Black & Blue Festival 2026

The Black & Blue Festival is one of the world's most celebrated circuit party events — a long-weekend festival held in Montreal each October during Canadian Thanksgiving, drawing approximately 20,000 visitors from across North America and Europe. The festival was founded in 1991 as a fundraiser for BGLTQ Montreal (now Action Séro Zéro) and has raised millions of dollars for AIDS/HIV causes over its history. The flagship event, the Blue Ball, is a massive production in a convention-centre venue with top-tier international DJs and production values that define the circuit party format. The Black & Blue weekend typically includes multiple satellite events — a bear event, a leather event, a tea dance — in addition to the main Blue Ball, creating a full-weekend programme for visitors who travel specifically for the festival. Despite the October timing and the cold Montreal weather, the indoor nature of the events makes Black & Blue a year-round destination event. It remains one of the most significant circuit events in the world and a fundraising institution that has shaped both Montreal's gay scene and the broader response to HIV/AIDS in Canada.