Heavy Montreal metal festival to take a breather in 2020

MONTREAL – Organizers of the Heavy Montreal metal music festival say they’ll be taking a break for the 2020 edition.

Montreal-based promoter Evenko says in a statement that the company didn’t take lightly the decision to put off the annual gathering of metalheads.

Jacques Aube, the company’s chief operating officer, says a number of factors were considered, including “the number of non-festival metal/rock concerts that will be announced over the next few months.”

Organizers assured fans that a “packed calendar of concerts throughout the city and the province all year round” will continue.

The last edition of Heavy Montreal was held over two days in July at Jean-Drapeau Park and included Slayer, Evanescence, Godsmack, Slash and Anthrax.

Earlier this year, Montreal city council voted to declare the city a heavy metal “city of excellence.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 21, 2019.