Alcohol until 8 a.m. in bars: success for the pilot project at Club Soda

A pilot project allowing the sale of alcohol until 8am in the night from Saturday to Sunday at Club Soda has been a success.

• Read also: Montreal will test alcohol a second time all night

Some 900 people were present at the height of the evening, which passed off without glitch or complaint of noise and whose exit took place in peace at the end of the event.

Organized by Mapp_Mtl and Shift Radio, it was one of ten pilot projects for the City of Montreal, which is testing the sale of alcohol until 8 a.m. in order to boost its nightlife.

The people present at Club Soda interviewed by TVA Nouvelles were happy with their experience.

“It’s safer with the choice to take the metro in the morning,” said a man.

“It’s the best thing that could happen for nightlife in Montreal,” shares another Club Soda visitor.

Some also shared their desire to see this pilot project become permanent.

“We would like to spend more time going out, but everything is closed, explains a woman. It would be nice that as in Europe it is until 6am, otherwise 8am is even better.

The organizers say they are extremely satisfied with the progress of their event.

“There are people who live at night, there are people who live during the day, there are people who live in between and I believe that flexibility is necessary”, supports the director of operations of Mapp_Mtl, Bruno Ricciardi-Rigault.

A study released in May reveals that this type of measure could generate economic spinoffs of approximately $2.2 billion.

The City of Montreal indicates that it will evaluate the results of these pilot projects with the aim of “developing a model that is safe and respectful of the quality of life of Montrealers”.

The next evening participating in this pilot project will take place on January 28 at Livart.