04 Jul What to do in Québec in July
Summer in Québec City brings people from around the globe to visit one of the top destinations in North America. Locals also like to celebrate the brief but beautiful summer by all means possible. Festivals, barbecues, outdoor music, are just a few of many reasons we like to come together.
We recently celebrated Québec’s national day, Canada Day, Québec City’s 409th anniversary and are heading towards the Festival d’été (music) the Tall Ships regatta and Festival of Nouvelle-France. These major events have certainly contributed in making Quebec City such a prime touristic destination. The main reason to visit Quebec City is and always will be to visit this historical Unesco site with all of the culture, history and charm dating back to 1608, when Quebec City was founded.
The Festival d’été starts July 6th and will showcase hundreds of artists over 10 days in venues all around the city. This year marks their 50th edition. Stages and sites were renewed and relocated to concentrate the activities closer to the Old Québec. Big names like Metallica, the Who, Muse, Lady Antebellum and many others will take the Bell stage (Plains of Abraham) to immerse you in different styles and crowds.
Smaller parks and venus will greet up and coming musicians as well as local artists. The Hydro-Québec stage is only 3 minutes walk from the Manoir d’Auteuil and will present free concerts every days and night. All music styles are covered so we are good to go for a great musical ride! Access passes are available on site.
By the end of July (18th through 23rd), Québec city will welcome around 40 tall ships preparing for their last regatta towards France. The event is part of Canada’s 150th anniversary and will allow young and old to discover the universe of these beautiful sea giants. The crews will parade in the Petit Champlain neighbourhood and will share their love of sailing with the crowd on July 20th à 2:00PM. Dozens of activities and shows will take place during those 5 days, all influenced or inspired by the sailors’ life.
These ships were in Québec city in 1984 and gathered close to a million sailing enthusiasts along the shores of the Saint-Lawrence river. We expect just as many to show up this year as the tall ships will parade in the waters between Québec city and Lévis as they leave (July 23rd, 8:00AM).
Get your marine knots in order, time to practice! It’s s a “rendez-vous”
The last two weeks of July are known in Québec as the “construction weeks” as most of the population and construction workers are on vacation. The evenings are warm, the days hot and sunny and boutiques are opened late to welcome everyone. Then, July melts into August and with it comes the Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France (New-France Festival from August 9th to 13th). We love our history and are enthusiastic about sharing it. Québec was founded in 1608 and as you can imagine, clothing, food, language and the trades were completely different from today. During the Festival de la Nouvelle-France, we go back in time and embrace those roots. Starting August 9th and for 4 days, visiting Petit Champlain (a Old City neighbourhood only 15 minutes walk from the hotel) is like time travelling! Join us and discover where we (and maybe you too) are from!
There is no way one can stay locked up in a room while visiting in the summer! Québec city is so full of life and love, come get your piece of the pie!
