This was the highlight of the second MTL conference at the top of the night, organized from May 18 to 20 at the Monument-National: NON-STOP 24/24, a pilot project in the form of a large, uninterrupted 29-hour dance party taking place at the Société Technological Arts (SAT) and during which the dancers could legally buy alcohol past 3 a.m.
In the main hall, veteran of the Detroit techno scene John “Jammin'” Collins had already been serving for a good thirty minutes his mixture of techno and house accompanied by soul and R&B voices skillfully developed throughout a career of more than three decades when the derogation entered into force. At the stroke of three o’clock in the morning, the two bars on the ground floor of the SAT continued to serve alcohol, legally, to customers, a very heterogeneous mix of young and old reconnecting with the pleasures of dancing in the middle of the night.
There were no balloons released. No countdown like on New Year’s Day or confetti to mark the lifting of the ban. Just like that, going to order a gin and tonic at 3:05 a.m. became a normal gesture, as it is in many European metropolises, where nightlife has been better studied, understood, planned and supervised than in Montreal. .
Above all, to our knowledge, there has been no excess or apparent misconduct. Shortly before 3 a.m., an SPVM patrol entered the main hall of the SAT – the visit of the police forces was planned as part of the pilot project, the SAT team informed us. In front of them, a few hundred dancers, blissful smiles, enjoying the atmosphere set up by the American DJ. The patrol then headed upstairs where, in the Satosphere, Montreal DJ Christian Pronovost put on records of good percussive and melodious house, once again paying homage to his friend Robert Ouimet, emblematic DJ of the disco era and pioneer of Montreal nights who died suddenly last month. Pronovost was given the dream time slot, from 3:00 to 5:00 in the morning, and occupied it with the expertise that we know of him; when the Satosphere closed, the DJs moved to the rooftop terrace, with Ellxandra and Mr. Touré serving up the right grooves at latte and egg-turn time.
A conclusive experience?
This pilot project, which ended at 3 a.m. on Monday, will certainly be analyzed and studied, and it is hoped that it will be renewed, as it seemed conclusive. This evening smelled of the beautiful pre-pandemic summer night: past 2 a.m., the downtown sidewalks were still crowded, taxis weaving along the Main occupied at first by fans of punk music leaving, satiated, the rooms reserved by the organizers of the Pouzza Fest festival, which also tasted freedom again after two difficult years.
During the conference presented in recent days by the MTL 24/24 organization, the municipal administration took the opportunity to announce the availability of a $2.1 million fund intended for bars and restaurants aimed at promote the revival of this part of the nocturnal economy. MTL 24/24 also unveiled the Economic Report on the city’s socio-cultural night, a study carried out with the support of the City of Montreal, the Government of Quebec and Tourisme Montreal.
The document puts figures on the nocturnal socio-cultural activity of the metropolis: the socio-cultural night trade represents nearly 33,500 jobs. Data collected in 2019 indicates that 22% of tourists visited Montreal to enjoy its nightlife, injecting $909 million into the metropolitan economy.
In terms of recommendations, the Report validates several requests made in recent years by the main players in socio-cultural nightlife, including the creation of a Night Office to ensure good governance, a restructuring of zoning “in certain sectors to facilitate the establishment of nocturnal cultural projects”, and the flexibility of the opening hours of bars, clubs and performance halls and the right to sell alcohol. Interestingly, the Report also suggests ” [d’]evaluate the possibility of adding as a condition for obtaining [de nouveaux permis d’alcool 24 heures sur 24 pour les salles de spectacle et les bars] the commitment to present programming that makes room for the local cultural scene.