2026 Reddit x F1inTO - Annual F1 Evening Meetups in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix Weekend
What: 2026 Reddit x F1inTO - Annual F1 Evening Meetups in Montreal for the Canadian Grand Prix Weekend#
When: Thursday May 21st - Friday May 22nd 8pm#
Where: McLean’s Pub - Second Floor 1210 Peel St, Montreal, QC H3B 2T6, Canada#
If you are an F1 fan that is in Montreal the weekend of the 2026 Canadian Grand Prix, then this is the meetup for you! The scream of the engines, the roar of the crowd, and the great nightlife that Montreal has to offer! The Canadian Grand Prix is always a treat for any F1 fan!! For the past decade we've held a Reddit meetup on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights of the Canadian GP Race weekend. As anyone who has attended will tell you, those evening hanging outs with fellow F1 fans over beers and conversation are a blast! Especially as most of us are coming in from out of town or out of country, this presents an opportunity to meet folks with like minded interests and to make new friends. Talking F1 over a beer or two or more, what is not to love!!
In the past we have had singles and couples from as far as away as Australia, UK, New Zealand, Japan, Brazil, the US, Ireland and yes of course friendly Canada too. No seriously, you’d be crazy to miss this! These are free casual meetups, where there is no reserved seating etc. Just a great opportunity to interact with other F1 fans.
We're changing it up a bit this year and making McLean's our HQ for Thursday, Friday & Saturday. It is an excellent venue that balances the energy, and the ability to hear the person next to you. In addition, the occasional team mechanic or engineer shows up! The Venue is located at 1210 Peel St. There are two McLean’s pubs so please carefully note the address as this is their original location. It's super close to all the action of downtown, but tucked away just enough to not be a mad house. They have two floors, and we gather toward the back of the upper floor. Look out for the Reddit/F1 T-Shirt Hanging. There is a dedicated bar on the upper floor, they serve food, and it's good. Genuinely, the Butter Chicken is Amazing... We try to get there as early as the bar fills up, so plan accordingly.
We have had 30-40 folks show up in the past meetups so plenty of people to interact with!
https://www.mcleanspub.com/pub/?lang=en
Saturday
A lot of people tend to take Saturday on the easy side since the race is the next morning, but for those interested in going out, we will have an informal meet up McLean’s Pub again at 9pm at 1210 Peel Street to get the night started.
Sunday
So for those of you who are still in town after the race, the Crescent Street festival continues into Sunday night. McKibbin’s at 1426 Bishop Street is where we will be heading at 9pm Sunday for those with enough energy to talk more F1 after the race. Look for the Reddit F1 T-Shirt but we'll be outside in the back if weather permits.
Other Things
If you are attending the race, or wish to attend from 6pm daily onward, concerts at the track are being held following the race with separate ticket purchase.
https://2026.gpcanada.ca/en/vitrine/concertCGV/
Thursday
The Pit Lane Walk is May 21st but it is a ticketed event. Like last year, tickets are acquired via a draw in April. However access may still be available with purchase of a concert ticket. It is a great place to see the cars up close, chat up some mechanics and FIA officials. Drivers were not present last year for signatures unfortunately. If you have tickets, arrive at least 60 min before advertised open to get best access.
Festivals
For those new to the Montreal Grand Prix weekend. Crescent Street, Peel Street and Saint Laurent Street have outdoor festivities for the entire weekend. Crescent and Peel Streets tend to be busier than Saint-Laurent (but Saint-Laurent tends to offer a more local experience) with outdoor seating and terraces at most of the restaurants offering great vibe and people watching opportunities.
Crescent Street has a very large stage (at the corner of Boulevard De Maisonneuve) where DJ’s and live bands play Thursday, Friday, Saturdays and Sundays and has had over 40,000 people attending on a Saturday night in the past. It’s quiet the party!
Crescent Street Festival Link:
https://www.crescentgrandprix.com/2025-festival
(2026 Info listed under 2025 URL)
Peel Street festival link:
https://www.formulepeel.ca/en/
A popular question that we hear from folks new to this race is “how do I get to the track from Montreal?”
The track is next to the city of Montreal on the island of Ile Notre-Dame in the Saint Lawrence River. You cannot drive and park on this island the weekend of the race, so your only options are public transportation or taxi/Uber. It’s been our experience after years of going to this race that the Metro in Montreal is for the most part a well-run public underground/subway system and your best way to get to and from the track from Montreal. It is also very reasonably priced and according their website the current Metro prices are $3.75 one way, $7.00 round trip but the best deal if you are staying for all three days of track activity is the unlimited travel 3 day pass for $21.75 which allows you to explore the city as well. This 3 day pass also allows you to travel for free on the 747 Bus from and to the airport btw. There is a week-long pass for $32 which goes from Monday to Sunday each week if you are planning on staying longer. There is also a 10 ticket option for $34.25 if that works better for your group.
The track is on the yellow line of the Metro system. You get on BERRI-UQAM (the beginning of the yellow line) and you get off at the next stop. The green and the orange line connect with the yellow line at BERRI-UQAM also. The entrance to the track where they check scan your GP tickets is about a block from this JEAN_DRAPEAU stop. After that follow the crowd walking over the bridge and the hairpin turn area is where you enter the island and you are there.
To return to the city you walk back over the bridge to the Metro stop station and take the train heading towards BERRI-UQAM.
For folks who have difficulty walking last year there was a 777 bus from JEAN-DRAPEAU metro station to the Casino which is in the middle of the track but the bus service can change bus schedules slightly on St. Helen’s Island around the Grand Prix so you may want to double check the week before the race. The 777 bus gets busy after 9AM.
This is the map of the Montreal Metro system:
https://www.stm.info/sites/default/files/media/Stminfo/images/planmetropolitain.pdf
Hopefully this helps.
If you have any comments or questions, please feel free to post out here and some helpful folks will respond.
We have a Discord group for those attending the race and would like to keep up with activities going on during the weekend:
Get excited there is an F1 race weekend in your future!!!