page_title: Saint Catherine Street
section_title: Gay Village
hierarchical_section_title: Saint Catherine Street / Gay Village
caption_attribution_description: Français&#160;: Village Gai à Montréal, près de la station de métro Beaudry. English: Montreal's Gay Village, near the Beaudry metro station.
context_page_description: Saint Catherine Street is the primary commercial artery of Downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It crosses the central business district from west to east, beginning at the corner of Claremont Avenue and de Maisonneuve Boulevard in the city of Westmount, traversing the borough of Ville-Marie, and ending on Notre-Dame Street just east of Viau Street in the borough of Mercier–Hochelaga-Maisonneuve.
  The street runs parallel to the largest segments of Montreal's underground city. The series of interconnected office tower basements and shopping complexes that make up this main thoroughfare lie immediately north of the street.
  Educational institutions located on or near the street include Concordia University, McGill University, Université du Québec à Montréal, Dawson College and LaSalle College.
context_section_description: Montreal's Gay Village (French: Le Village gai) extends along Sainte-Catherine Street in the east end of downtown, between Saint-Hubert and Papineau. Beaudry Metro station, on the Green Line, provides the most convenient access to the Village and sports a permanent rainbow decoration on its façade.
  For most of the summer, from mid-May till mid-September, Sainte-Catherine Street is completely closed to vehicular traffic through the Gay Village, making it one large pedestrian area, allowing all the stores to sell outside and all the restaurants and bars to serve on large, open-air terrasses.
  Summer is also punctuated with special events and festivals such as the art festival FIMA, Festival International Montréal en arts, Pride Celebrations and Divers/Cité.
caption: A partial view of Montréal's Gay Village, with Métro Beaudry (subway) station at left long St. Catherine East
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