It was thanks to a call for projects launched last spring by the City of Montreal that the Igloofest team, which has been running the popular electronic music festival in the Old Port since 2007, was selected to organize the major event on December 31, we learned The Press.
The festivities will take place on the Jacques-Cartier Quay in the Old Port of Montreal, as part of Igloofête, the free part of Igloofest. At least eight artists will perform between 8 p.m. and 2 a.m., not to mention the traditional countdown and fireworks at midnight, accompanied by a multimedia performance.
Pascal Lefebvre, CEO of Multicolore, which oversees Igloofest, but also Piknic Électronik and the new Palomosa festival, three events he co-founded, was delighted with the news. He called it a “natural” collaboration.
“We are seasoned event producers, we have been working outdoors since the very beginning, winter is our playground, the territory of the Old Port, we know it like the back of our hand, so for us, it was natural to submit our application. The idea is once again to play outside, to invite people to celebrate and to thumb our noses at winter. So we are delighted to take up the torch of Montréal en Fêtes.”
PHOTO HUGO-SÉBASTIEN AUBERT, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Pascal Lefebvre is the co-founder of Igloofest, but also of Piknic Électronik and the new Palomosa festival.
It will be recalled that the organization Montréal en Fêtes, led by brothers Martin and Jean-Francis Durocher, was the promoter of the traditional free New Year’s Eve show in the Old Port as well as winter festivities in Old Montreal since 2013. But at the beginning of December 2022, the board of directors of the NPO announced that the event was no longer “financially viable.”
As a result, no events have taken place in Old Montreal over the past two winter seasons – not to mention the suspension of festivities during the pandemic. A situation that the City of Montreal and Tourisme Montréal wanted to remedy.
Tourisme Montréal spokesperson Aurélie de Blois believes it was time to present an event like this.
We would like Montreal to become a hub for December 31 celebrations, comparable to those in New York, so that it becomes a major event in our tourist calendar.
Aurélie de Blois, spokesperson for Tourism Montreal
She continues: “For three years, we have been promoting Montreal winter internationally, we say that we experience winter like nowhere else, so it happens through events like these.”
The Igloofest team has concocted a program – right from its call for projects! – that will cast a wider net than electronic music. Without revealing the names of the artists who will perform – the announcement will be made in November –, Pascal Lefebvre confirms that several musical trends will be in the spotlight.
“In addition to electro, there will be pop, hip-hop, funk, the French-speaking movement will be well represented. We will also have parity among the artists who will perform.”
Six other thematic events
The call for projects also aimed to ensure that the City of Montreal is lively throughout the holiday season. Six other thematic events were selected – among the 22 proposals received. In total, the City is providing funding of $1.6 million for all activities – including the December 31 event.
In the lead-up, from December 29 to 31, the Aire commune organization will organize the Montréal festive event at Place Jacques-Cartier. During these three days, thematic developments and family activities will be available during the day, while free concerts will be presented in the evening.
On the Quartier des spectacles side, La Lutinerie will host the 4e Grand Christmas Market, while L’Auguste Théâtre will organize the Festival Noël dans le parc; Montreal the Happiest will organize The Manifestation of Joy of the Holiday Season, while the Festival Triste will host Noël doux, both at Place du Village, in the Ville-Marie borough. Finally, the Maison de la poésie will organize Récits divers, at Place du Canada.
Two years ago, the Montréal en Fêtes team estimated that organizing the December 31 event—as well as the street entertainment in Old Montreal—which attracted about 200,000 visitors, would cost $1.8 million. However, the Durocher brothers only had a budget of $800,000. Will the budget allocated by the City for the December 31 event be enough?
“It’s a significant amount of funding,” Pascal Lefebvre told us, hoping to make economies of scale by using the facilities at Igloofest, which opens on January 16, “even if the scenography won’t be identical.”
We are still looking for sponsors, because we have no ticketing revenue. This is our biggest challenge, because production costs have increased by about 40%.
Pascal Lefebvre, CEO of Multicolore
Ericka Alneus, responsible for culture, heritage, gastronomy and nightlife at the City of Montreal, is convinced that economies of scale will allow Multicolore to meet the challenge and Montrealers “to wish each other a happy new year by the river.”
“We are dealing with an organization that is used to this type of event,” she told The Press. We will observe the results, there are probably things to adjust, but beyond the financial aspect, there is the question of how we use the material to support the costs of two events. We will also see what the tourism benefits will be. […] The wish is to be able to maintain winter activities from year to year. It is possible that we will reissue a call for projects next year, but over several years.