State of Emergency organizer Annie Roy says the festival aims to give a bit of hope to Montreal's homeless. (CBC)

Montreal is known as a city of festivals, but the five-day State of Emergency festival, is unlike any of the city’s other events.

The so called “manifestival”, now in its 11th year, focuses on the city’s homeless population.

Organizers from the group Action terroriste socialement acceptable, French for Socially Acceptable Terrorist Action, have set up an urban village at Émilie-Gamelin Park in downtown Montreal.

Tents have been set up to house about 300 people.

There are visual artists, musicians, medical care, full meals — and even haircuts for those who need one.

"It's a village in the town with a lot of positive energy," said organizer Annie Roy. “A little solidarity of society, behind homeless people — to do all of this together, to recognize the problem and to be there also as resilience, to put a bit of hope in their life.”

"It's a sense of community," said Chris Aung-Thwin, co-ordinator of the group Homeless Nation. "That is one of the things that is most lacking when people are on the street ... the sense of community, of friendship and that sense of belonging."

Artist Donigan Cumming displayed two panels he made — portraits of people displaced by a real estate development in the late 1980s.

"The pictures were taken when their neighbourhood was coming to pieces," said Cumming, "It is nice to have it here — it fits."

Organizers said they recognize the problem of homelessness won’t go away. But they said they hope this annual event will raise awareness about the issue — and for a brief time, give the homeless a place to call their own.

State of Emergency runs through Monday.