” It is magic. »
Each time Éric Fortin-Lambert climbs the hill where the large letters of Osheaga are aligned, the view dazzles him, with the landscape of downtown Montreal rising behind the festival’s two main stages, laid out in Espace 67 on Île Sainte-Hélène.
Since 2012, Parc Jean-Drapeau has been his second home during the summer, since he is the director of production and operations for evenko festivals. “I’m spending almost two months there,” said the man whose team has been there since July 4.
Osheaga, which kicks off Friday through Sunday, wouldn’t be the same without its enchanting island site. The same can be said for the îleSoniq and Lasso festivals, which will take place the weekends after the Osheaga festival, not to mention the Guns N’Roses show, next Tuesday, August 8.
“The view of the city, the view of the river: it’s one of the best sites in the world,” adds Nick Farkas, vice president of programming, concerts and events at evenko.
“I’ve been coming here for 40 years,” he says, mentioning that he worked for two summers at La Ronde when he was a teenager. It was in a food concession, near the La Pitoune carousel fire. “I wore a cowboy hat,” he recalls.
The Osheaga festival has existed since 2006 and takes place on one of the islands in Parc Jean-Drapeau. Over the past two years, there have been tensions between evenko and the City of Montreal, ultimately reducing the area of the site by approximately 20%.
The festivals are there for good, nevertheless assures Véronique Doucet, general manager of the Société du parc Jean-Drapeau (SPJD), met after visiting the Osheaga site with Nick Farkas and Éric Fortin-Lambert. “With the promoters, we worked to restrict their limits and think them better. »
As a result, the wooded Trees scene is gone, but there will be a smaller, beer garden-like one. As a consolation, the addition of a second walkway leading to the Green and Valley stages gives a spectacular view of Montreal.
“It was really intense,” says Éric Fortin-Lambert.
However, the production manager has developed great resourcefulness over the years. He recounts with a laugh that he went to buy a red throne in disaster in a store of decorations for the rapper Big Boi whose knee was injured in 2013. He also thought of flying Travis Scott by helicopter when the rapper was stuck at customs in 2018. Let’s say it falls into the “related tasks” category.
For his part, Nick Farkas woke up Wednesday morning to learn that headliner Aya Nakamura was experiencing health issues and had to cancel her first North American show scheduled for Friday in Osheaga. Eventually, a replacement was found for her: Quebec pop queen Charlotte Cardin. “We have created a crisis cell. And in five hours, it was over. »
Luckily, ticket sales are going well this year: Saturday is sold out (with 50,000 admissions), and Sunday probably will be too. Last year with less than 120,000 festival-goers in three days (compared to 135,000 before the pandemic), Nick Farkas says he was afraid that Osheaga was suffering from general disinterest. However, it was rather the absence of foreign festival-goers that hurt.
“There was concern for the future, and it’s a relief to see that we’re coming back strong this year. »
If the weather remains a perpetual stress factor for Nick Farkas, the latter does not hide the fact that the major work planned until 2030 at Parc Jean-Drapeau is a new major source of uncertainty. In particular, he hopes that evenko festivals will still be able to have access to the Place des Nations.
In office for 16 months, the general manager of the Société du parc Jean-Drapeau Véronique Doucet is reassuring. The Osheaga and îleSoniq represent significant revenue and benefits for the park and Montreal, but it is at the heart of the master plan unveiled in 2021 to ensure a balance between event vocation and accessibility for users. “We had to put tags,” she sums up.
Ms. Doucet recalls that Parc Jean-Drapeau will celebrate its 150th anniversary next year. It is the oldest park in Montreal and the largest island urban park in Quebec, she points out. “There is nothing comparable with its diversified activities. »
Among the works planned until 2030 (at a cost of approximately one billion dollars), let us quote the resurfacing (in progress) of the Gilles-Villeneuve circuit, the rehabilitation of the Lac des Cygnes, the gardens and the canals, or the reopening of the Hélène-de-Champlain pavilion. We want to improve the food offer, that of winter activities, and mobility to move from one installation to another without a car, explains Véronique Doucet.
The director general of the SPJD also reminds that everyone can enjoy Parc Jean-Drapeau while the festivals are taking place. “That’s what we want to demystify for the public. The park remains accessible. »
Biking on a Formula 1 track, swimming, then going to see Billie Eilish or Kendrick Lamar?
In addition to its “magical” view, Parc Jean-Drapeau is undeniably unique. “It’s part of Osheaga’s DNA,” concludes Nick Farkas.
