Heavy Montréal (stylized as Heavy MONTRÉAL, formerly known as Heavy MTL) is a two-day, summer heavy metal and hard rock music festival held annually at Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It also includes various other events at different venues across the city. The "MTL" in the former name, Heavy MTL, served as both an abbreviation for "Montreal" and "Metal". In 2014, the festival was officially renamed as "Heavy Montréal".[1] In 2023, the festival revived the "Heavy MTL" moniker once again through its logo.
In 2011, a sister event, Heavy T.O., was created for Downsview Park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Both events were held during the same weekends, with most bands playing one day in Montreal and the other in Toronto. Despite the Toronto event's popularity, however, promoters ceased operations there after the festival's 2012 incarnation.
For the 2014 festival, Heavy MTL was officially rebranded as "Heavy Montréal". This was done as an "evolution" of the festival, with efforts made to include a wide array of styles in its programming.
The festival took a one-year hiatus in 2017, citing the renovations taking place that year in Parc Jean-Drapeau and the increase in other cultural events due to Montreal celebrating its 375th anniversary [fr].[2] In November 2019, event promotions company Evenko announced that Heavy Montreal would not occur in 2020, in part due to "the number of non-festival metal/rock concerts that will be announced over the next few months", said Evenko chief operating officer Jacques Aubé.[3]
The 2016 edition of Heavy Montréal took place on 6–7 August 2016.[7] For 2016 the festival was held on a new site in Parc Jean-Drapeau, la Plaine des Jeux.
Due to the high number of metal live shows performed in Montreal during the year (Metallica, AC/DC, Kiss, Dream Theater, Marilyn Manson, Motörhead and many more) it was announced that the festival would not take place in 2009 and return in 2010.[11]
