks The Mystery Lights alongside Jane Inc., Lydia Képinski, and Bibi Club. Saturday pushes into electronics and noise with Kap Bambino, Lydia Lunch and Marc Hurtado, Camilla Sparksss, Emma Beko, and N NAO closing out the weekend.
Montreal artists still make up most of the lineup. Rap, punk, experimental pop, garage rock, and electronic music all share the same three-night grid, sorted more by which room fits than by genre. The venues themselves, mostly old taverns and modest clubs, keep the whole thing anchored in the Plateau instead of bouncing around the city.
This year adds The Night This Place Freezes Over, a video game built around virtual show-hopping that features Korea Town Acid and other festival acts. The game launches during the festival weekend. Other local acts include Shunk, who released their debut album Shunkland last year, and Afternoon Bike Ride, who just put out their third album Running with Scissors.
Taverne Tour started in 2016 as a neighbourhood bar crawl. Ten years later, it works the same way: dozens of acts crammed into a tight area over one winter weekend in mid-February, right when the city’s music calendar usually goes quiet.
Tickets for the 2026 edition are on sale now. Full schedules and venue details are available at tavernetour.ca.
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