Monkland Avenue festivals cancelled to relief of some, disappointment of others
It's back to the drawing board for festivals on Monkland Avenue in Notre-Dame-de-Grâce.
The association behind the Flavours of Monkland and Grand Prix festivals will not put them on this year.
About 70 residents attended a public consultation Wednesday evening about the future of festivals in Monkland Village.
The borough mayor of Côte-des-Neiges—Notre-Dame-de-Grâce, Russell Copeman, broke the news.
"I want this to be perfectly clear, this is a decision made by the Monkland Merchants Association and by Monkland Village Productions," he said.
Most people in the crowd cheered when Copeman made the announcement.
The festivals on the commercial stretch in the heart of NDG had been expanding in recent years, leading to more complaints about noise and disruptions.
Members of council had also taken issue with how the festivals were being funded.
Copeman said he told the merchants association he was uncomfortable awarding a subsidy to a not-for-profit organization, which was then sub-contracting the organizing of the festival to a for-profit company.
He said that kind of practice has been severely criticized by Montreal's inspector general.
Ultimately, the merchants association never made a formal request for borough funding.
There were also concerns that the merchants association didn't really represent businesses.
Its only member, Danny Roseman, also owns the production company behind the events.
The vice-president of Monkland Village Productions, Phil Leithead, said his agency had good intentions.
"Where the festivals come from was from an honest and good place. It was to help the merchants," he said at the meeting.
"We are residents of the same neighbourhood, and we are part of the same community."
Some saddened to see festivals go
Becky Granatstein, who used to live in Westmount and moved to NDG about a year ago, said she's attended the festival about five times.
She's disappointed she won't be able to go this year.
"I'm sad about it. Our friends also came in from out of town to go see it," she said.
Parents and NDG residents Geneviève Rondeau and Nicholas Léger look forward to the Monkland street festivals every year, saying they bring life to the community
"There's the music. The kids dance. There are balloons ... I don't see how it's not family friendly," Rondeau said.
She acknowledged it can be noisy but pointed out it's only for a few days a year.
"It's wonderful. We bring the kids every year for the day, and sometimes we get a babysitter to come see more of the adult action."
New business association
The newly formed NDG Business Association is hoping to organize festivals in the future.
"The community is merchants and residents alike, and it's not an easy path to find a way that satisfies everyone," said that association's president, Peggy Regan.
"We don't have a plan together. We are going to rely on your input and hope that we can come up with something and present it to the city."
Correction : An earlier version of this story suggested the Monkland Avenue festivals would be cancelled because they were denied funding from the borough. In fact, the Monkland Merchants Association did not apply for borough funding this year.(Feb 23, 2017 10:25 AM)
