Montreal’s Divers/Cité Festival Celebrates 21

Montreal loves to party. Montreal loves to party all night long, night after night, a fact that was made abundantly clear throughout the nearly weeklong 21st edition of Divers/Cite, one of Montreal’s most beloved summer festivals.

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

Returning to Quai Jacques Cartier in Old Montreal for its second year, the “New Divers/Cite in the Old Port” celebrated its 21st birthday with a series of anniversary parties, including Saturday night’s Sunset Party, Edition Def Mix, a special 25th birthday tribute to Def Mix Productions that was beautifully complemented by the grand finale fireworks of L’International des Feux Loto-Québec on the neighboring isle of Saint Helen.

Under a shimmering summer shower, Def Mix DJs Frankie Knuckles, Hector Romero, David Morales, and Brazilian star Memê commemorated 25 years with an incredible birthday celebration marked by shamanistic ecstasy.

More than merely a business, Def Mix is a family of musical artists (bound together by the matriarchal Judy Weinstein), now celebrating a quarter century of making infectious house music together.

With raindrops sparkling like confetti beneath the rainbow lights, Romero worked alongside New York house icon Morales and the two musical legends burned up the night with a sexy, seductive set marked by sinuous rhythms that slipped deep into the souls of the passionate crowd cheering in rafter-raising joy.

One of the most popular events during Divers/Cite‘s reign over the city is Mascara, the annual three-hour, gender-bending extravaganza, hosted by Montreal’s resident drag diva extraordinaire, Mado.

Also known as “The Biggest Drag Show on Earth,” Mascara celebrated its 16th anniversary with more than 100 sequined and glittering dancers and drag queens in a cavalcade of jaw-dropping performances inspired by Broadway, Vegas, and Bollywood.

Behind the inspired leadership of General Director Suzanne Girard, and brilliantly programmed by Ian Abinakle and the eternally fabulous Mado, Divers/Cité celebrated its 21st edition with a spectacular celebration of musical and artistic diversity in its myriad forms.

Friday night’s New Society party welcomed Infected Mushroom, whose wildly infectious performance was matched by the fanatical adulation of the ebullient crowd. Hailing from Israel, the LA-based psy-trance duo is currently ranked among the world’s top ten deejays, which was verified by the crowd’s fervent zeal.

Throughout the weekend, massive video screens flanked the stage, projecting a simulcast of the festival, radiantly videographed by the dynamic Cameron Brothers, videographers par excellence. Working both Divers/Cite stages, resident choreographer Scott Fordham led a corps of free-style dancers in a booty-shaking, free-for-all that incited the crowd to utilize their higher pelvic power and work their own moneymakers.

Divers/Cite 2013 also featured sets from Horse Meat Disco, Will Automagic, jojoflores, and Body and Soul legend François K.

The climax of Divers/Cite‘s multi-day festival is always La Grande Danse, one of North America’s largest outdoor dance events. After a celebratory Divers/Cite brunch at Les Eclusiers par Apollo, La Grande Danse commenced on Sunday afternoon for a ten-hour, open-air dance marathon that featured Stereo! OnTour, a traveling collective of the Spanish label’s hottest DJs performing together.

Stereo! label founder Chus L. Esteban and partner-in-crime Pablo Ceballos (a.k.a. Chus + Ceballos) tore up the Grande Danse stage, alongside New Iberican League members David Penn and Patrick M, as well as Montreal’s Nicola Torriero and Marciano. All through the blissfully chill night, the Spanish superstars Chus & Ceballos laid down an uplifting set that combined heart and soul with pelvic persuasion.

For the 15^th consecutive year, Divers/Cite‘s Friday evening event was also 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.

In the swoon of late afternoon, the cyclists zoomed along the quay, their helmets bedazzled, bedizened, and feathered as the crowd lined the route, cheering their hometown heroes across the finish line in a joyous celebration of camaraderie and perseverance.

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.

Founded in 1993 on the principles of diversity, solidarity, and openness, Divers/Cite annually reaffirms that while we are “All Together Different,” there are also times when dancing in the glow of love and community we are all together one.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION: Click here for MRNY slideshow of Divers/Cite 2013.