The POP music festiva
For days in September, residents of Montreal city celebrate the POP Montreal International Festival, which is a long-running and wide-ranging festival of rock, electro, folk, hip hop, R&B, and new music that defies all genres of music. With venues ranging from classic theatres to intimate local bars and rooftops to haunts, the festival fills the city with more than four hundred musicians exploring their music scenes with their fans (Resto Montreal). Daniel Seligman founded this festival together with Noelle Sorbian and Peter Rowan in 2002, where artists performed eighty musical acts in 40 venues around Saint Laurent Boulevard. This paper will be focusing on the festival that took place from 23 to 27th September in 2020.
l is a not-for-profit curated culture event where champions independence in the arts by presenting emerging and celebrated artistic talents worldwide (Resto Montreal). Despite 2020 being unpredictable due to coronavirus and festival events that have not been the same, POP management did not forego the annual festival. Instead, the celebration’s planning mainly blended online and in-person content, a hybrid event because all fans experienced the whole event in their homes’ comfort. However, each venue like Mile End’sEnd’s Rialto Theatre allowed 25% audience capacity due to social distancing and safety measures, which brought about the scenery of musicality feels.
Besides, artists that showcased for the event included metalhead rapper Backxwash, jazz musicians Planta and Animals, French folk-rock artists Antoine, and many more. These artists displayed their talent and understanding of each genre and the feels of their fans. I mean, nothing can go wrong with live music from bands. Even though I never had the chance to attend the festival live, I, for one, really enjoyed the event since I watched my best rapper Backxwash do what he does best. Having a real break from all the covid-19 drama was quite useful for me. In the few hours that we are caught up in the artists’ music, I forgot about all the hurdles in life for a minute.
Montreal International Music Festival is annual and important to Canadian people because it acts as a unifying force between all music genres into one music act. Live music is necessary since it creates an ultimate human connection among individuals. Having a good organization team and a creative director Daniel Seligman, the event was a success despite all the negative energy around the period. Therefore, if I were the organizing director of this event, I would not have done it any differently because it is crucial to make people believe that everything would be okay, and life had to continue. Canceling an annual festival that has been in place since 2002 was not an option since all government regulations had to be adhered to according to policies.
Moreover, music is life, and it defines people most in person ahead of politics, race, or even religion. It should come as a surprise that people place a high premium on live music experiences. That is why events like the POP festival continuously develop innovative live entertainment technology to ensure their offering continues to excite fans and experience what artists do. Live music is a haven and beautiful as everybody sings along, dances, moshes, trying to hold onto the singer’s attention.