Cooler Than Cold: Montreal’s Igloofest Returns With Diplo, Armin Van Buuren, Kaskade

Montreal’s Igloofest is the coolest. Billed as The Coldest Music Festival In The World, the outdoor EDM party, now in its 16th year, kicks off tonight (Jan. 18) and runs for the next four weekends, Thursday to Saturday (until Feb 10), at Jacques-Cartier Pier in the Old Port of Montreal.  Included in the lineup of over 60 performers are Diplo, Armin Van Buuren and Kaskade, and a good 50 percent local DJs. 

According to Nicolas Cournoy — who co-founded Igloofest with Pascal Lefebvre, Michel Quintal and Louis-David Loyer — the multi-day event draws 100,000 people each year, including main festival, the four free Saturday afternoons called Igloofête, and Après-Ski, some acts booked into venues around Old Montreal. He spoke with VenuesNow/Pollstar about the origins of the winter music festival, what they do to keep people cozy and entertained, and why the nighttime is for 18+. 

Pollstar: It’s rare to entice ticket buyers with a tagline like “the coldest music festival in the world,” but I know Quebecers don’t shy away from the cold. You love winter. Skiing, snowboarding, the ice hotel, the famous Bonhomme Carnaval.  What was the premise behind Igloofest 16 years ago?

Nicolas Cournoy: The concept is based on Piknic Electronik. It’s a summertime event that happens weekly from May to September in Parc Jean-Drapeau, just a little island south of the city. It was in 2003 that we started the concept of bringing electronic music outside during daytime so it’s in a park, open to all kinds of public. Back in the day, electronic music had some prejudice around it; people were thinking it’s only for raves and with drugs and all those vices [laughs], so we wanted to democratize electronic music. What we’ve done is we’ve thrown that party outside. Started really small the first few years, but when we saw what the response was by the public to be outdoor, enjoying and open-minded, we had the idea to take that concept and put it in during the wintertime.

Besides a great lineup, what did you need to have on-site to attract people to an outdoor event and stay all evening?

Of course, we knew it was a challenge. But what’s the best reason to drag people outside during the winter? Let’s do the party! There’s not that much to do. That was the main premise. We’ll have good DJs outside with the rhythm of the music. People will be there. We decided at the very beginning to organize a [costume] contest, with those flashy suits and everything to go back in your childhood and make fun of it. So that’s how it evolved all those years.

Was it always a ticketed event?

Because there was an ancestor, which was the Winter Piknic Electronik, it was two editions that were free. But once we got in the Old Port of Montreal with the branding Igloofest people needed to pay. It was only a weekend.

Osheaga is also at Parc Jean-Drapeau. Why is Igloofest at the Old Port of Montreal?

It was a partnership with Socété du Vieux-Port, which is today called Société Immobilère du Canada [Canada Lands Company]. They want to have something during the winter. That was perfect because the first few years, you still have that metal structure, even though it’s outdoor, but you have the feeling of a warehouse where you have the electronic music, but outside where people just dress for winter. It’s easy to go there by the subway, it’s accessible. (There are) views of the Old Port of Montreal and the St. Lawrence River just right back, so that was a really good spot, unused during the wintertime. That’s why we set up there. The first few years it was only a small stage, but over the years it grew and we were able to have a second weekend, third and fourth weekend.

What is your booking policy?

The first few years it was our friends (laughs). We were throwing a party with 3,000 people per night and it took a few years before we got bigger international DJs. But once we had some, and with the word of mouth, it was way easier to book a big DJ. Of course, they’re playing all over the world, but to play outside at minus-10, minus-15 degrees with people just going nuts, there’s something special about the ambience. There’s something electric fighting the elements. You talked about the rudeness of the winter in Montreal. It brings something special in the energy of the crowd and the DJs feel it. The other thing is, people have the feeling of being in a venue where raves were happening in a warehouse with those metal structures, but you’re outside with your group and just having fun with some strangers.

Under the “Igloofest experience,” there are suggestions for dress code, which includes “party animal,” and “ice queen,” “winter ninja” and “cowboy of the wild north.” What is ideal dress code? 

That’s the contest I was talking about. It’s to have the people to embrace the wintertime and to jump in our crazy idea to throw a party outside during the winter. We thought that to bring a feeling of Carnaval and people just dressing up and using those flashy old snowsuits. We made the contest with some prizes. Now, as we’re going on over four weekends, we have some teams for people to make their own costume. We want people to have fun there, to go back to their childhood, to go outside and play and stop complaining about the winter because it’s a national sport here every year (laughs).

Do you have things like warming tents and hot chocolate?

The best way to warm up is to dance, of course. On the dance floor, we made a test with the Weather Forecast channel, and there was a difference of 10 degrees in the middle of the dance floor and elsewhere on site. So that’s the first place to warm up. Then of course, we have some hot beverages. You can have some Jägermeister and other kinds of stuff. There’s firepits on site where you can warm up and there’s a pavilion where people can go if it’s too cold, or if they have their feet too cold, they can buy Hotshots and things like that to warm up. But the best way it’s to dance a lot.

Why is it an 18-plus event?  

The first two years it was all ages, but we realized at the second edition that there were some youngsters coming, bringing alcohol or having people buy booze for them. It’s tougher to make sure that people follow the rules.

Why is that different from other music festivals that allow young people in?

Because during the wintertime, it’s harder to see if the kids have alcohol on them because they have a snowsuit. Of course, we search, but once they’re on site sometimes there’s some older people who buy alcohol and give it to them. So we decided to keep it 18-plus, but what we’ve been doing last year, every Saturday in the afternoon from 1-6 p.m.., is it’s free. People can come with the kids and families. There’s some DJs, all the same stuff that we have during a normal evening, but for the family and it’s all free.