Photo Essay: Montreal's Tam Tam Jam: Free-Spirited Festival Extraordinaire

Winters in Montreal are cold, snowy, icy, and frigid, so when the sun begins to peek its head out and melt away the bitterness of winter, people in Montreal really know how to let the sunshine in. One example of free-spirited, sun loving fun is the Tam Tam Jam, which takes place each Sunday during the warmer months at the Sir George-Etienne Cartier Monument on the east side of Mount Royal Park. The gathering usually attracts hundreds of people, both locals and visitors alike, from a variety of backgrounds to come and spend an afternoon in the park and enjoy music and sunshine.

The name of the festival is derived from the French word for hand drums, tam-tams. While walking through the hordes of people, you are likely to find dozens of drum circles, some large and some small, with various beats coming from each and mixing into a cacophonous melange of music. If you don't have any tam-tams, don't worry. You can buy them and many other artistic, handmade items from vendors whose blankets are lined up along Avenue du Parc. Prefer to play a guitar, harmonica, cello, or glockenspiel? No problem. Join in a group or start jamming out by yourself. Don't care to make music? Again, no big deal. You can dance, juggle, play hacky-sack, throw a ball for your dog, sit on the edge of the statue and sun bathe, or just sit on a blanket and take it all in.

As you can probably tell, this is an "anything goes" festival. It is free to participate. If you like doing your own thing and like other people who enjoy the same, Montreal is the city for you. If you enjoy carefree summer days of music and relaxation or watching people who do, the Tam Tam Jam is not to be missed. This is the spirit of Montreal embodied.