油膩膩趴趴走記事本

加拿大北國冬天快要過了，今年春天土撥鼠都宣布了春天會提早來到，接下來就要進入加拿大人期待許久的夏季了，準備要從冬天冷冰冰的冬眠期復活了。

每到夏季，蒙特婁（Montreal）進入觀光客跟各種慶典的高峰期。從六月就開始有塗鴉節（MURAL Festival）、法語音樂節（Francos de Montreal）、爵士音樂節（Jazz Festival）、原住民音樂跟文化節、日本文化節、煙火節以及Just for Laughs Festival（我看中文有些人說這個慶典叫做「歡樂夏夏叫」或是「蒙城嘻笑節」）等等，每天都有滿滿的免費或是付費的藝術及美食活動可以參加。

▲蒙特婁的夏天超級好玩的，可以參加不同的慶典跟派對

油膩膩2023年5月抵達魁北克省（Quebec）最大城，也是加拿大第二大城，蒙特婁居住。剛好趕上很多夏季節慶，2023年夏天去法語音樂節聽了我超喜歡的Coeur de Pirate免費演場會、爵士樂表演，還在Just for Laughs Festival期間去了蒙特婁藝術特區（Place des arts）的音樂廳觀看鼎鼎有名的Ali Wong的現場表演，她超棒的！

▲超級有名的Just for Laughs慶典居然吹熄燈號

總之，夏天就是要出去玩嘛。但是上週各家新聞報導都在報的就是：蒙特婁夏季節慶要少一咖了，歷史悠久的蒙特婁Just for Laughs Montreal宣告破產並且宣布今年夏天的2024年的慶典取消，引起許多喜劇演員及脫口秀表演家還有觀眾們一片震驚。我看新聞表示，主要是因為沒有大型投資者金援，加上所有製作成本以及物價都在漲，所以主辦單位只好申請破產保護，停辦這一屆的歡樂夏夏叫。鄰居老伯伯也說，Covid-19肺炎對市中心辦公及商業環境影響很大，你可以看出蒙特婁市區很多地方不像以往繁榮，另外也有人表示主辦單位是想要怪罪在慶典外圍很多免費活動搶了他們的生意吧？！

雖然很失望，本來想說今年夏天說不定可以再去看其他stand-up脫口秀表演的，但是這就是人生！大家出來辦活動是要做什麼？又不是慈善事業，最終還是要賺錢的、需要營利的。希望Just for Laughs Montreal可以在2025年東山再起，再為我們帶來歡樂的夏天。

▲2023年7月去看Ali Wong脫口秀

補充一下，Just for Laughs Festival聽說就是從蒙特婁起家的，它原本是法文的喜劇節，法文名字是Juste pour rire（笑一下嘛．．．），後來變成英文版的，也去到溫哥華及多倫多辦理。

以下相關新聞給大家參考。

Just for Laughs problems reflect festival struggles, threaten Montreal's reputation

MONTREAL — The cancellation of the Just for Laughs comedy festivals in Montreal and Toronto this year underscores the vulnerability of an industry struggling to manage ballooning costs while vying for increasingly in-demand but inadequate government grants.

As a result, some events are considering cuts. In Montreal, the situation is worrying organizers about whether the city can sustain its festive summer atmosphere and abundant offering of free entertainment.

"It's not easy to offer free (events), but it's important for Montreal and its reputation — that's its brand image, you might say," said Suzanne Rousseau, director of Festival International Nuits d'Afrique, a showcase of African, Caribbean and Latin American music.

"We need to think about how to keep this alive and not lose it," she pleaded. "It's urgent."

From the moment the first beat drops at the weekly Piknic Électronik shows that begin in May, a ceaseless cascade of summer events wash over Montreal, from the rip-roaring Formula 1 Grand Prix in June to the Osheaga music festival in August. Dozens of back-to-back smaller events keep the streets buzzing with activities, many of them free.

The proliferation of festivals across Canada over the years has led to greater demand for funding. And it's the free events that are particularly at risk because they rely on sponsorship revenue that has not kept pace with production and labour costs that have skyrocketed by as much as 40 per cent since the COVID-19 pandemic, says Martin Roy, president of the Regroupement des événements majeurs internationaux, an association of major event organizers in Quebec.

Meanwhile, the two major sources of federal financial aid for festivals have largely stagnated, he said in a phone interview. While Quebec boosted funding for its festival aid program in 2022 — to $85 million over three years — the base budgets for the federal programs have sat at a combined $50.2 million for more than 15 years, Roy explained. Canada began injecting an additional $15 million per year into the programs in 2019, but those supplements are set to expire in the next two years.

The number of events that qualify for the federal programs has only increased, Roy said, meaning many long-time funding recipients have seen their allocations dwindle over time.

Roy said he once celebrated the growing number of festivals in Canada as a sign of industry and cultural strength, but he now admits that abundance is compounding the problem. "At some point, if the resources are not going up the number of festivals at some point has to stop going up," he said.

Rousseau and Alain Mongeau, director of Montreal-based electronic music and digital art festival MUTEK, both say they'd like to see funding programs prioritize events with significant cultural value.

In an interview, Mongeau described post-pandemic inflation as a "mini-shock" to the Montreal festival industry. "We're going to have to make some radical choices," he said. "We're going to have to say, well, maybe we'll significantly cut our programming. I think all the festivals are doing that."

Such cuts could make Canadian festivals less attractive to tourists, Roy warned, and thus have a more widespread impact on the economy. For example, Eric Hamel, CEO of the Greater Montreal hotel association, in part credits the area's festivals and events with a surge in the local hotel occupation rate during the summer months.

But if these events aren't happening, Hamel says, businesspeople might stop extending their visits and tourists would have fewer reasons to stay in the city. Businesspeople will come for conferences, "they'll do what they have to do, and then they'll go right back home," he said Wednesday.

Roy argues the economic ripple effect makes festivals a solid return on investment for governments: "I think it's a good deal."

The Just For Laughs festival brought tens of millions of dollars into Montreal every year, Andy Nulman, the event's former CEO, said in a recent interview. He said he suspects management struggles are behind the dire financial situation that led Just for Laughs to cancel its 2024 editions and seek protection from creditors. The company, however, said it hopes to run the festivals again in 2025.

But Nulman said the situation with the city's comedy festival should serve as a warning for the entire event industry.

"This is a warning bell … saying, 'Hey guys, get your act together because don't think that you are invulnerable and that this won't touch you,'" said Nulman, who also serves on the board of Montreal's tourism office. "This can touch you in worse ways than it has touched this festival."

In a statement, the office of Canadian Heritage Minister Pascale St-Onge pointed to the hundreds of millions of dollars the federal government has dedicated to emergency aid programs for festivals and major events since 2019, as well as additional investments in tourism projects.

"We will monitor the situation closely," her office said of festival industry troubles.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 8, 2024.

Thomas MacDonald, The Canadian Press