Nuit blanche at Place des Arts: enjoy a unique multidisciplinary artistic experience... completely free!

Poetry, music, performances and exhibitions from 8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. 

Montreal, February 4, 2026 – On Saturday, February 28, Place des Arts and Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) will be presenting the third edition of Nuit de la poésie as part of Montréal en Lumière. After breaking a crowd record with more than 6,000 curious souls at last year’s Nuit blanche, Nuit de la poésie is making a name for itself as an essential arts event in Quebec. From 8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. visitors will get to move easily in and around Place des Arts spaces and discover several free, accessible activities: Nuit de la poésie, this year including performances in Quebec Sign Language (QSL); new music performances on Baschet sound structures; the exhibition Paramètres XXV; the media work Métallophytes on the mosaic of screens; theater at Théâtre Duceppe; and OSM concerts at Maison symphonique and Espace OSM (The Magic of Orchestra). Plus, a surprise performance will liven up Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme starting at midnight! 

The public is invited to enjoy a night packed with emotions and surprises, where tongues and bodies find release in creating a memorable, moving encounter. 

PROGRAM 

Nuit de la poésie | Poetry readings and dance improvisations 
An even more inclusive edition 

Conceived by poet and UQAM professor Marc André Brouillette, for a second year in a row, Nuit de la poésie will bring together words, music, bodies and images throughout the spaces of the cultural hotspot personified by Place des Arts. Artists from the worlds of poetry, music and choreography, including dancers Pénélope Desjardins and Rafa Tremblay-van Zuiden from the Department of Dance (UQAM), will be getting together to present intimate, caring, committed worlds. 

New this year: poems translated simultaneously into Quebec Sign Language 

Opening at Salon urbain with Innu poet Joséphine Bacon, Elder in Residence at UQAM, the event features over 25 poets from all generations and cultures, including Dominique Fortier, France Théorêt, Camille Readman Prud’homme and Tania Langlais, as they take turns sharing their love for words. Discover all the guest poets. 

The bookstore Port de tête will be back so that the public can acquire works by poets taking part. 

Nuit de la poésie | Baschet sound structures performances 

At Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme, visitors will get to attend music performances by the PercUQAM ensemble, under the direction of Professor Gina Ryan from the Department of Music (UQAM), on Baschet sound structures, percussion instruments as visually striking as they are vibrant, created in the 1950s by the Baschet brothers and which have profoundly inspired contemporary music, including electronic music. 
 

Nuit de la poésie | MÉTALLOPHYTES media work 

The media work Métallophytes (2025) by UQAM students Marie Di Caro and Audrey Grandchamp will be displayed nonstop on the mosaic of screens in Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme. The work deploys different landscapes shaped by a poetic text that addresses essential environmental issues. 
 

Paramètres XXV exhibition 

The 25th edition of the exhibit Paramètres will be presenting all the richness of works by students at UQAM’s School of Visual and Media Arts, selected by a jury made up of members of the faculty. 

The School favors multidiscplinary training, and Paramètres reflects the wealth of its programs in the diversity and quality of the works carried out by its students. An opportunity to explore the creativity of artists on the rise! 
 

Surprise presentations 
Two 15-minute music performances with exciting artists will take place at the Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme, in collaboration with the Société pour l’avancement de la chanson d’expression française. 

Nuit blanche at Théâtre Duceppe with Collège Lionel-Groulx 

Like last year, Duceppe will be welcoming second-year students from Collège Lionel-Groulx’s École de théâtre professionnel, under the supervision of actor and teacher Daniel Parent. They’ll stage a montage of excerpts from three plays by playwright and director Olivier Kemeid: L’Énéide, Five Kings: l’histoire de notre chute and La vengeance et l’oubli. The three stories will intertwine to illustrate the complexity of power, parentage, and the journey of refugees seeking a land where peace prevails. 
 

The Orchestre symphonique de Montréal 
Cuivres et Cloches en lumière: 30-minute concerts 
 

The Magic of Orchestra at Espace OSM: 

• 7:00 to 10:00 p.m.: instrument discovery activity for children
• 10:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.: improvisation workshop on the theme The evocative power of music 

Complete schedule of Nuit blanche at Place des Arts 
Saturday, February 28, 2026, from 8:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m. 
 

Noon to 1:00 a.m.: Paramètres XXV exhibition, Salle d’exposition at Place des Arts 

8:00 to 11:45 p.m.: Baschet sound structures performances, Espace culturel George-Émile-Lapalme 

8:30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.: Nuit de la poésie, Salon urbain at Place des Arts 

8: 30, 9: 45, 11:00 p.m.: Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, Maison symphonique  

11: 30 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.: Nuit blanche at Duceppe with Collège Lionel-Groulx, Théâtre Jean-Duceppe 

Midnight: Surprise performance, Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme 
 
Nonstop: Screening of the digital work MÉTALLOPHYTES, mosaic of screens at Espace culturel Georges-Émile-Lapalme 

Source: 
Géraldine Zaccardelli 
Communications and Public Relations Manager at Place des Arts 
gzaccardelli@placedesarts.com 

Media relations: 
Mélissa Roy 
Roy & Turner 
mroy@roy-turner.com