MUTEK Montreal: The Six-Night Electronic Festival's Founder on Starting in 2000
MUTEK, the electronic music and digital art festival based in Montreal, Canada, holds its flagship 2026 edition in August, running six nights. Producer and DJ Zora Jones is confirmed for a DJ set on August 26. Stereogum's column Crossing Wires spent time at the festival and interviewed founder Alain Mongeau, an academic who launched the event in 2000.
What's confirmed so far
- Host city: Montreal, Canada
- 2026 flagship edition: August, six nights
- Focus: electronic and digital creativity
- Sister editions: Barcelona, Buenos Aires, Tokyo, and other cities
- Confirmed performer (per Stereogum): Zora Jones — DJ set on August 26
- Dates, venue details, ticket prices and on-sale information: not stated in this report
The rest of the lineup has not been published in the source report covered here.
From Berlin's rave scene to Montreal
Mongeau holds a doctorate and got into rave culture in the 1990s. His influences included the Interference Festival held during Berlin's Love Parade, Barcelona's Sónar, and the German duo Sun Electric. In the interview, he said that in theory he should have moved to Europe, since that scene drew him more.
What kept him in Canada was family. "I had a kid, so I had to stay," he said. That decision let his idea take root in Montreal in 2000, growing into what is now a six-night electronic music hub.
Full report
The on-the-ground account and full interview appear in Stereogum's Crossing Wires column. You can read the original report here.