how to spend a sunday afternoon in montreal?

i've been told countless times about the sunday tam-tam (drums) circle on the mountain and have been meaning to go every weekend since i arrived. today, the weather was perfect, i finished my studying and walked towards to mountain, camera in hand.

heading though Parc Jean-Mance towards the moutain.

so i was expecting a circle of 20 or so people, sitting in a neat circle, all drumming together. maybe some people dancing around the outside or just listening. but as i approached i could see this was certainly not the case...

a sense of community in such a huge crowd.

i felt like i was in some weird time warp between 1960s woodstock days and some happy time in the future where people of all races, ages, backgrounds come together to play music and dance.

there were families, young people, old people, people who had come alone, people who had come together. there was little talking, mostly just the rythm, the smell of sweat, weed, and autumn leaves.

i don't know if i've seen so much eccentricity all in one place. but while people were such individuals, so uniquely interesting, there was a common rhythm, a shared beat, a shared place, a shared outrageously beautiful autumn afternoon.



apparently the sunday tam-tams are quite famous. you can read about them on wiki, montreal city site, city noise and even see them on youtube.

you can see more of my photos on flickr.