The 20e Nuit blanche ended in the early morning of Sunday, to the delight of festival-goers… and shopkeepers. A pilot project for the late closing of bars on Saint-Laurent Boulevard and in various cultural venues was a great success.
“Our sales were excellent last night,” rejoices Raphael Kerwin, owner of two bars on the Hand, including the Blue Dog, which exceptionally closed its doors at 6 a.m. for the Nuit Blanche. “Our only problem is that we had more cleaning to do today, so it went very well! »
Nearly twenty establishments on Saint-Laurent Boulevard remained open later than usual for the Nuit Blanche. This is an initiative of the Société de développement commercial du boulevard Saint-Laurent and the organization MTL 24/24, carried out as part of the development of the future nightlife policy of the City of Montreal. .
Mr. Kerwin also notes that the experiment took place peacefully. On the side of the Police Department of the City of Montreal, there are no major overflows related to the Nuit blanche.
The Montréal en lumière festival also wanted to celebrate the 20e anniversary of the Nuit blanche in style, by organizing a free concert at the MTelus. The Society for Arts and Technology hosted the annual Les 24 heures du vinyle event, and the Phi Center presented several performances and artistic installations until dawn.
These three events are part of a series of seven pilot projects, also led by MTL 24/24, which aim to serve alcohol until six in the morning, in a safe manner, in selected establishments. A medical team and workers from the Psychosocial Intervention Research Group were present on the scene. There is only one event left to come from the series, which will take place at Livart on March 11th.
Close the bars late all year?
Mr. Kerwin is therefore very satisfied with the pilot project that was carried out on Saint-Laurent Boulevard, but he does not believe that the situation would be viable every week. “We could perhaps see more overflows and, above all, nobody wants to work until six in the morning. My team was happy to participate in the Nuit blanche, but it would be complicated in the long term. »
With the lack of workers, it is more and more difficult to open late.
Rosemarie Dion, manager of Le Darling bar, a few blocks north of the Blue Dog, believes that “people have not gone out since the pandemic, they are no longer used to staying up late”. His bar was not one of the establishments selected for the Nuit blanche. “We would also have had trouble with the workforce. I don’t think that’s realistic right now. »
She adds that bars that close later must also offer food or be near restaurants to attract enough customers. However, Le Darling “lacks the manpower to open a kitchen at full capacity”.
John Castillo, who works at the legendary restaurant Schwartz’s, indicates that he spent a rather “quiet” evening on Saturday, among other things because he must close his doors at 11 p.m. “With the lack of workers, it is more and more difficult to open late. »
Mr. Kerwin still wants the experiment to be repeated from time to time. “Why not every season? When you organize such an ambitious event, people want to go out, it can be really interesting. »