The year-end celebrations were a resounding success on the Grande Allée in downtown Quebec, where vendors posted record sales while the Toboggan Festival signed the busiest edition of its young history.
The popularity of the celebrations has not waned on the trade route as it is crowded with both tourists and residents of the region as the year kicks off on December 31st.
At the L'Atelier and Ophelia restaurants, for example, “we're talking about a 30% increase in sales” compared to last year, says co-owner Jonathan Ollat.
“We see that the event continues to shine and that it lights up the city as well as its companies,” welcomes the man who is also president of the Action Promotion Grande Allée association, which was previously the organizer of the festival.
Les Louanges, Quebec producer Mike Demero and DJ Simone from the Italian trio Meduza notably offered performances at the Place de l'Assemblee-Nationale.
Inevitable
The managing director of the St-Hubert restaurant, still on the Grande Allée, Stéphane Lapointe, also sees this as an essential prerequisite for economic activity.
“It’s a bit like the summer festival and carnival. “Want, don't want, Grande Allée lives a lot at the level of events, so we take everything we can include in events,” he mentions, speaking for his share of stable sales since he is “always sold out” for the New Year's Eve party .
“A table empties, a table fills: it’s always like that!”
Participation protocol
According to organizer BLEUFEU, who has been overseeing the outdoor winter festival for four years, around 150,000 people visited the locations on the four program evenings from December 28th to 31st.
“This is definitely the most important year in terms of participation,” says President and CEO Nicolas Racine, whose team is also responsible for the Quebec Summer Festival.
The inauguration of a new, screen-filled stage at Place George-V meant that “the first three evenings were much busier,” he said.
“We invested a lot in programming, everything to do with stage production and the aesthetics of the websites.”
The event, which mixes electronic, traditional and Quebec music, therefore seems to be here forever.
“People love tobogganing. I think people have proven that. We have reached a point where Toboggan has taken its place. “So we are very positive and want to be there again next year, that’s for sure,” says Mr. Racine.
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