On the night of Friday to Saturday, fifteen bars in the Latin Quarter will exceptionally remain open until six in the morning, due to a special event for the start of the school year. This initiative of the commercial development company (SDC) of the district, entitled “la Nocturne du Quartier latin”, is part of a larger project to revitalize the area through nightlife.
“Bars in the neighborhood always want more events like this, there are very positive impacts to staying open later,” says Sandra Raymond, communications and marketing manager for the SDC du Quartier latin.
Few years ago, The duty reported that this historic sector with a name borrowed from the Parisian university district was undergoing many difficulties, including the closure of many businesses.
Today, according to the local SDC, this is not the case: “As far as traffic is concerned, we are almost at pre-pandemic levels, and the premises are renting quickly. In July alone, five restaurants opened, then two more in the last few weeks,” says Ms.me Raymond.
This revival is explained, according to her, by the growing place occupied by nightlife in the development of the district. The City of Montreal is overseeing more and more projects for the late closing of bars, and the Espace St-Denis cultural center — formerly the St-Denis Theater — whose renovation work is scheduled to end in 2025, should, according to the SDC, greatly contribute to the revaluation of the sector.
“The theater is a very big engine for the economy of the district. When there are shows, the bars and restaurants fill up, ”says Mme Raymond. On Thursday, the Espace St-Denis “studio-cabaret” will be inaugurated with a show by Les 7 Doigts.
In recent years, the Latin Quarter has also been the scene of pilot projects during which bars close at 6 a.m. — usually during Nuit blanche à Montréal. This year, because this aspect of the Nuit blanche had been canceled due to the pandemic, the project was carried over to the start of the school year.
Overnight tourism revenue
“The dispensation for the Nuit blanche is a success, but the steps to obtain it remain complex and tedious”, however denounces a report published in May by MTL 24/24, an organization which “analyzes, structures and animates” nightlife in Montreal. MTL 24/24 thus invites the City to consider greater flexibility with respect to the closing of bars, or even a multiplication of pilot projects in this direction.
This report was the first to quantify the impact of nightlife on tourist revenues in the metropolis. It indicates that “22% of all tourists to Montreal in 2019 came because of its nightlife, which represents 2.4 million visitors who spent $909 million”. The Latin Quarter, one of the most important tourist sectors in Montreal, inevitably benefits from the income from night tourism.
Inspire good practices
Remember that Montreal should adopt a first municipal nightlife policy in 2023, among other things to regulate the closing of bars as well as relations between neighborhoods and establishments open at night.
“Cohabitation in the Latin Quarter is always going very well,” says Sandra Raymond. She also points out that her neighborhood, with its density, its pedestrian street in summer, and its proximity to a police station, provides “positive and safe nighttime experiences”, which “inspire MTL 24/24 and the City of Montreal” in developing its best practices.
Like the Latin Quarter with its Back to School Nocturne, MTL 24/24 will also hold a dance event with bar service until 6 a.m., this time in the Quartier des Spectacles on September 30. This is a second test event, following the success of NON-STOP 24/24, a non-stop three-day dance party at the Society for Arts and Technology in May.