Saint Roch/Outremont intersection was the place to be from Aug. 15-17
Who doesn’t like Greek food, music, dance and traditions? Apparently the more than 20,000 people who turned out for the 2026 Montreal Greek Festival in Parc Extension do.
Clearly in a mood to party, they gathered at the centre of Parc Extension on the weekend of Saturday August 15 to talk, eat, dance and soak up some Hellenic joie de vivre at the annual festival.
Held at the same time as the Greek Orthodox Church’s Feast of the Dormition of the Mother of God (August 15), Saturday evening was zero hour for a culminating celebration of all things Greek.
Dancing in the streets
As is the case every year, the dancing and feasting all took place at the corner of Saint Roch and Outremont streets. There, people of all ages – many of them Hellenic teens – formed circles and danced until late into the evening.
In an apparent surge of attendance since last year, well over 20,000 people gathered on Saint Roch Saturday evening as well as over the weekend.
Parc Extension city councillor Elvira Carhuallanqui, who arrived in Parc Extension from Peru more than 20 years ago, said in an interview with Nouvelles Parc Extension News that some of her first memories of the neighbourhood were of its Greek residents and their traditions.
“I know the area well and some of my first memories were of the Greeks,” she said, noting that she was attending the Greek festival long before being elected.
‘Disappointing’ street repairs
Former city councillor Mary Deros, who represented Parc Extension for 27 years, said she was disappointed with the borough’s failure to coordinate sidewalk repairs in the area in a timely fashion so as not to impede the festival.
“They knew this festival was coming,” she told Nouvelles Parc Extension News. “They did a whole lot of sidewalk work and enlarged some of the intersections.
“They could have done this at the beginning so that by the time we were celebrating this holy summer festival, we would not have detour signage and construction fences blocking the streets.”
Ahuntsic-Cartierville city councillor Effie Giannou, speaking on behalf of Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada as deputy mayor, said: “It’s always a pleasure to be here every summer, especially after I return from a trip to Greece. This is an amazing festival year after year. Thank you very much to the organizers for everything they do.”
