Residents and tourists are excited about the return of the Montreal Grand Prix

One of downtown Montreal’s most famous entertainment streets was given over to pedestrians this weekend, but it’s not part of Mayor Valerie Plante’s much-publicized campaign to calm the city’s traffic.

The Canadian Grand Prix, the unofficial kick-off of Montreal’s summer festival season, is back and most people on Crescent Street on Friday ogle at expensive cars and peruse booths of Formula 1-themed activities. Sports cars roared past on nearby Ste-Catherine Street as drivers unleashed their inner F1 driver.

Locals and tourists alike are excited about the race’s return, but some are more excited than others.

Interviewed on Crescent Street, Christophe Philibert and Lauren Cinq-Mars said they appreciate the tourist dollars the event brings to the city, but they wish the surrounding festivities put more emphasis on electric vehicles. Philibert pointed out the irony of making a downtown street pedestrian-only to celebrate turbocharged cars “going in circles.”

“Boosting green energy and green cars would be a better way to integrate it into the city’s sustainable mobility values,” added Cinq-Mars.

Cassandra Tremblay says working at a downtown store helped her appreciate an event she once hated.

“I found it a bit annoying and too loud,” she said. Now Tremblay recognizes the benefits and is even pleased to see drivers revving their engines on Ste-Catherine Street. “It can definitely be annoying for the locals,” she admitted. “It’s kind of 50-50.”

“It’s a lot of money, but it yields a lot”

The Grand Prix attracts thousands of tourists each year — a Quebec cabinet minister has called it “the largest sport tourism event in Canada” — but it comes at a significant cost to taxpayers. As of 2017, the governments of Quebec and Canada have pledged more than $100 million to keep the race in Montreal until 2031.

Jean-Paul Mouradian, vice president of Feldman Entertainment Quebec Inc., which is hosting the Crescent Street event, said the government investment is worth it.

“It’s a lot of money, but it pays off a lot. It identifies our city internationally,” he said in an interview. “It’s definitely a tourist attraction and it puts Montreal on the map. So it’s a great investment for the economy.”

Among the visitors to Montreal Friday was Casey Baker, who came from Toronto to join in the festivities. “F1 fans are some of the best and most expensive fans out there,” he said. “If I could recommend my city of Toronto to hold and host it for a year, I would be a huge fan of that.”

Anita Astley and Christian Bentley were visiting Montreal from the United States. They see the Grand Prix as an event that brings international attention and tourist dollars to Montreal. “So many things to do and so many things to see,” Astley said of Montreal. “The cars are fantastic.”

It only gets louder as Sunday’s race day approaches. Hannah Girard said the Crescent Street party and spectacle of loud vehicles on Ste-Catherine’s main road made the Grand Prix more accessible to residents unable to attend the race.

For Philibert, the noise and excitement are just part of the reality of life in Montreal. “Every summer in Montreal is always packed with festivals and crazy events,” he said. “I don’t think it will ever change…it’s one of the things that also makes Montreal such a fun city.”