About
History and Highlights
2023
In February 2023, MTL 24/24 and the Société de développement du boulevard Saint-Laurent (SDBSL) co-presented LA MAIN NON-STOP, a pilot project that took place in the context of the 20th edition of Nuit Blanche. In collaboration with the City of Montreal, more than 15 participating establishments on Saint-Laurent Boulevard remained open and were able to serve alcohol after 3 a.m.
On February 13, 2022, MTL 24/24 announced the 2023-2024 cohort of its Night Council. This second iteration of the cohort once again includes 12 citizens from various sectors of Montreal’s nightlife, including artists, members of the nightlife industry, researchers, and experts in inclusion and noise reduction.
2022
In October and November 2022, VibeLab conducted a research study on Montreal’s “creative footprint” to identify the current needs and challenges facing the diverse communities embedded in Montreal’s nightlife scene.
By providing a platform to both emerging and established voices, this unique research project supported MTL 24/24 and municipal decision-makers to better plan and support the creative spaces and communities specific to the city’s nightlife scenes for the future.
Through a series of focus groups, in-depth interviews and analysis of over 200 music and nightlife venues in Montreal, Creative Footprint will culminate in a report highlighting key findings and recommendations in the spring of 2023.
MTL 24/24 supported the Creative Footprint team throughout the process, hosting two focus group sessions in our offices on October 12 and 13, 2022.
MTL 24/24 hosted a five-year celebration on September 30, 2022 from 10:00 pm to 9:00 am at the Grands Ballets Canadiens studio in the Wilder Building. This event was the second pilot project for the organization, following the success of the one held last May which culminated in a 29-hour dance marathon at the SAT. The event once again benefited from an exceptional exemption from the City of Montreal to offer continuous bar service after 3 am.
For the occasion, MTL 24/24 presented five local artists (Claire, Marie Davidson, Laurence Matte, Ouri, and Softcoresoft) who guided us through this wild night.
In September 2022, the City of Montreal invited non-profit organizations to submit projects for events with extended alcohol hours. An envelope of $300,000 was allocated to the project and each proposal was able apply for a grant of up to $50,000, plus an exceptional waiver to sell alcohol after 3AM. This offer was tailored to late-night event organizers who operate under the reunion permit system.
A strategic partner of the City of Montreal, MTL 24/24 supported the pilot project as a consultant by offering its expertise to the organizations that submitted their projects.
MTL 24/24 launched an event called “NON STOP 24/24”, under the auspices of a pilot project carried out in partnership with the City of Montreal and the Government of Quebec.
The City of Montreal granted our organization an exceptional exemption to operate a 24-hour continuous liquor license. Innovative measures to control nuisances and reduce the harm associated with substance use were planned to ensure a safe event and harmonious cohabitation between participants and residents of the Faubourg Saint-Laurent.
NON STOP 24/24, as the Montreal Night Summit’s official closing event, showcased over 30 artists from the local and international nightlife culture. The event took place from Saturday, May 21 at 10pm to Monday, May 24 at 3am at the Society for Arts and Technology.
Following the success of the previous editions, MTL 24/24 held for the third year an edition of the Montreal Night Summit from May 19 to 20, 2022 at Monument-National.
In the context of the lifting of public health restrictions related to COVID-19, this edition focused on revitalizing nightlife culture and reimagining relevant regulations and policies.
The distinguished list of presenters included:
- John “Jammin” Collins, member of the legendary Detroit label Underground Resistance and curator of Exhibit 3000, Detroit’s museum dedicated to techno music.
- Mirik Milan, ex-mayor of the Amsterdam nightlife and founder of the international movement of nightlife mayors.
- Virginie Maillard, Artistic Director of Pierrots de la nuit, a Parisian organization that conducts mediation and consulting actions in Paris.
- Marsi Gray, Senior Creative Producer of Meow Wolf, a Santa Fe-based artist collective turned entertainment company.
- Andrii Yankovskyi, co-owner and creative director of HVLV Bar in Kyiv.
- Diana Berg, founder of Platform TU, a cultural center and activist community in Mariupol.
- Deimante Rimkute, chairwoman of the Vilnius Nightlife Economy Commission (Lithuania).
- Todd Johnson, marketing director of the Charivari Festival of Art and Music in Detroit.
“Another night is possible. Why don’t we built it together?”
2021
In March 2021, MTL 24/24 launched a social communication campaign to mark one year of confinement and raise awareness about the plight of nightlife workers and culture.
Using the slogan “La nuit, la culture vit,” dozens of Montreal’s nightlife champions spoke out to share their pandemic experiences in relation to their work. The campaign, at times funny and dramatic, had an objective to rebuild the confidence of nightlife users, embracing all perspectives on the health crisis.
On June 15 and 16, 2021, the City of Montreal, in collaboration with MTL 24/24 and Yulism, organized the first Night Summit in its history.
With a call to “reclaim our nightlife,” this first installment offered programming at the cutting edge of international best practices in nightlife management, including discussions on shared use, governance
MTL 24/24 was proud of what it accomplished with its second Night Summit, which took place October 21 – 22, 2021. Rich in content and sensibility, it brought together the public and experts from all areas of Montreal’s nightlife culture at the mythical Stereo, the only afterhours club that still exists on the Quebec landscape.
For this second edition, MTL 24/24 hosted an open mic, inviting nightlife actors and users to express themselves about the state (and stakes) of local culture. The idea was to put a spotlight on the Montreal nightlife community and bring together those who had been apart for more than 20 months during the pandemic. A huge success, the second Montreal Night Summit welcomed a full house for both days of programming, with many local issues echoing the challenges felt across the ocean. Now, we hope that the ideas will go on to transform the nightlife here.
2020
March, 2020: COVID-19 hits quebec. The health crisis accelerates the organization’s development.
At an international level, MTL 24/24 joins the Global Nighttime Recovery Plan (www.nighttime.org), an initiative that allows organizers to be in contact with various groups around the world that are interested in the impacts of COVID-19 on nightlife.
In Chapter 5 of the Recovery Guide, MTL 24/24 is cited for contributing to a case study of Montreal in collaboration with Dr. William Straw and Jessica Reia of the Department of Art History and Communications and McGill University.
Our weekly streaming initiative Transmission aimed to compensate for the complete shutdown of nighttime activities. Its success was in part thanks to our collaboration with the SAT, MUTEK, Never Apart gallery and Mural Festival.
In June 2020, following a period of reflection on the best model of nighttime governance adapted to Montreal and inspired by the concept of a “night mayor,” The Night Council was established by MTL 24/24 as an intermediary between public decision makers and night owls.
An initiative to please the municipal administration, the city entrusted MTL 24/24, through its Economic Development Department and its Nightlife Commissioner, with a research mandate focused on a diagnosis of Montreal’s nightlife. The report was due in September, 2020.
Members of The Night Council and MTL 24/24 management participate in working groups set up by the City of Montreal to develop its first nightlife policy. Committees with dozens of people from various organizations met over the course of four months to identify challenges and propose solutions to the City for commercial, cultural, health and urban planning sectors.
In October 2020, MTL 24/24 was selected to participate in the Groupe des Vingts de Concertation MTL, a coaching program dedicated to organizations in the Greater Montreal Area who wish to enrich their Board of Directors with experienced leaders and professionals from diverse communities. This initiative supported our organization in its quest for healthy, balanced and inclusive governance.
In November 2020, MTL 24/24’s Director General Mathieu Grondin was asked to make a virtual presentation in Nanjing, China, as part of the World Cities Culture Forum.
The City of Montreal gave MTL 24/24 a second research mandate, this time to produce citizen consultations on nightlife.
The objective was to take the pulse of residents and users to find out what they would like to experience in a post-pandemic nightlife. The report was due in February 2021.
In July 2020, MTL 24/24 took over the social media accounts of the creative business conference C2 Montréal for a full day of cultural programming about issues concerning Montreal’s nightlife.
The program consisted of interviews, short films, articles to read and music from the Montreal scene, past and present.
2019
In June 2019, as part of a public consultation on Montreal’s leisure activities, MTL 24/24 submitted a brief entitled ‘Diagnosis of Montreal’s nighttime leisure activities’ to the City of Montreal’s Permanent Commission on Culture, Heritage and Sports. Underlining the lack of reflection by public authorities on the subject of nightlife, the document was accompanied by a petition with more than 1,000 signatures calling for the creation of a City of Montreal Nightlife Bureau, similar to the Bureaus of cinéma or fashion.
In the summer of 2019, the collective organized its first event, Test Pressing, with an objective to present local artists in unusual spaces, such as an old factory in the Mile-End.
In December 2019, MTL 24/24 inaugurated a series of free lectures on issues related to cultural nightlife, presented each month at the Société des Arts Technologiques (SAT). Among other activities, the organization made public a nightlife study conducted by researchers at the Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM). Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic would temporarily interrupt this initiative.
2017
In 2017, Mathieu Grondin, Alexis Simoneau and G.-Vincent Melo founded MTL 24/24,
a not-for-profit organization with a mission to support Montreal’s cultural nightlife.
Influenced by their experiences in urban European cities, all three founders believe that the development of Montreal’s creative and cultural identity must be inspired by its nightlife.