“We’ve had comments of people urinating on land, things like that. So it was a way of showing them that we take it seriously,” explains the Festif’s manager! from Baie Saint Paul.
Last year, people are also said to have vandalized the terrace of the La Batture restaurant at the intersection of rue Ambroise-Fafard and rue Sainte-Anne.
In addition to the distributed posters, the organization of the festival has taken measures to increase security.
“The Sûreté du Québec is more present, especially at night. We get along fine during the shows, but the police presence is better in the early hours of the morning when things can get out of hand,” says Clément Turgeon.
The noise generated by the shows and the excessive behavior of some festival-goers anger some local residents, but those who own a business are generally of the economic benefits of the Festif! enthused.
“The population also plays a role here,” says Clément Turgeon.
In his opinion, three and a half days of celebration is a lesser evil given what the festival brings to the region.
However, this balance is fragile. Half a day more was too much in the previous edition.
“Last year we tried to extend it until Sunday evening, but the citizens noticed it and even we thought it was flat,” reports the event’s managing director.
“It was irritating,” he admits.
The Festive Team! tries to control the growth of its festival, which attracts more and more people every summer.
“We are no longer selling tickets, we are capping our number of seats, we are no longer aggressively advertising to attract new viewers, we are building the loyalty of our audience that we already have,” argues Mr. Turgeon.
The free shows and activities also draw a lot of people. This influx is harder to control, the organizer notes, but it would be a shame to withdraw these freebies.
The festive! also tries to be present for the citizens in times of crisis, such as during the floods last spring. During the pandemic, he had also organized the door tour to bring some comfort to the locked-in population.