Osheago festival at Parc Jean Drapeau, 2013. Residents of St Lambert say the can hear the concert clearly and the booming bass sounds resonate from the afternoon till late at night.
Photo Credit: Patrick Beaudry- Osheaga (Radio-Canada)

Montreal festivals- noise battle looming

Summer in the city and in Montreal that means several outdoor festivals.

Unfortunately for some in and near the city, that means loud, very loud music.

One of the big venues is situated on a small island in the St Lawrence between Montreal, and right next to the town of St Lambert on the south shore.

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St-Lambert is a quiet residential twon, City councillor David Bowles says the noise limit for concerts at Parc Jean Drapeau should be lowered from 60 dB to 50 dB. Montreal has resonded by removing the limit altogether. © CBC

People in the town are fed up with loud music,.

Jean Levesque, a Saint-Lambert resident told a CBC reporter.  “It’s horrendous — atrocious. People are leaving the town on the weekends because they just can’t stand it,”

He and his neighbours say the noise starts in the afternoon and continues until midnight.

The Montreal borough of Ville Ste Marie controls Jean Drapeau Park on the small island, and last year technicians measured sound levels in St Lambert at 55 to 57 decibels.

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Parc Jean Drapeau (RED DOT) is on an island in the St Lawrence close to the town of Saint Lambert. Site of many concerts, it’s also where the Formula One races is held on the Gilles Villeneuve race track, © google

Louise Lamothe, another resident of St Lambert says, “ It gets really annoying after awhile..you get “boom boom”, we can’t even have a conversation, We hear the bass and other resonances..it’s really really loud”

In March the St Lambert council voted unanimously to ask the borough to lower their sound limit from 60 decibels to 50.

“The thing I want people to understand is that we are not asking them to cancel the events. We understand that they are important cultural and economic events, and we are happy they happen in the region. But even with our windows closed on the weekends, we can hear the singer perfectly — we can hear what he’s saying to the crowd,” said Saint-Lambert city councillor David Bowles.

In response however, the borough council voted unanimously instead to lift the limit entirely.

“Ville-Marie Montreal is one of the top three [places] in eastern North America to host these kinds of big events and we want to continue. We want to attract big stars and big events,” said Marthe Boucher, head of Ville-Marie’s Permits and Inspections division.

This year St Lambert said it will hire its own experts to measure sound levels. Louise Lamothe who now has one of the town’s measuring devices on her roof, and referring to Ville Ste Marie’s analysis last year, said the the measurement is going to be “a little more objective this time”

Especially annoying to the residents is the annual “Heavy Montreal” festival of heavy metal music

Jason Rockman, a musician and ambassador of the festival, said people should stop complaining and join in on the fun.

“When you really think about it, Heavy Montreal is one weekend a year. We are trapped under ice all winter. What’s a couple of days of loud music?” Rockman said.

Saint-Lambert officials said they may consider legal action to try to restore peace and quiet to their city.

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