Montreal festivals | The end of free outdoor programming?

You can stroll around Place des Arts for decades without having to pay a penny to see shows during the summer. But if we do not redress the situation, the debacle of Just for Laughs could only be the first step towards the end of festive summers in the city center, warn the management of several other festivals, which are calling into question free admission.

The collapse of Just for Laughs, which took shelter from its creditors on Tuesday and canceled the presentation of its 2024 edition, highlights a fundamental problem in the financing of festivals, believe the leaders of six other events major events, including the Montreal International Jazz Festival, Fierté Montréal and the Nuits d’Afrique International Festival.

In a letter entitled “The fear of being next”, they call on the authorities, particularly the City of Montreal and the federal government, to take note of the “budgetary impasse” in which their organizations find themselves. While recognizing that the financial troubles of the Just for Laughs Group were not only linked to the presentation of its festival, they see its discomfiture as a “wake-up call”.

Read “The Fear of Being Next”

“The difficult context in which the festivals presented free of charge in the heart of Montreal have been taking place for years has had to be placed in the minus column,” they write. One of the problems, according to them, is that “crowd success does not rhyme with financial success”.

The income formerly derived from the sale of food and drink “has melted away”. The pandemic and inflation have hurt them. The signatories also point to financial support that they consider inappropriate from the City of Montreal and the federal government. The increase in the number of festivals also means that the amounts granted to one or the other may have decreased since “the envelope serves more clients”.

“We are calling for a change of direction, for real awareness and for the rapid implementation of an action plan, a strategy that would breathe new life into a festive Montreal that we wish to preserve,” they write again, claiming to have solutions to propose.

Review the business model

One of the solutions put on the table by the Grouping of Major and International Events (REMI) is neither more nor less than the end of free access to all outdoor programming for major events. The organization also commissioned a survey, of which The Press obtained a copy, where she tested ideas such as the establishment of seats, VIP zones or paid bleachers with residents of the greater Montreal area.

“We would maintain [l’essentiel de] free, but could certain exceptions be made to the rule? », asked Martin Roy, president and general director of REMI, in an interview with The Press. The survey shows that if the population is very attached to free access (90% of respondents consider it essential), between 46% and 63% are open to the establishment of areas accessible only to people willing to pay for comfort or a seat closer to the stage.

None of the festivals could implement such a measure without first agreeing with the City of Montreal since, to have the right to occupy public space, they are required to offer free programming. “We talked about it with the City,” confirms Martin Roy, “and for the moment, the City is not showing the necessary openness. »

Ericka Alneus, responsible for culture on the executive committee of the City of Montreal, emphasizes that the end of universal free access is a “well-known battlehorse of REMI”. “We are not closed to exploring options that would allow coexistence between a free festival offering and paid elements,” she said, however.

However, from his point of view, this is not a solution that applies to all events. “Accessibility to culture through our festivals is intrinsically linked to the soul of our city”, also indicates Ericka Alneus, adding that this accessibility is her “first responsibility”.

Regarding funding, she recalls that last year the City distributed the million dollars which was used to present Week-ends du monde at Montreal festivals. “We are monitoring the situation closely, we want to be able to sit down to find different options that relate to each [ordre] of government,” she assures, while recalling that the City and governments also face inflation and budgetary constraints.

Harmful structures?

The shock announcement of the debacle of the Just for Laughs Group raises questions, judges François Colbert, holder of the chair of arts management at HEC Montréal, in a letter addressed to The Press.

The very structure of the Just for Laughs festival, an NPO which includes one or more for-profit entities, deserves to be questioned in his eyes, since, according to his analysis, “the profits are kept by the for-profit company and the expenses are allocated to the NPO.” He wonders if the Just for Laughs NPO would be on the verge of bankruptcy if it had “kept control of recordings and other paid products”.

Read the letter from François Colbert

“It’s an old story, as far as I’m concerned, we’ve been talking about this for years,” reacts Martin Roy. He argues that organizations apply codes of ethics, that the government has studied the issue and that everything is considered “legitimate”. This type of structure was set up, he says, because the federal government does not provide support to NPOs.

“I don’t understand why in culture, in festivals or elsewhere, this poses a problem, when there are companies and multinationals like Northvolt, Danone or Bombardier who receive sums a thousand times larger than what we can. receive,” underlines Martin Roy, while criticizing these double standards. He also believes that public subsidies constitute a good deal when we take into account the economic benefits generated by the festivals.