Struggling with stagnating funding, as theinflation is inflating its production and labor costs, the organization responsible for the New Year’s Eve show in the Old Port of Montreal has no choice but to cancel the 10e edition of Montréal en Fêtes.
“What I can say is that there is funding that has stagnated for years, including that of the City, which has not increased since the coming to power of Valerie Plante [en novembre 2017]although the event has grown in size in recent years”, raised Tuesday in an interview at the To have to the vice-president of the board of directors of Montréal en Fêtes, Martin Durocher.
Created in 2013, the annual event ensures the holding during the month of December of various fun activities in public places set up in the heart of Montreal, which culminates on December 31 with the New Year’s show and the traditional fireworks in the Old Port of Montreal. These free activities attract approximately 200,000 festival-goers per year, which generates “significant economic and tourist benefits for the city and its merchants,” noted Montréal en Fêtes in a press release released on Tuesday.
This year, however, the organizers have come up against significant financial challenges. In the context of inflation and labor shortages in Quebec, they did not obtain an increase in funding for the event to match their requests from the three levels of government, indicated Mr. Durocher. . “We have been renewed for subsidies roughly at the same level as last year. »
After analyzing the financing obtained and the production costs of the event this year, the organizers have thus found that they lacked about 1.8 million dollars to balance their budget, confides the co-founder of Montréal en Fêtes. After first studying the possibility of paying for the event, the organization finally decided to announce the cancellation of the festivities, while maintaining the hope of having the means to resume next year, if funding is there.
“The organizers have decided to take a break in order to discuss with their partners, review the event’s financing structure and rethink its economic model for the future,” notes the Montréal en Fêtes press release. The organization thus wishes to ensure that the free activities “survive” in the long term. “We have work to do, both public and private,” to increase our funding, added Mr. Durocher.
The cabinet of the mayoress of Montreal, Valérie Plante, had not reacted when these lines were written.