Fête nationale du Québec by Car: Planning June 23 and 24 in Montréal and Québec City

The Fête nationale du Québec is a two-day event in practice, even though only one date is the holiday. The 23rd is the eve, with the capital's big concert on the Plains of Abraham. The 24th is the day itself, with the parade and the main show in Montréal. Neither city moves cars easily on those days, which is why a plan matters. This guide is written from the curb: where a chauffeur can and cannot stop, how long the road from Toronto takes, and when you should simply take the métro.

If you are coming from Toronto, a Montréal limo or a Québec City black car booked through our Toronto dispatch removes the two worst parts of the trip: finding parking near a closed street and driving home after a long evening. If you are already in Québec, the same logic applies to the short hops between your hotel and the crowd.

What is the Fête nationale du Québec, and when is it?

The Québec government's own site gives the dates plainly as the 23rd and 24th of June, and it publishes the programme by region: the Capitale-Nationale (Québec City) and Montréal each have their own page, with a national calendar behind them. You can read it at fetenationale.gouv.qc.ca. After the 2026 edition the government reported more than 6,000 activities and 600 events across Québec over the two days, with local programming in places such as Gatineau, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières, Laval and Saguenay. Those are the government's own figures. For a car, what matters is that two stages reshape the roads.

For 2027 the calendar is easy. June 24, 2027 falls on a Thursday and June 23 on a Wednesday. The 2027 programme was not published when this page was written, so the specifics below use the 2026 edition as the pattern and say so where it matters.

Is June 24 a holiday in Québec, and in Ontario?

In Québec, yes. June 24 is a statutory holiday, and it is not moved to another date for most workers. Québec's government has explained how the rule works when June 24 lands on a Sunday: employees who usually work Sundays have the 24th, and others take June 25 instead. You can see that explanation on quebec.ca. In 2027 it falls on a Thursday, so none of that applies.

In Ontario, no. The province's list of public holidays covers New Year's Day, Family Day, Good Friday, Victoria Day, Canada Day, Labour Day, Thanksgiving, Christmas Day and Boxing Day, and June 24 is not among them (ontario.ca). That matters for planning from Toronto in two ways:

• An Ontario office is open on the 24th, so a Thursday trip to Montréal usually means leaving on Wednesday or taking the day.
• Québec businesses, banks and many shops are closed on the 24th, so do not arrange a meeting, a pickup from an office or a delivery for that day.

Our dispatch runs 24/7, including on Québec's holiday. Vehicles and chauffeurs are licensed and commercially insured, and Québec service is available in English and French.

Montréal on June 24: the parade, Parc Maisonneuve and the Grand Spectacle

In 2026 the City of Montréal's tourism board published the programme for the Fête nationale in the city (mtl.org). The pattern is a good guide to what the 24th looks like:

• The parade, titled "Je t'aime Québec" in 2026, left at 2 p.m. from rue Rachel Est at the corner of rue Molson and moved east to the corner of avenue d'Orléans, beside Parc Maisonneuve.
• Parc Maisonneuve opened at noon with food trucks, a children's zone and a seated lounge, and the park is where the day ends.
• The Grand Spectacle at Parc Maisonneuve was listed for 19:30 on the 24th, with about thirty artists, followed by a DJ set from 22:00 until midnight.
• Across the island, 77 neighbourhood parties on the 23rd and 24th brought music, communal tables, children's activities and fireworks to lanes, parks and public squares.

All of it is free, which is why the crowd is enormous. Parc Maisonneuve is both the end of the parade route and the concert site.

The curb reality in Montréal

Rue Rachel Est and the streets around the park are part of the parade and staging area, so treat the blocks near the park as closed to cars once the parade is under way. A chauffeur will not try to reach the gate. Expect a meeting point on a larger street a few blocks back from the closures, chosen on the day from the live road situation, and a short walk. If someone in your group uses a wheelchair or a walker, say so at booking so the point can be set as close as the closures allow.

For the departure, the same applies in reverse, with one addition: when a show ends at around 22:30 and tens of thousands of people leave together, the first hour is the worst possible time to pick anyone up. A pickup 45 to 60 minutes after the finale, from a side street, is faster and calmer than a pickup at the gate.

Québec City on June 23: the Plains of Abraham

Québec City's centrepiece is the Grand Spectacle on the Plains of Abraham on the evening of the 23rd. For 2026 the government's post-event release described a large on-site crowd and a live province-wide broadcast. The tourism office Destination Québec cité lists the 2027 show for June 23, 2027 at 19:30, free, with the note that access to the Plains is by the Croix du Sacrifice, at the corner of Grande Allée Est and avenue George-VI (quebec-cite.com). Confirm the time on the government programme closer to the date. For a different Québec City concert night, see Festival d'été de Québec.

The curb reality in Québec City

Grande Allée is the long restaurant street along the edge of the Plains, and it is also the way in. On concert evenings a car cannot count on stopping near the Croix du Sacrifice. The practical approach is to drop on a cross street before the crowd, walk the last stretch, and arrange the pickup away from the entrance. If you are staying in Old Québec, you can often walk to the site, and the car is for the return only, when legs are tired and the streets are full. Our Québec City limo page covers the city's hotel areas, the airport and the Gare du Palais.

Getting there from Toronto

The Toronto to Montréal run is 541 km on Highways 401 and 20 and usually takes 5.5 to 6.5 hours of driving, plus a stop. Our Toronto to Montréal car service page lays out the stops. Holiday departures from the GTA put extra traffic on the 401 east, so add padding to the arrival time rather than promise one. A mid-morning departure from Toronto lands you in Montréal in the afternoon with time to check in before the evening crowd gathers.

From Montréal to Québec City is about 255 km, usually 2.75 to 3 hours via Highway 40 on the north shore or Highway 20 on the south shore, and our Montréal to Québec City car service page compares them. Toronto to Québec City directly is roughly 800 km, which is a full day, not a casual drive. If your plan includes both cities, break it up: Toronto to Montréal on the first day, the two-city programme in the middle, and Québec City by road on the 24th or 25th.

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A two-city plan for the 23rd and 24th

Most visitors cannot do both stages well in the same two days. Here are two clean versions:

1. Montréal only. Arrive on the 22nd. On the 23rd walk the neighbourhood parties and eat well. On the 24th, join the parade or its end in the afternoon, then the evening show, then a car from a side street. Leave on the 25th.
2. Québec City first, Montréal second. Spend the evening of the 23rd on the Plains, sleep in Old Québec, and drive the 255 km to Montréal on the morning of the 24th, arriving in time for the afternoon. This is feasible but tight, and you should leave early and keep the car for the day.

Where to be collected: a calm pickup plan

The most useful thing a car does on the 24th is to remove the single worst moment, the moment of leaving a closed zone with thousands of others. A calm plan has four parts:

• Agree a meeting point the day before. Your chauffeur will give you the point and a backup. It will be a street the car can reach legally, usually one or two blocks outside the closures.
• Walk away from the crowd first. Even five or six minutes of walking away from the gate or the finale makes the pickup faster.
• Keep your phone charged. A messaged pin is better than a spoken description in a dense crowd.
• Do not plan a tight connection afterwards. If you have a late train or an early flight, allow generously.

If you need a vehicle on standby for the whole evening, rather than a single pickup, see our hourly chauffeur service. The reason is practical: a car that waits at a distance is easier to find than one that circles the closures.

Groups, families and accessibility

A group of six to eight with strollers or a mix of ages is better off in one vehicle than in two cars. The Luxury SUV takes up to six passengers and 5 to 6 large bags, and the Executive Sprinter takes 12 to 14 passengers with 12 or more bags. For a larger group, a mini-coach or party bus (20 to 30 passengers, hourly) is possible, and the exact vehicle is confirmed at booking. If you travel with small children, say so: child, toddler and booster seats are available on request at booking, and Québec has its own rules about child restraints, so do not improvise.

Both sites are open parkland with a lot of standing and walking. If someone has limited mobility, ask for a pickup point as close as the closures allow, and ask the organisers named on the official programme pages about accessible viewing areas.

Weather, the long evening and what to bring

Late June in Québec is warm and the evenings are long, but a summer storm is possible, so keep a light rain layer in the bag. You may spend six or seven hours on your feet, and the show starts in daylight and ends after dark. Bring water and a charged phone.

Alcohol rules follow Québec law and are confirmed at booking, and we never promise drinks on board. Anyone who plans to drink should not plan to drive, which is one of the clearest reasons to arrange a car in advance.

When the métro, the train or a walk wins

Honest advice for this weekend is that a car is rarely the fastest way to the gate. The STM runs the métro and the bus network in Montréal, and for large events it publishes its service changes in advance. Its site carries a planned-events calendar and a trip planner at stm.info. Exact 2027 service will not be known until the spring.

The train is a real option for the long leg from Toronto. VIA Rail runs the corridor service between Toronto Union Station and Montréal's Central Station, and you can check the timetable at viarail.ca. Our Montréal Central Station car service page explains how we meet trains. If you take the train out and want a car for the city day and the late return, that is a sensible split.

Booking a car for the Fête nationale

Book early. Hotels fill on both nights, and the best-located rooms and the best-positioned vehicles go first. When you book, give:

• The pickup address and the destination (hotel, venue neighbourhood or station).
• The number of passengers and bags, so that the right vehicle class is assigned.
• Any child seats, mobility needs or a name-board for an arrival.
• A backup contact for the group.

The online booker shows the exact all-in fare for your address and vehicle before you confirm, and the fare is fixed. Our cancellation terms are simple: more than 72 hours' notice no charge; 72 hours or less 10%; 48 hours or less 50%; 24 hours or less or no-show 100%, measured from the scheduled pickup time. For the fuller picture of what we do in the province, start with our Québec limo hub and the Montréal limo page, or browse other event guides. If your trip also includes a December visit, see New Year's Eve in Montréal and the Old Port.

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