Montréal celebrates Black History Month
February 2025 marks the 34th anniversary of Black History Month in Montréal, and this year’s edition features a full slate of theatre, film screenings, musical concerts and other cultural events.
This year’s theme is “All That We Carry” (Tout ce que nous sommes). Click herefor this year’s 12 Black History Month laureates and scroll down for some choice BHM events.
Music concerts
Michelle Sweeney – one of Montréal’s queens of jazz, soul and blues– kicks off BHM with her popular Soul Motown Disco night at Le Balcon music hall and restaurant on February 1.
Then Michelle Sweeney & The Gospel Tribe perform a gospel music concert at Salle Désilets du Cégep Marie-Victorin on February 2. Click here to reserve free tickets (plus $2 S/C).
Legendary soulman Freddie James Project headlines Le Balcon music hall and restaurant on February 15.
RnB queen Jully Black brings her Songs and Stories Tour to Théatre Outremont on February 18.
Productions Nuits d’Afrique – the good folks who run Montréal’s iconic Club Balattou and the summertime Festival International Nuits d’Afrique – presents several special BHM concerts: Dalie Dandala (Congo) on February 2, Lerie Sankofa (Ivory Coast) on February 6, Jab Djab with Mello G (Trinidad and Tobago) on February 8, and Malian bluesman Samba Touré – protégé of the legendary Ali Farka Touré – on February 28. All shows at Club Balattou.
Productions Nuits d’Afrique also presents a tribute to Toumani Diabaté by Madou Sidiki Diabaté (Mali) at Le Gesù on February 14.
French rapper Tiakola headlines Place Bell on February 20.
Le Cypher X organizes the city’s premiere hip hop concerts every Thursday at O Patro Vys while GrowveMTL presents jams featuring the city’s top musicians playing everything from disco to hip hop each Wednesday at Turbo Haüs.
Classical
Winner of the 2024 JUNO Award for Classical Album of the Year, the Orchestre Classique de Montréal presents Distant Echoes of Africa, a concert celebrating composers and artists of African descent featuring Cameroonian-Canadian soprano Suzanne Taffot and Panamanian-American conductor Kalena Bovell, at Pierre-Mercure Hall on February 6.
Montréal-born pianist, accordionist, producer, composer and musical director Ric’key Pageot – who has worked with everyone from Madonna to the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal – presents Classic Black, classical music written by renowned Black composers, in a rare hometown concert, February 21 at the intimate Salle Claude-Léveillée at Place des Arts.
Black history
Michael Farkas, Chair of the Black History Month Round Table, hosts the English-language master class A Walk Down Memory Lane: The Black Community in the Jazz era with Dorothy Williams, the legendary Montréal author and historian, at the Afromusée on February 8.
Black literature
Lectures LOGOS Readings is a series of monthly multicultural readings hosted by award-winning author H. Nigel Thomas and renowned human rights advocate Maguy Métellus at the UNIA Hall (2741 Notre-Dame West) in Little Burgundy. For their February 10 edition, guest readers include Valérie Bah and Fimo Mitchell, followed by an open mic.
Live theatre
Evenko and Broadway Across Canada present the triumphant story of the Queen of Rock and Roll TINA – The Tina Turner Musical at Salle Wilfrid-Pelletier from February 4 to 9.
Canada’s oldest Black theatre company, Black Theatre Workshop presents the English-language Vierge which – with heart and humour – follows four Congolese-Canadian girls as they navigate Christianity, virginity and teenage hormones. Runs at the Segal Studio at the Segal Centre for the Performing Arts (February 12 to March 2) as part of BTW’s 54th season.
Exhibitions
Inspired by the words of Audre Lorde and James Baldwin, the Fondation Massimadi Foundation presents Everyone Dreams About Me group exhibition showcasing Afro’Queer artists, February 26 at the Centre communautaire LGBTQ+ de Montréal.
Dance
World-renowned African-American dance company Step Afrika! headlines Théâtre Maisonneuve on February 23.
At the movies
The Rhythms & Resistance event will screen the five-part NFB series Sounds & Pressure: Reggae in a Foreign Land, followed by a discussion with the directors. The event also includes the launch of the The String Up exhibition organized by the Afrosonic Innovation Lab, which celebrates the history behind reggae and sound-system culture in Montréal. CKUT DJs will provide music while The Caribbean Food Factory will serve up food throughout the evening. February 7 at the Espace ONF. Get your free tickets here.
Director Jephté Bastien’s feature film The Draft tells the story of Jack, a young African-Canadian whose dreams of an NHL hockey career are shattered by a racist attack, who then places his aspirations in the hands of his gifted younger brother, Will, as they navigate racial prejudice and police brutality in Montréal. Premieres at the Cinéma du Musée on February 18.
Black comics
The 13th edition of Canada’s only all-Black comedy tour, The Underground Comedy Railroad Tour, headlines The Comedy Nest (February 2) with co-headliners Tamara Shevon, Daniel Woodrow, Keesha Brownie, Emmanuel Lomuro, Vance Michel, and Montréal’s very own Rodney Ramsey.
Beyond Black History Month
The 41st annual Festival international de cinéma Vues d’Afrique runs from April 3 to 13. The festival screens international features, documentaries and shorts by filmmakers from across Africa and the African diaspora.
Check out the complete Black History Month schedule at Mois de l'histoire des noir.e.s
Richard Burnett
Richard “Bugs” Burnett is a Canadian freelance writer, editor, journalist, blogger and columnist for alt-weeklies, mainstream and LGBTQ+ publications. Bugs also knows Montréal like a drag queen knows a cosmetics counter.