Crowded security guards, inverted security barriers, noise in the surroundings: Internet users have lamented on social networking sites several incidents that took place during the Metro Festival in Montreal last weekend.
In some of the videos that have gone viral on Instagram and Dictoc, you can also see festival goers entering the site without paying or fighting. Joined by Duty, The organizer of the event, Olivier Primeau, condemned the actions and noted that an internal investigation was underway to shed light on the actions. “These are unforgivable acts. These events are unfortunate, but we are in it and we are here to improve.”
Olivier Primeau believes that the very low number of festivals of this size in the last two years due to the epidemic may have played a part in the irritability of those attending certain festivals. “But that doesn’t justify it [ces agissements] “, He says.
According to the Public Relations Officer of the Ville de Montreal (SPVM), V deronique Comtois of the Service de police, those attending five ceremonies were arrested, one for assaulting a security guard and the other for arming a police officer. ., Which is currently under investigation.
Sports journalist Daphnée Malboeuf went there on Twitter with a heartfelt cry, regretting the lack of guards around the festival. “To get home, I walked down the middle street, because there was no light on the sidewalk, near the alleys,” he explains, waking up a number of drunks who were harassing him on his return. Home after a day’s work.
Post-match reaction: It would be too much to ask the festival organizers # Metro Metro Need to add security around the event? Not feeling safe to return home, e.g. People with severe intoxication. That seems to me to be too low ?! ????
– Daphnee Malboeuf (apDaphneeMalboeuf) May 23, 2022
“It is the responsibility of the metropolis to see to the proper functioning of the festival which is already disturbing the residents,” he says. However, he insists that “this is a festival that showcases local artists” and that it’s normal to have a lot of noise and a lot of people when you’ve in town. “But not coming home was what motivated me to write [les tweets]. ⁇
At the time of writing, the mayor of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Pierre Lessard-Blais, has not responded to our interview requests.
Political reactions
Joined by Duty, The mayor of the city of Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve, Pierre Lessard-Blais, explains that the territory of the Olympic Park is not subject to municipal administration. “A leaflet was sent a few weeks before the festival to inform citizens that the Olympic Park was responsible for the event, so send any complaints to the Olympic Park,” he explains. “I have no authority to provide any advertisers who are welcome on the site.”
Regarding the maintenance of the premises, he adds, “When I toured the department on Monday afternoon, we did not have a big series of calls about cleanliness in the department.”
For its part, the Office of the Mayor of Montreal, Valerie Blonde, “Regrets” the actions of certain visitors over the weekend. “We would like to remind those who come to the festival to show good citizenship at all times, for the safety and respect of all those who live near the festival,” press official Marikym Gaudreult said in writing.
He also confirms that at the request of the city, the overcrowded contingency plan was presented “in good and proper form” by the promoter and before the Olympic Park hosted the event.
“We will be in touch with the organizers to determine what needs to be done to avoid this type of overflow,” he adds.
“People were eager to celebrate”
Student Sami McNigol attended the opening day of the festival last Friday. She says she never felt the danger, though she notes that the crowd was special to her. “We are coming out of the epidemic and I felt people were eager to celebrate.”
During Friday night’s rapper Lil Pump’s show, Oliver Primo went on stage and said he was disrupting the concert. Mosh pit, Can turn violent. A Mosh pit It often occurs at the foot of the stage when members of a crowd collide with each other in the form of a brutal dance.
“At many festivals, this is done. When we see things stirring up a lot on the front, we calm down the excitement,” Olivier Primau explains, warning the organizing committee that he should not give any encouragement to the artists. Mosh pit Their concert will be canceled.
Last November, it was such crowds that led to other things Astroworld festival tragedy, In Houston. During rapper Travis Scott’s concert, ten people died, suffocated and trampled by the crowd, and hundreds more were injured.
Despite this warning, student Sami McNigol decided to drop a song before the end of the evening’s show. “It’s heavy; It has become customary to push those around you. At least it was easy to get out, ”he says.
Olivier Primeau is planning a third edition of the festival next year, still in the Olympic stadium sector, but not necessarily on the Esplanade, hoping there could be more space near Saputo Stadium. He says he is optimistic about the future of the event, which sold out last weekend.
“This is the second year we’ve worked with the site, which is already a big improvement over the first year,” he maintains, adding that he plans to increase staffing next year to reduce damage to the neighborhood.
“Having more presence outside the site would be very important,” he believes.
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