A record season for Piknic Électronik's 15th anniversary

Montreal, October 12th, 2017 - On September 24th, Piknic Électronik closed its 15th season in style with its biggest attendance numbers ever: over 112 000 piknickers came to dance this summer at the new Plaine des jeux site on île Sainte-Hélène. Passing the 100 000 visitor mark for the third time ever, this festive weekly get-together reaffirmed its place among Montreal's can't-miss summer events, and also confirmed its successful transition to a promising new site.

A record season!

Exactly 112 208 visitors came to share a picnic and to dance with friends and family during the summer of 2017, eclipsing our last record of 109 096 visitors in 2015. These impressive numbers crown the efforts of an entire team of 570 seasonal workers including 150 lively members on site each Sunday. Since the very first Piknic which brought together a modest 217 friends and curious Montrealers one fine June day fifteen years ago, the event has never stopped growing in popularity to become a true summer ritual for tens of thousands of people, and it now welcomes between 5000 and 6000 visitors from near and far each Sunday of the summer season. A festive symbol of the Montreal summer, Piknic has strived to keep the unique and friendly ambiance that defined its success and international expansion, throughout this growth.

The new Plaine des Jeux site: a complete success 

For its 15th anniversary, the Piknic team faced a major challenge: to find a new site in order to allow for large-scale renovations to park Jean-Drapeau. It's at the Plaine des jeux on île Sainte-Hélène that Piknic Électronik moved and completely reinvented its setting. Popular opinion was swift and from the first event of the summer on May 21st, the verdict was unanimous: everyone fell in love with this new site, as long time piknickers immediately explored it thoroughly to claim their new favourite spots. Greener and friendlier with its many picnic tables, original custom-built lawn furniture and new activities, including the Petit Piknic zone for families, and its huge wooden dance floor, the new site put the picnic back into the heart of the event and totally renewed the Piknic experience. All this while keeping the event's signature strengths including a breathtaking view of the St-Lawrence river and the city. We can't wait to come back and dance next summer amidst the lush greenery of this enchanting setting, which is set to become the emblem of a new era in Piknic Électronik's evolution.

105 unique musical acts 

Summer 2017's programming was star studded, and piknickers were delighted each weekend by both renowned artists and new discoveries of all genres. All in all, this summer featured 105 original performances by leading local lights and some of the biggest names on the international circuit, from eight countries: France, Germany, Great Britain, Israel, Mexico, Norway, Spain and The U.S. The world premiers included the first ever team performance by two of Montreal's global stars, Tiga and Jacques Greene, who came together especially for Piknic and our fair city. It was also a pleasure to welcome for the first time Germany's Motor City Drum Ensemble (finally!) and Norway's Prins Thomas. Also, Piknic always makes it a point of pride to represent our exceptional local talent, and summer 2017 allowed us to showcase new collaborations with Rouyn-Noranda's FME which was also celebrating its 15th anniversary; Montreal promoters FrontRite Elusion and All Good; the Bolting Bits collective; NVA, the musical division of Never Apart and two Montreal labels to keep an eye on, Big Tooth and Ghost Club.

A historic season thanks to the finest dance partners

As we reluctantly put away our sneakers, sun dresses, shorts and flowery shirts, the entire Piknic Électronik team salutes its precious partners who contributed to this season's record-breaking success. Many thanks to our stage presentation partners: Solotech and Moog Audio; our institutional partners: park Jean-Drapeau, Tourisme Montreal, Destination Canada and the Government of Québec; our major partners: Sapporo, Fido and Poppers; our sponsors: Red Bull, Mtl Fruit Co, Vodka Tito's, Cidrerie du Minot and Square; our official supplier: romeo's gin; our media partners: NIGHTLIFE.CA, Ton Barbier, CISM, Exclaim! and Vice; our support partners: Landr, Zone Festival and La Vitrine; our tourism partners: Hôtel W, The HI-Montréal youth hostel, Hôtel Zéro 1 and VIA Rail; our event partners: MUTEK, MEG, Fringe, Printemps numérique and the FME.

Finally, a huge THANK YOU to the artists and all the piknickers for this incredible summer. Enjoy the fall colours and get your winter gear ready. We'll see you very soon for Igloofest!