Mondial de la Bière Begins in Montréal

On June 16, 1994, the first Mondial de la bière opened on the Esplanade of Place des Arts in Montréal. Vincent Blair, Pierre Lalumière, and Jeannine Marois founded the event after testing whether Montréal could support a public beer-tasting festival. The four-day inaugural edition brought together more than forty breweries represented by twenty-two exhibitors and offered nearly one hundred beers. Approximately 20,000 visitors attended the first edition. The festival created a public showcase for Québec’s developing brewing industry while also introducing drinkers to beers from elsewhere in Canada and abroad. It later expanded its educational and professional programs and became a prominent international beer festival, helping connect Montréal’s beer culture to a wider global tasting and festival network.