Montreal Old Port New Year’s Eve fireworks event permanently cancelled

MONTREAL – There will be no midnight fireworks to herald the new year in Montreal’s Old Port.

Montréal en Fêtes, the organization that since 2013 has organized a free holiday festival near the city’s waterfront, announced last month that it would no longer stage the event and its New Year’s Eve party.

The Old Port of Montreal Corporation, the entity that manages the area, confirms there will be no other New Year’s Eve fireworks to replace the cancelled festival this year, but the local skating rink will stay open until 1 a.m.

Montréal en Fêtes cited rising production costs, difficulty finding labour and financing challenges among its reasons for cancelling the festival.

The organization claims its New Year’s event was the largest in Canada, drawing as many as 180,000 people to the Old Port festival grounds.

The decision to permanently end the event came one year after the organization cancelled its 2022 edition while it reviewed its financial feasibility.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 30, 2023.