Montreal’s Divers/Cité to Celebrate 21st Birthday

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As Montreal locals are fond of saying, there are two seasons in their city: winter and festivals. Founded in 1993 on the principles of diversity, solidarity, and openness, Divers/Cite is one of the most beloved of Montreal’s forty annual festivals.

A multi-day LGBT music and arts festival with more than fifty hours of music and performance, Divers/Cite‘s motto is “All Together Different,” which stresses the festival’s belief in both individualism and community.

(Source: MRNY)

(Source: MRNY)

This year, Divers/Cite celebrates its 21st birthday from 29 July – 4 August 2013 with a return to its new home at a newly-expanded two-stage outdoor site on the Jacques-Cartier Pier in Old Montreal. Additionally, Divers/Cité will be hosting a series of beach parties at Plage de l’Horloge.

For years, Divers/Cite has collaborated with Def Mix and Stereo Productions, two of the music world’s most renowned labels. This year, in honor of the long familial friendship, both the Sunset Party and La Grande Danse will pay homage to these house music legends.

(Source: MRNY)

(Source: MRNY)

More than merely a business, Def Mix is a family of artists celebrating 25 years together. At Divers/Cite‘s Sunset Party, David Morales, Frankie Knuckles, Hector Romero, and Memê will commemorate a quarter century of house music with an incredible birthday celebration on the Divers/Cité stage.

For the 15th consecutive year, Divers/Cite‘s Friday evening event will also serve as the finish line rally for the Friends For Life Bike Rally, the six-day, 600-kilometer journey from Toronto to Montreal that raises funds to help support those people living with HIV/AIDS.

(Source: MRNY

(Source: MRNY

The climax of Divers/Cite‘s seven-day festival is La Grande Danse, one of North America’s largest outdoor dance events. Commencing on Sunday afternoon, the ten-hour, open-air dance continues long past sunset. For this year’s 21st anniversary celebration, Divers/Cité will feature Stereo! OnTour, a traveling collective of the label’s hottest DJs performing together. Stereo! label founder Chus L. Esteban and partner-in-crime Pablo Ceballos (a.k.a. Chus + Ceballos) will share the Grande Danse stage with four of the label’s greats: New Iberican League member David Penn, Patrick M, as well as Montreal’s Nicola Torriero and Marciano.

Aptly named, Divers/Cite‘s programming showcases a range of music as diverse as Montreal’s population, including dance, blues, jazz, electronica, trance, techno, deep house – and vocals.

Divers/Cite 2013 will also welcome music from Infected Mushroom, Horse Meat Disco, Will Automagic, jojoflores, François K, Abel, Denise Benson, and Divers/Cité favorites Ana Paula, Isaac Escalante, Stephan Grondin, and Alain Jackinsky.

(Source: MRNY)

(Source: MRNY)

Without question, one of the most popular events during Divers/Cite‘s weeklong reign over the city is Mascara, the annual three-hour, gender-bending tour de force, hosted by Montreal’s resident drag diva extraordinaire, Mado.

Thousands of people gather for what has become North America’s largest drag extravaganza – to cheer, laugh, and sing along with more than 100 sequined and glittering glamorous drag queens.

Recently designated a UNESCO City of Design, Montreal received the award for its citywide emphasis on talent, tolerance, diversity, and technology – all factors that enable a plurality of values and overall inclusiveness of its citizenry.

(Source: Divers/Cite)

(Source: Divers/Cite)

Throughout its 20-year history, Divers/Cite has evolved into an urban Burning Man festival that brings together tens of thousands of music lovers from around the globe.
 With its surfeit of outdoor parties and performances, Divers/Cité rivals the intensity of Winter Music Conference while channeling the love-fueled atmosphere of Woodstock – and each year, Divers/Cité highlights the music that fuels Montreal’s collective heart and soul.

As Def Mix producer Morales has said about his role at Divers/Cite, “I am creating a place for people to forget their troubles for a while, [which] is important in the world we are living in today.”

Each year, Divers/Cite serves as a reminder that while we are “All Together Different,” there are also times when we are all together one.

Mark Thompson

About Mark Thompson

A member of Authors Guild, Society of American Travel Writers (SATW), and New York Travel Writers (NYTW), Mark Thompson is an editor, journalist, and photographer whose work appears in various periodicals, including Travel Weekly, Metrosource, Huffington Post, Global Traveler, Out There, and OutTraveler. The author of the novels Wolfchild (2000) and My Hawaiian Penthouse (2007), Mark completed a Ph.D. in American Studies. He has been a Fellow and a resident at various artists' communities, including MacDowell, Yaddo, and Blue Mountain Center.

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