Salon du Livre 2018: 41st Edition

Le Salon du livre de Montréal 2018

Montreal Annual Book Show

November 14-19, 2018

Le Salon du livre - the Montreal Book Fair, is the most popular annual fall gathering that is a must to attend for all the book lovers, not only adults but especially children who love to read captivating stories accompanied by excellent illustrations. This is a not to be missed gathering that is taking taking place at its usual location at Place Bonaventure. The show celebrates our collective pleasure in reading exceptional books. There is no lack of finding just such books that would satisfy all individual tastes and preferences. 

Last year, the Show enjoyed approximately 120,000 visitors. This year, due to the fact that the first day was free for all, twice as many attended on the opening day. So the visitor count is expected to rise. Also, for the first time ever, it was possible to purchase a pre-show pass for all 6 days of the duration of the show for only $6, whereas now the ticket costs $6 per day. This should also increase the number of visitors for 2018.

This year features more than 2,000 authors and more than 1,000 publishing houses. The program offers a number of special presentations, prizes, dedications, meetings with the authors and illustrators, all geared not only to professionals but to regular visitors and even children.

The show is a valuable gathering for Quebec and even international publishing houses, editors, writers and professionals, where contacts and many discussions take place. It is a perfect place to conduct business negotiations and to make publishing and promotional deals. A special area is specifically reserved for such professional encounters.

A visitor might be quite surprised by the great numbers of children attending the show and how attentively they look at book stands and shelves, eagerly opening individuals books and look through them. This by itself is an amazing discovery for those who fear that the electronic world of gadgets is taking over not only our minds but especially those of children, affecting drastically the next generations to come. There are still children who love and read books!

Children form lines and crowd around book writers asking them to autograph books they just purchased.

Some of the book displayed are especially attractive. They catch the visitors' attention as quite unique artistic and architectural creations of their own.

Don't forget that a book is the perfect Christmas gift! There are plenty choices of speciality books this year to satisfy everybody's taste and to make the Christmas holidays so much more memorable!

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For more information, visit the Salon's website.
Read my other article about the show here.

La Grande Dégustation 2018

La Grande Dégustation de Montréal
8th Edition

November 1 -3, 2018

La Grande Dégustation de Montréal is the largest annual wine and alcoholic beverages gathering in Eastern Canada. This year, 230 wine producers and distillers from 18 countries gather to share their passion with the visitors, connoisseurs and professionals, presenting more than 1,300 products, 800 of which are private imports. The event is expected 13,000 visitors, allowing Quebeckers to meet producers who come from all around the world while enjoying a unique tasting experience.

This year, Italy is the special guest of honour. Their kiosks occupy almost half of the exhibition space and offer a multitude of tasting experiences. The wine that is especially honoured this year is Pinot Gris, or Pinot Grigio in Italian. Look for many regional varieties of this wine, and talk to the produces to discover their specific growing and wine producing methods.

Besides italy, there are many other international wine producers with excellent wines to discover and taste.

Gin is also in the forefront this year and many excellent varieties are offered for a tasting.

And of course, their are food and culinary products to taste as well.

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For more information, visit La Grande Dégustation de Montréal website.

Italian Wines 2018

The Italian Trade Commission
A Tasting of Wines from Italy
23rd Edition

October 31, 2018

The Italian Trade commission organizes the Italian Wine tasting in Montreal each fall. Once again, as in the past years, it took place at the Marché Bonsecours located in Old Montreal, This annual even is extremely popular and attracts great crowds of wine tasters, producers, distributors, agents, and wine connoisseurs not only from Montreal but other Quebec locations as well as from some eastern Ontario regions. Everybody attending took a great interest wines presented this year. Though the event space is very large, nevertheless it was quite densely filled with the attendees who at times had to wait in line to taste some wines and to talk to wine producers.

This year had a record number of participating wine producers - 254 - each presenting their bet products. The variety and shear numbers of different wines available for tasting was truly overwhelming.

There was also plenty of food, mainly Italian cheeses and charcuterie specialities.

The event was a great success, well organized and very enjoyable.

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For more information, visit the Italian Trade Comission Wine Tasting webpage.

International Tourism & Travel Show 2018

The International Tourism and Travel Show Montreal 2018

30th Edition 

 

October 19 - 21, 2018

 

This year, the annual International Tourism and Travel Show celebrates its 30 years of existence. As in the past, it is held traditionally each fall at the Montreal's Place Bonaventure. An extremely popular event, it attracts not only those who love and plan to travel, but also those who like simply to dream about travelling to far away exotic places. It will definitely provide ideas to your imagination how to go about discoveromg new countries, countries, and worlds.

This show brings under the same exhibition numerous tour operators, travel agents, and the tourism offices representatives from many countries who will answer all the questions and address all the travelling concerns. It is possible to consult 400 experts from around the world and find out about 250 destination featured this year.

There are 400 exhibitors representing 100 countries with thousands of destinations in North and South America, Europe, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa. The visitors can attend about 300 different presentations and many continuous performances.

Spotlight on French Polynesia

Some 40 delegates will travel to the Show from French Polynesia to celebrate the accessibility of the mythical islands and the beauty of their culture. In a prime location that allows for activities and interaction, the team will present the region’s cultural traditions: the Tahitian dance known as Ori Tahiti, which mimes stories, legends and everyday life; wood and stone carving, for which the islands are famous; vanilla, prized by chefs around the world; monoï, a perfumed oil made from flowers that nourishes the skin; tattooing and its symbolic patterns expressing identity and personality; the rich and deep tradition of Polynesian weaving; high-quality pearls and mother of pearl and finally noni, a medicinal plant used by Polynesians for over 2,000 years. The team from French Polynesia will no doubt turn plenty of heads at the Show this year.

Food and international cuisine is also spotlighted at the show.

Plan to find time to attend this show. It will teach you many knew things about our world and provide a great guidance how to plan your future trips.

For more informations on various special events, visit the International Tourism and Travel Show's website.