Organizations of outdoor festivals – including the Montreal Jazz Festival, which begins Thursday – are not alarmed by the episodes of smog that have suffocated Quebec in recent days, but continue to monitor the situation closely.
“That’s one of the challenges that events have to face,” says Naomie Rousseau, communications and digital development coordinator for FestiVoix, a music festival that will begin Thursday in the heart of Trois-Rivières. “We have protocols and measures in place” in the event that the air quality deteriorates, indicates Mme Rousseau, without specifying the measurements. The organization says it is working with the authorities to ensure that the event takes place safely.
The story is similar on the side of Équipe Spectra, which notably organizes the Montreal International Jazz Festival, whose launch is also Thursday, in Montreal. Oscar Jerome, Kokoroko and Christone “Kingfish” Ingram are among the performers scheduled to take to one of the outdoor stages that evening.
“We will monitor developments this week and work with the relevant authorities,” Spectra said in writing.
PHOTO ANDREJ IVANOV, AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Leonard Cohen’s mural braving poor air quality on Sunday in Montreal
The La Noce festival, which will begin on July 6 in Saguenay, where the number of fine particles in the air was high on Sunday, will make a decision shortly before the festival, “depending on the conditions at the time”, informs Greg Kitzler, relations of press. “We will have to check with an expert in the field who can then advise us,” he says.
“It will be good if he gets wet”
Air quality was considered poor on Sunday in the Mauricie’s largest city, but the FestiVoix is continuing its preparations for the festival. The aftermath of the pandemic has prepared organizations for all eventualities, explains Ms.me Rousseau. “The events industry is constantly adjusting,” she adds.
I am convinced that we will be able to hold the event.
Naomie Rousseau, communications and digital development coordinator at FestiVoix
On Monday, the improvement in air quality in Trois-Rivières delighted the organization, as did the rain forecast for the next few days.
“For the first time, for a festival, it would be good for it to get wet,” she says, laughing… but before the start of the festivities.
On Sunday, the air quality in Montreal was the worst in the world, according to the IQair site. Environment Canada’s smog alerts, which affected most regions, including Montreal, Mauricie and Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean, were lifted on Monday.