ABSTRACT
This chapter presents a critical analysis of Montreal's music festivals in terms of their cultural and economic impacts on the city, through a discussion of four festivals: The International Jazz Festival, Osheaga, POP Montreal, and Mutek. It provides a new approach to the impact assessment of different festivals, which challenges the systematic consideration of economic benefits as a performance factor and proposes a new festival typology rooted in the notion of “scene”. It also provides a new understanding of the local and translocal scenic scope of smaller festivals. Montreal had already acquired a reputation as a festive city open to innovation. Montreal’s festivals now form the core of its tourism products and are a rich source of cultural capital that help distinguish the city from other North American destinations. The International Jazz Festival is faring better, devoting a quarter of its 2019 program to Montreal artists or musicians.
