Quebec City: Festivals & Events
Festivals and Events in Quebec City
Most cities treat winter as something to survive between festival seasons. Quebec City builds its biggest event of the year around it, and that single fact says more about the place than any list of summer concerts could.
Carnaval de Quebec (February)
The Winter Carnival has run since 1894, annually since 1955, and organizers bill it as the largest winter carnival in the world; more precisely, it is the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The 2026 edition runs February 6-15. Bonhomme, the snowman mascot who first appeared in 1955, wears a red tuque and ceinture flechee sash, and the mayor symbolically hands him the keys to the city to open the event. Expect parades, ice sculptures, and the Dufferin Terrace toboggan slide running at full tilt.
Hotel de Glace (January-March)
North America’s only ice hotel is rebuilt from scratch every winter at Village Vacances Valcartier, about 35km from downtown, using roughly 500 tons of ice and 40,000 tons of snow over a six-week build. The season runs roughly early January to late March (exact 2026 dates verify), overlapping neatly with Carnaval. Day visits and overnight stays are both offered.
Festival d’ete de Quebec (July)
Canada’s largest outdoor summer music festival runs 11 days in July, drawing roughly 1.5 million attendees across the run with a main stage capacity around 100,000. It is the polar opposite of the Carnaval crowd: shorts and sunscreen instead of parkas, the Plains of Abraham instead of the frozen Old Port.
Fetes de la Nouvelle-France (August)
Running annually since 1997, this event turns Old Quebec’s streets over to costumed interpreters and reenactors bringing 17th- and 18th-century New France back to life, with optional period-costume rental for visitors who want to join in rather than just watch. For where to base a trip around any of these dates, see Quebec City: Where to Stay .
Planning around the calendar
Winter events need accommodation booked months out; rooms near Old Quebec vanish fast once Carnaval dates are announced. Summer festivals mean higher hotel rates and cruise-ship crowds layered on top of festival crowds, so book Petit-Champlain-area hotels early if the trip overlaps July.