It's no wonder the city has become one of the world's preferred gay destinations, with all the stellar gay parties and festivals held in Montréal each year. Thanks to its exceptional track record in holding these events, combined with the tremendous synergies that have resulted, Montréal 2006 promises to be the most highly attended gay and lesbian sport and cultural event ever.

The following list chronicles just some of Montréal's popular gay events that occur throughout the year:

• Bal des Boys to celebrate New Year's Weekend
• Red Weekend on or near Valentine's Day
• The White Party Week became the most important social and cultural spring event in Montréal, held during Easter Weekend
• The International Challenge (Défi International), a hockey tournament organized during the Victoria Day holiday by the Montreal Dragons
• The Wild & Wet Weekend, organized during the Victoria Day holiday weekend in May
• ArtFest, the Gay Village Arts Festival organized by the Gay Village Merchant and Professional Association in June
• The Queer Comics series during the Just for Laughs comedy festival at the end of July
• The Divers/Cite Gay Pride Festival, the third-largest Gay Pride Festival in North America, held at the beginning of August
• Twist Party Weekend, organized by the BBCM Foundation in conjunction with Montréal Pride
• The annual fundraising weekend for the developement of the gay sport movement: Rendez-Vous Montréal 2006, during the Labor Day weekend
• The Rendez-Vous du Lys, an annual softball tournament organized at the beginning of September by Balle-Molle Maxima
• The image + nation International Queer Film Festival held in September
• The Coupe de la Reine (Queen's Cup), an annual tennis tournament organized each September by Montréal Tennis Lambda;
• Ça Marche, Canada's biggest fundraising walk, held in September, organized by the Farha Foundation
• The Black & Blue Festival, the world's largest gay & lesbian benefit event festival, organized during Canadian Thanksgiving weekend (US Columbus Day)
• The Montréal Jump For Real Tournament is a basketball tournament of three days held during Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend
• The Big Jump, an annual volleyball tournament organised during Canadian Thanksgiving Weekend by Volleyball Lambda
• The annual Coupe de Montréal for Gay and Lesbian Master Swimmers, organized each November by À Contre-Courant
• An annual badminton tournament organized each December by Les G-Bleus