Montreal’s first immersive light show ‘Ancestra Lumina’ coming to Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery this fall

An immersive nighttime experience is in the works at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery this fall.

The 172-year-old cemetery, the largest in Canada partnering with an acclaimed multimedia studio to launch Ancestra Lumina, Quebec’s first-ever immersive nighttime tribute walk.

Montreal-based Moment Factory, a globally renowned studio known for its light show productions and Lumina night walks, is behind the project — marking a second partnership the studio has undertaken with The Fabrique of Notre-Dame Parish of Montreal.

“With the success we had with AURA, at Montreal’s Notre-Dame Basilica, it was only natural to call upon our partner’s Moment Factory, which are renowned worldwide for having experiences that are well designed and respectful of the place that they implement,” said Michel Issa, CEO of The Fabrique of Notre-Dame Parish of Montreal.

“The purpose of the project is to honor the people that came before us,” said Patricial Ruel, creative director at Moment Factory.

“It’s really going into the roots of what is a cemetery which is to remember our beloved one that passed away,” added Ruel, who spoke of wanting to find a modern way to pay respect to the deceased resting at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges Cemetery.

Visitors will be able to access the new tour through the entrance on Remembrance Road after the cemetery’s operating hours, where 600 guests will be welcome to walk the trail every hour throughout the evening until 11:00 p.m.

During the planning phase, organizers say they’ve paid special attention to ensure the 2.1-kilometre trail and its staging respects the site’s mission while also highlighting the cultural and natural richness of Mount-Royal.

“We want the people to sometime discover for the first time the cemetery, for other people to rediscover it, and to go back in time to see the rest of the cemetery,” Ruel said.

“What is amazing about that place is that it’s a landmark of Montreal that is very unknown from Montrealers for the beauty of the monument, the beauty of nature.”

To honour not only 343-acre site’s peace and tranquility, the tour will also be structured around eight stations, where lighting, sound installations, projections and archival materials will be used to pay homage to notable figures who are laid to rest at the Notre-Dame-des-Neiges.

“Emile Néligan, La Bolduc, Lise Payette, Robert Bourassa, Brian Moroni, Father Emmett Pops, all figures that had a significant impact on Montreal and Quebec, in Canada, in our society,” said Issa.

After more than a year and a half of planning, organizers say visitors will be able to set foot on the cemetery grounds after operating hours and partake in the immersive tour this upcoming fall season in September.

“The different stations that will express different moments of the life of the human being. So, from the bird, to learning, love, evolving, fighting. So, all the states that people will experience their own life and to each of these stations, we will honor different people that have built our society,” Ruel said.

Family members with a loved one resting at Notre-Dame-des-Neiges are invited on June 13 to record their name with the Fabrique of Notre-Dame Parish of Montreal so they too can be honoured during the experience.

“This cemetery holds over a million deceased in the cemetery, and this is a way to pay respect to everybody that contributed to Montreal’s and Quebec’s society,” Issa said.