Montreal's "White Night" a Treat for the North Country

Festival-goers bombard the streets of Old Montreal in the lifeless month of February to take advantage of the free entertainment that is Nuit Blanche or "White Night."

Story and photos by Amanda M. Smith

After a long and boring winter slumber in the dark and dreary cave, a bright shining light from atop the skyscrapers of Montreal signals that tonight’s the night; it’s the time of the year again to come out of that bear-like hibernation for some price-reduced - and even free - festival fun.

For eleven years, major corporations like Hydro-Quebec, Sun Life Financial, Air France and Bank of Montreal have sponsored the two-week long High Lights Festival, which provides such programs as Performing Art, Wine & Dine Experience, Celebration of Light, the High Lights Event and Nuit Blanche. The intent of the festival is to prove that Montreal residents can have fun during a time when the season tends to affect mood for the worse. And like a gift from the city to its people, entertainment is fairly priced to help those having financially hard times, city folk and business owners, renew their economy once again.

"Nuit Blanche is a chance to discover the city...at a time of year when many people, tired of snow and cold weather, could really use a pick-me-up, ...and enjoy life in the dead of winter. "

On the festival’s last Saturday of its last week, Nuit Blanche, “White Night” in English, is referred to by Montrealers as the All-Nighter. This year will be the seventh edition of the event and is chock-full of live performances, music, exhibitions, and design in three of the city’s districts as well as the “Underground City” and the Pole Maisonneuve (Botanical Gardens & Olympic Park.)

Since Paris began the very first Nuit Blanche, the idea has become an international sensation with cities of varying countries such as Spain, Israel, Italy, Belgium, Romania, Malta, Latvia and the United States adopting the event and making it their own. The event was introduced by Canada in 2004 and became an instant hit with Montrealers. The All-Nighter has a different nation-inspired theme each year; this year’s theme was “Caliente!” which featured Portugal.

“Nuit Blanche is a chance to discover the city under different loops at a time of year when many people, tired of snow and cold weather, could really use a pick-me-up, an excuse to get out of the house and enjoy life in the dead of winter,” says About.com’s Montreal Guide, Evelyn Reid. “It's also a chance for people going through tough times to explore venues, museums and events they usually couldn't afford to fit in their budget.”

The event can be an extraordinary success if time is taken to prepare and build an itinerary with contingency plans, says Reid. As the night gets closer to 10 p.m., crowds become common sights which have the potential to ruin the rest of the night with the greatest of ease.       

Usually it’s -20 degrees in February, but this year was such a hit due to the gorgeous weather, says Festival Coordinator Emilie Vendette. Last year, 275,000 people flooded the streets of Montreal for the event, but this year was a huge success with nearly 50,000 more attendees than the year before. Of course, mass amounts of people will show up when 90 percent of the 181 activities in 122 locations are completely free. Shuttles were even at no cost to the public.

Traffic is often a problem during the festival, so event coordinators made sure to offer transportation. For the first time, subways were open all night and complimentary shuttles with festival guides ran throughout the city.

“The only thing that can happen is an activity gets cancelled or we have a snow storm,” Vendette says.
                                               
Even when a snow storm tore through the city three years ago, people still came, she says. They were building forts and throwing snow balls.

“We Montrealers like the snow,” she continues. “Snow makes the city even more beautiful.”

Although flurries can beautify the inner-city, it can take a toll on the metropolis’ business aspect as well. Nuit Blanche helps to kick off a new season by jump starting the economy with low costs for leisure activities throughout the city.

Coordinators of the festival, such as Vendette, scout the city for merchants who are willing to participate in the event and ask them to extend their hours or lessen what they would normally charge for that last February Saturday night.

The internationally controversial Bodies Exhibit, which displays real body parts using plastination preservation, at The Eaton Centre extended their hours until 3 a.m. and held a sale of two tickets for the price of one. Tickets are originally $16 Canadian for children under twelve, students, and senior citizens, and $20 for adults. Normal hours are until 10 p.m.

“It was a huge success,” says Publicist for the Montreal Exhibition Centre Sylvie Brunetta. “We thought it was a great opportunity for people of the festival who were out at the wee hours of the morning to put the Bodies Exhibit on their itinerary.”

The extended hours and reduced prices aren’t worth it for everyone, though. An accessory-selling shop called Collection Josephine in Old Montreal, where the largest concentrations of festival-goers linger, chooses to close its doors at their normal time of 6 p.m.

“Our clientele is mainly older women and mainly young people come to the festival that night,” says Collection Josephine owner Joelle Green. “We tried (staying open) last year and it wasn’t worth it...It seems to work for restaurants, bars and hotels, but not me.”

As for the restaurants, even in Old Montreal, lines are out the doors and down the street by 6 p.m. for dinners, often pre-fixed at a special value.

With festival coordinators inviting thirty winemakers and chefs from Portugal in nearly fifty restaurants, chefs and producers proudly show their culinary traditions and savoir-faire with their best products for the event, says Wine & Dine Experience Spokesman Jean-Francoise Demers.

“Pairing foreign countries, products and chefs with Montréal chefs is the most brilliant and important goal of the Wine & Dine Experience,” he says. “A country's culture forms its cuisine, and by learning about a country's food traditions, we are opened to a new world to discover…This program gives Montrealers new frontiers to discover and new friends to meet without leaving their city. Their palate and knowledge of the world is expanded, and the culinary arts are advanced in the process.”

Montreal’s vast cultural and historical experiences are packed into one Saturday night for Nuit Blanche, making it convenient for Upstate New Yorkers to take a short leave of absence from the North Country. With only an hour’s car ride, visitors be sure to get a bang for their buck, so make certain to visit our international neighbors to the north to share that love of snow and boost in the economy.

How do you have fun in winter?