Despite the intense, blowing wind and icy sidewalks that have plagued Montreal today, spring is really just around the corner. Warmer days are only about a month away! And because Montreal lacks a proper, extended period of seasonal transition, we can also expect a quick turn into summer!

Montreal summer, of course, feels like one never-ending, paradisiacal festival. Remember the relaxation of picnics in the park, the rush of bike rides through the Plateau-Mont-Royal, the excitement of music and food festivals, and the thrill of summer colours and smells that envelop the city? Only a few more months to go!

TL;DR "Gardens of Light" 2019, including the "Lantern Festival" at the Chinese Garden, will take place between September 6th and October 31st at the Montreal Botanical Gardens.

Then, to cap it all off at the end of the summer, there's the annual "Lantern Festival," "Gardens of Light," at the Montreal Botanical Gardens. During this sprawling event, sections of the gardens are electrified with colourful light installations that turn the complex into a dazzling, fairytale-like display.

No display is more highly anticipated than that at the Chinese Garden, where everything from the pavilions, groves, and central pond are illuminated with enormous lanterns.

Today, the arrival of this exhibition seems a little less distant.

While the beginning of summer is still months away, the Botanical Gardens have already announced the dates for the 2019 edition of the Lantern Festival!

According to the Espace pour la vie calendar, "Gardens of Light" will take place this year between September 6th and October 31st from 6pm to 10pm.

The website states that the lanterns in the Chinese garden will "evoke the founding myths of this millennia-old civilization."

"You’re sure to be charmed by this imaginary cosmos inhabited by unusual creatures and a bestiary illustrating the origins of the Chinese people and the nature and beings that surround them," the site continues.

The promise of this event is just the thing to get us through these last few weeks of winter. Don't wish for the beginning of the Lantern Festival too soon, though! That would mean the end of summer!

Stay tuned for more news about the Gardens of Light event!