Piknic Doubles Up to Celebrate the Launch of its 13th Season and its International Growth
Montreal: Tuesday, May 12th, 2015 – This Sunday and Monday, May 17th and 18th, Piknic Electronik rings in the official start of summer with its traditional doubleheader program. Two days of festive gatherings, anticipated by thousands of Montrealers who have an abundant 22 events to come and dance under the Calder at Parc Jean-Drapeau from May 17th to September 27th. It’s going to be a lucky 13th season for the Piknic, which surpassed 100,000 visitors for the first time in 2014 and is now experiencing unprecedented international growth.
Major Headliners for the Opening Double Weekend
Piknic’s new season kicks off with a bang, combining a massive influx of UK talent with some of the hottest local DJs mixing it up in the 514! This Sunday, May 17th, the honours of kicking off the MOOG stage fall to Sheik n’ Beik Collective’s Mayssam, who comes home to Montreal from her current haunts in New York. Then, the rest of the day belongs to the famous Irish Maeve Recordings family. Discofied house DJ, producer, and singer The Drifter lifts us off, while partner-in-crime Mano le Tough, best known for hot joints on Permanent Vacation and Dirt Crew, flies us into the night sky. Over at the Videotron Mobile stage, we spend the afternoon with Gold Diggerz, featuring the insatiable crate-diggin’ duo of Michael Terzian and The RawSoul. Expect the finest house and garage from both genres’ heralded heydays.
On Monday, May 18th, the MOOG stage presents a tribute to the great ladies of house music! We get started with the underground club sounds of Montreal’s own Laura Scavo. Then a great big double-decker bus of the British nightlife pulls in under the Calder. Get Physical’s Heidi, the Canadian born global DJ sensation and former host of BBC Radio 1’s Residency program, whose set at last summer’s Piknic was one of that season’s highlights. Next, wunderkind Maya Jane Coles steps in to prove that she’s the best thing to happen to British house music since the handclap. Over at the Videotron Mobile stage, we celebrate Voyage Funktastique, one of Montreal’s most reliable funk n’ boogie crews. Expect the fast hands of Walla P and Dr. MaD to be workin’ overtime mixing down all manner of vinyl.
Presented in collaboration with media partner Nightlife, this multi-flavoured double event showcases once again that no two days are ever alike at Piknic. And we are just getting started!
Piknic, an Exportable Concept
Even as it prepares to begin its 13th season in Montreal, Piknic is expanding further than ever into international territory. Founded in 2003 to draw electronic music out of its nocturnal niche and share it openly with the widest possible audience, it has since become a staple of the Montreal summer. Popular and contagious, it is now spreading across the planet. Building on the Barcelona Piknic’s resounding success, which has grown steadily since 2012, it has developed an international component that aims to expand to ten cities over the next 5 years. As such, in January 2015 the first seasons of Piknic in Melbourne and Dubai were inaugurated. In France, Piknic will touch down twice this summer in Cannes, after a first visit to Paris a few weeks ago. Other cities in Europe, North and South America are currently in talks to host the event. Throughout these ambitious developments, Piknic continues to deepen its foundations here, now employing more than 500 seasonal workers, 180 of which manage the Parc Jean-Drapeau site every Sunday, from dawn to the middle of the night, for a weekly average of 5000 dancing enthusiasts and curiousity-seekers, students and young families, hedonists of all ages and passing tourists.
A 2015 Campaign that’s Festive, Dancy, Stylish and Fresh
The inventive team at Écorce Atelier Créatif are joining us for a fourth consecutive year to present the Piknic 2015 campaign that’s now on display at all platforms and network screens of the STM metro. Working with the theme of “Dancy Sundays – Sunny – Festive – Fresh – Stylish”, the colourful elements of the campaign have also been animated with the humorous touch of Ombres et Lumières, who directed the program launch video released on April 29th, as well as the ad campaign featured on V Télé this summer.
Box Office – Useful Info
Note that it is now possible to buy tickets in advance via the Ticketpro network at a cost of $13.50 per ticket (taxes and fees included). A new feature that saves time and money.
Apart from this precious new tip, there’s no price change for 2015. The Piknic always offers a discount to early birds: $10 (taxes and fees included) for those arriving at the site before 3pm. From 3pm, the cost of entry is $15 (taxes and fees included). Special prices are in effect until May 31s for season passes: $ 75 for students and $100 for the regular passes (taxes and fees included).
To find out where and how to take advantage of these deals, click here.
All You Need: Piknic at Your Fingertips
>> Click here for the Piknic 2015 Press Kit
>> Click here to explore programming from May 17th to July 26th, 2015
Reminder: the second wave of the 2015 program will be announced on July 5th.
>> Click here for the program from May 17th to July 26th, 2015, on a single page
>> Hotel packages for all budgets are available here
>> Follow Piknic via its website, Facebook and Twitter
>> The 2015 Piknic App will be available in the coming days. Stay tuned to update yours.
To Your Health, Friends!
Piknic salutes its valued partners, without whom these festive Sundays would not be possible. MOOG Audio, partner since the first edition and the amplifiers of our event; our new official collaborator Videotron Mobile; our institutional partners, Parc Jean Drapeau, Tourism Québec, Tourism Montreal, the French Consulate and Musicaction for their invaluable trust and support; our sponsors, Sapporo, Bacardi, Poppers, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Red Bull and the STM; our media partners, V Télé, NIGHTLIFE.CA, Metro Newspapers, CISM, Exclaim!, Resident Advisor, XLR8R and THUMP; our supporting partners, Ticketpro, Landr, Uber, Showcase, Zone Festival and Sunwing Vacations; our tourism partners, the Hostel HI Montreal, Hotel Zero 1 and VIA Rail; our event partners, Chromatic, Fringe, WEM, Osheaga and MEG.
You have five days to choose your best summer outfit.
See you Sunday and Monday under the Calder at Parc Jean-Drapeau!
