Another event, twice a week, over the Saint-Laurent river: The Montreal fireworks competition, L’International des Feux Loto-Québec.

I finally made it to the river and watched it from the Village Éphémère again. Until the start of August, six teams from around the world compete for the Jupiter trophy with a 30-minute show.

Founded in 1985, the Montreal Fireworks Festival is regarded as the most prestigious and largest fireworks competition in the world. The fireworks are synchronized to music which is also broadcast over the local radio, so for the time of the show the DJ in the village had a break.

You can buy tickets for the show held on Île Ste-Hélène, but there’s plenty of great free viewing sites, like the St. Lawrence river banks on each sides, the Vieux Port, the Jacques-Cartier Bridge which is closed to traffic the during the show, or the La Ronde amusement park.

It’s a perfect way to close one of these hot Montréal summer evenings, with a beer in hand, with a couple of thousands Québecois.