The thing about Montreal’s summer “festivals” is that many of them last for weeks. Duration is a great strategy for relieving crowd pressure. Montreal also permits multiple closures to happen concurrently, creating more space. Put more time and more space together and overcrowding evaporates.
Joshua Hind
In defence of the Toronto street festival. It’s simple supply & demand. Their popularity proves we need more pedestrianized streets, yet Toronto makes it so hard. A city where the ethos is people in public space is a problem while Montreal’s is that’s where people belong. My @thestar.com column.
In any industry, if something is popular and people want it, they make more of it.
