[From “Igloofest sizzles in Montreal” from the Toronto Star, published February 11, 2010.]
MONTREAL–It’s minus-35C with the wind chill and Nicolas Cournoyer sweats.
He’s not alone. Around him more than 5,000 mostly young people kick and dance and hug and howl beneath a full moon that has looked down on the St. Lawrence River forever and not seen a scene like this on its banks.
The coldest rave on the planet is called IglooFest and it’s the brainchild of Cournoyer, who’s managed a seemingly Olympian feat by enticing his fellow Montrealers, as well as many house music fans from around the world, to come outside in this weather.
They’ve done so even on the most frigid day of winter when everyone from the authorities to their parents are telling them it’s too damn cold.
“As long as you dress properly, you’ll enjoy it. If you dance and you’re together, you stay warm,” says Cournoyer, who wears a full-body snowsuit as he moves to the beat of DJ King Cannibal, a headliner from the U.K. spinning at Quai Jacques Cartier in the Old Port.
Adrian Brijbassi 