The light from the rotating beacons, rather than the fireworks, illuminated Place Jacques-Cartier in the Old Port of Montreal on Friday evening. For the second year, Quebec celebrated the New Year in the grip of a curfew.
Place Jacques-Cartier in Montreal, where tens of thousands of people gather annually to mark the New Year, was deserted Friday evening. The luminous decorations lit up the wet slabs. In the background was the Montreal Ferris Wheel. A puppet show for children was projected on the wall of a shop, for the pleasure of an absent audience. The cheerful music, in contrast to the surrounding silence, added a gloomy touch.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
There was a strong police presence in Place Jacques-Cartier at the start of the curfew on New Year’s Eve in Montreal.
An imposing police presence from the police services of the City of Montreal (SPVM) patrolled the Old Port of Montreal on Friday. At 9:45 p.m., to warn of the imminent arrival of the curfew beginning at 10 p.m., all the police vans turned on their beacons in concert.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Start of the curfew on New Year’s Eve in Montreal on December 31, 2021.
Remember that the Quebec government has decided to impose a curfew from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., as of December 31, to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the province. Private gatherings indoors have also been banned.
Linger until the last minute
A handful of people were still there within minutes of the curfew on Place Jacques-Cartier on Friday, lingering until the allotted time limit. “We do not move from here, as long as we can,” said Press Tanya Basmadjian, a 23 year old young woman from Town of Mount Royal. With a friend, she had rented an Airbnb nearby to spend New Years Eve, she said, lit by blue and red lights.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Tanya Basmadjian lingered until the last minute at Place Jacques-Cartier in Montreal on Friday night.
However, the square remained calm, even after reaching the 10 p.m. mark. No major incident had been reported by the SPVM on Friday at half past midnight.
Ghost town
Once the curfew was in place, the streets of Montreal began to belong to taxis, delivery men and the homeless. Press passed a few passers-by and a number of cars.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Start of the curfew on New Year’s Eve in Montreal on December 31, 2021.
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Start of the curfew on New Year’s Eve in Montreal on December 31, 2021 (boulevard Saint-Laurent)
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Start of the curfew on New Year’s Eve in Montreal on December 31, 2021 (Rue Saint-Laurent)
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Start of the curfew on New Year’s Eve in Montreal on December 31, 2021 (Old Port of Montreal)
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Start of the curfew on New Year’s Eve in Montreal on December 31, 2021 (boulevard Saint-Laurent)
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PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Start of the curfew on New Year’s Eve in Montreal on December 31, 2021 (Rue Saint-Laurent)
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On the Place des Festivals, in the city center, the Christmas market had closed its stalls. Here too, holiday music played over the loudspeakers of the Complexe Desjardins highlighted the abandonment of the place.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Start of the curfew on New Year’s Eve in Montreal on December 31, 2021 (The Christmas market instead of festivals)
From downtown to the Plateau Mont-Royal, via Outremont, Rosemont and the Mile-End, a light mist has replaced the traffic on the normally busy arteries.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
Start of the curfew on New Year’s Eve in Montreal on December 31, 2021 (Rue Saint-Urbain)
The year 2022 was greeted with screams and the crackling of fireworks – on a small scale – that echoed through the city.