The Montreal Burlesque Festival is here!

As fall starts to chill the October air, the scorching hot Montreal Burlesque Festival™ will set Montreal on fire with three days of performances by the world’s finest burlesque artists.

The festival’s delicious calendar promises a weekend of dazzling shows, featuring every style of burlesque imaginable, titillating activities and workshops and opportunities to meet stars in person.

The festivities will kick off on Thursday, October 17 at 8 p.m. with an official meet-and-greet dinner at the Parisian brasserie, Le Pois Penché, where guests will have the pleasure of mingling with artists and enjoy up-close performances by Egypt Blaque Knyle and Vayda Rhinstone. A native of Los Angeles, Mrs. Blaque Knyle has been a dominant force in major burlesque competitions, ascending rapidly to the highest echelons of 21^st Century Burlesque Magazine’s rankings. The fabulous Mrs. Rhinstone, who hails from Chicago and is literally a pin-up poster come to life, has been leaving her sparkles on stages across the American Midwest for the past decade.

On the evenings of Friday and Saturday, October 18 and 19 at Club Soda (1225, St-Laurent blvd), bejeweled and bedazzling burlesque fans will dress to the nines and gather at Club Soda to be entertained by the best in the business. On Friday, the first half of the show features artists from Canada, the U.S., Italy, the UK, France, Cuba, and South Africa who will compete for the highly coveted Lili St Cyr award for best act and 1^st and 2^nd runner up. The show would not be complete without the breathtaking headline performances by Jett Adore, Miss Tosh, Frankie Fictitious (2019 Burlesque Hall of Fame Queen), Miss Jolie Papillon and Scarlett James for the highly glittery second half.

Saturday night’s gala will turn up the heat a few notches with shows by Lily Lynx, Scarlett Martini, Alexanne Plouffe, Candy Applebottom, Electrik Poodles Duo, Kitty Kin Evil and a special performance by the previous evening’s Lili St Cyr Award winner, Scarlett James, Montreal’s own international burlesque legend and the festival’s founder will take to the stage, premiering a new and grandiose act. On Friday and Saturday, the festivities will continue after the curtain comes down with after-show cocktails at the devilish Wiggle Room.

Also on Saturday, fans of all ages, levels and backgrounds seeking a more personal and physically immersive experience may attend a number of daytime burlesque workshops at DG Studio77, taught by Frankie Fictitious, Roberta Kent, Vayda Rhinstone, Miss Tosh, Egypt Blaque Knyle and Jett Adore.

The media and the public are invited to learn more about the artists, discover the festival’s full schedule, and purchase tickets at montrealburlesquefestival.com. For each pair of tickets sold, a tree will be planted in the Amazon forest, courtesy of onetreeplanted.org.

Fans are also encouraged to support Scarlett James’ anti-bullying efforts by joining her Facebook group (https://www.facebook.com/groups/1307992202701302/) and sharing the hashtag #themanyfacesofbullyism.