Hi--Just purchased a package on Expedia to Montreal for the Jazz Festival the July 4th weekend. $514 for airfare, hotel (boutique Hotel St. Paul) and taxes from D.C. Our first time to the Jazz Festival but second time to Montreal. Anyone know of must-see concerts playing? What about great not-too-expensive restaurants? We LOVED L'Express last year. Toque was too expensive and frankly not worth it. My husband enjoyed Schwartz's. Should we make reservations in advance for restaurants? Any other suggestions greatly appreciated.

I just checked out the free acts that are appearing, and now I'm thinking of going this year! If you only went to the freebies, you wouldn't be dissapointed - some of the acts, such as Paris Combo (fabulous), Sue Foley, and Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials are top notch acts most venues would charge $20 + a ticket to see. I also understand that there are now more tickets available to see Ray Charles, who of course would be a must see.
As for places to eat, do a search on here to find lots of reccomendations. There are lots and lots of great, inexpensive restaurants, espcially on St. Denis, Duluth, Prince Arthur, and that whole area. Many are byob, and most do not take reservations.

lacontessa,
I have topped an old thread about Montreal Restaurants. Good luck and enjoy Montreal, my favorite city!

Thanks for the suggestions. Are there special food vendors for the Jazz Festival? How is the food? Or, should we just plan to go to regular restaurants?

The Fest area can get quite crowded w/ long lines----last year we arrived for a concert rather late----all we could get was a messy mango on a stick----eat before you enter the main area!

The immediate area of the festival is quite crowded, but a 10 minute max. subway ride would get you there, you could do better by eating in the more western part of downtown, anywhere between Peel and de la Montagne street....

Thanks for the advice on this board. Looking forward to next weekend in Montreal. Have purchased tickets to see the fireworks on Saturday, and have free tickets to the jazz festival television taping at noon on Saturday. Restaurant reservations have been made for Boris Bistro, Chez Epicier and L'Express for dinner. We have Paris Combo and Sue Foley on our personalized schedule. Any other artists to see next weekend? What about inexpensive lunch places near by? Finally, what relaxing activity do you suggest for our final day (Monday) after the festival is over?

Thanks a bunch!

We are going to the jazz fest! Got a last minute room for this weekend. Sue Foley is on Friday, so we'll miss her, but there are so many other free acts - Big George Jackson, Sonsax, Paris Combo, etc. As for lunch places - one of our favorite quick lunch spots is Le Commensal, an elegant French style veggie cafeteria with an amazing selection of worldwide dishes. As for something to do on Monday, realize a lot of musueums, etc are closed on Monday. The Botanical Gardens will be open, and there's always lots going on at the waterfront.