Piknik Electronik anniversary launch

text: Max Jones | photography: Miguel Legault for Piknic Electronic

Nestled in the middle of the Saint Lawrence River is the man-made island of Jean-Drapeau. It was constructed during Expo ‘67 from the mass amounts of land excavated to build the Metro system, the same Metro system that now brings people by the thousands to Parc Jean-Drapeau every Sunday during the summer to party their asses off at the Piknik Electronik.

Emerging from Metro Jean-Drapeau, one only has to follow the crowd of bikini-clad ladies and shirtless guys to the entrance of the Piknik. The lineup approaches a quarter-mile pretty quickly, but the setup of the venue allows for limitless attendance.

It is a sprawling atmosphere, complete with beer and wine tents, two different DJ setups and dance floors, as well as a canteen and the delicious Grumman ‘78 taco truck.

With all of these amenities, plus the fact that attendees are encouraged to bring their own stash, it’s no wonder that the Piknik just launched its tenth year on the scene.

The launch was blessed with incredible 30-degree weather, a cloudless sky and a smoke-bomb-free metro shuttling the masses from the city. While normally the latter should be a given, the recent student protests have made for some frustrating times on public transit. Luckily the students aren’t protesting good times, and there were no shortage of red badges in attendance.

As for the music, it’s still your hard-driving techno beats spun by the likes of Driss Skall, Tone of Arc and Art Department.

Over at the Scene Guru, it’s more of a chill vibe, in that people are still dancing hard, but the air is just a bit greener than under the main tent. They set up shop with picnic blankets, coolers and sunscreen while they fire up spliffs with impunity. The Ékip Piknik does a great job of keeping the peace while taking care to avoid ‘harshing anyone’s buzz.’

Piknik is now a Montréal Sunday staple on par with the Tam-Tams on Mont Royal. While the latter is a great place to relax and listen to man-made drumbeats ad nauseam, the Piknik is more of this century. Drum circles are great and all, but they hit another level when laced with samples and played through some Marshall stacks.

In the end, Piknik Electronik is unlike any other picnic you will ever attend. It’s on an island with a spectacular city skyline view. It features some of the best DJs the dance scene has to offer.

It’s packed with sexy Montréalais from every walk of life (that is, the walks of life that love to party). Yet, no matter how hard the beats are and how loud the party gets, you can still turn around and see people having a good old fashioned pic-a-nic, ants and all. The only difference is that if you look close enough, you’ll see that those ants be dancin’.

For full 2012 schedule and program details visit piknicelectronik.com