Thu. September 1, 2005
Montreal, QC -
The BBCM Foundation will celebrate its 15th year of existence during the 15th edition of the Black & Blue Festival, which will take place in Montreal, from October 5th to October 11th, in different venues in the city.
Win Tickets to the Black & Blue Festival Saturday, September 3rd at Circuit
The culmination of this world renowned festival will indisputably be the mega Black & Blue Party and Show under the special theme ‘X-treme Ball’, back on the Olympic Stadium center field on Sunday October 9th, from 9pm to 12 noon the next day
The BBCM team is enthusiastically finalizing the entire Festival line-up, which represents about 50 different events, including several major benefit events, and a series of socio-cultural and sports activities. Many of the Festival’s most popular events will once again be presented this year, in addition to new activities.
The Black & Blue at the Olympic Stadium – Sunday October 9th
This year, the designers of the event for which Montreal has become so famous are enthusiastic and proud to announce that the event will take place on the Olympic Stadium center field. The title of the event is "X-treme Ball" and the thematic will explore different angles of our society whose taste for extremes is growing more and more.
How will this all come into place at the Black & Blue? First through the exploitation of the space and the design of the dance floor and decor; then through performances of all kinds that will explore the culture of extremes, with different numbers in which we will see acrobats, dancers, skateboarders, in-line skaters, extreme drags, break dancers and much more! As usual, the artistic team has elaborated impressive stages and ramps that will mesmerize visitors from all over the world.
The Artistic Director of the event, Jean-Pierre Pérusse, specifies: "When we look around us, we realize how everything that is extreme has become popular. We can think of television shows such as 'Jackass' or even 'Extreme Makeover' or the increase in number and in popularity of extreme sports festivals, to name only a few elements of this culture of extremes that is omnipresent in our society today. We thought that drawing from this young, urban culture could be a great idea, with key visual impact, for an event such as the Black & Blue, particularly at the Olympic Stadium, which offers us a big surface that allows the infrastructure necessary for this type of project. A stimulating environment will be created for this grand event but the word ‘extreme’ obviously is to be taken in the positive sense of the word."
The designing of the lighting and fitting out of the space will also play a very important role in the overall concept of the event, as we will be given the impression of being inside a sort of huge pinball machine. Ramps will be set up and used for performances and entertainment during the evening, during which we will see artists on skateboards, BMX, in-line skates, etc. The young and dynamic team of Riper (www.ripperskateboards.com) will also take part in the show with performances that will bring an "extreme" and new flavor to the event. Also, the conception and operation of the lighting will be directed by the one and only François Roupinian (Black & Blue 1994, 2003, 2004), and the talented and renowned Sylvain Tessier will be the Technical Director for the principal event this year.
BBCM is also very proud to confirm the return of the eagerly awaited and very famous Danny Tenaglia, who is coming back to Montreal for the first time in many years on this occasion. This American DJ/producer, who no longer needs an introduction, confirmed that he was very happy to participate in the 15th edition of the Black & Blue, having contributed to its success by playing for the 1996 and 1997 editions. In the DJ booth will also be the incredible DJs Chus & Ceballos who rocked the house in 2004. They confirmed their presence very fast, having greatly enjoyed their performance at the Black & Blue 2004 Party. The excellent DJ Éloi Brunelle from Montreal will also participate in the show; he will do the first part of the evening.
To celebrate the 15 th anniversary, we will also look back on the previous years to thank all the people who were closely or remotely involved in this event; to reminisce about the great moments of the Black & Blue Party, a pioneer in this type of event; and to highlight the 15 years of support from the Foundation to HIV/Aids-affected people, which represents to this day 1.2 million given to several community groups, a Canadian record for a non-profit gay-based organization.
The organizers expect a crowd of about 15,000 people for this event. The Black & Blue success can be explained by the quality of the production that it offers, the renewed freshness every year, the perfect flow of the event and the numerous visitors who travel only to come celebrate with the Montrealers, who unquestionably remain fans year after year.
VIP PASSES AND TICKETS
VIP passes are already on sale and different categories are offered. You can get them by visiting the BBCM web site, on which you will also find information about the Festival: www.bbcm.org.
Individual tickets for the major events will be on sale at the end of August in different selling points and on the Ticketpro web site: www.ticketpro.ca.
TRAVEL INFORMATION: The official hotel of the Black & Blue Festival is the Delta Montréal. To book your room, call (514) 286-1986 or toll free 1-877-286-1986 and use the reference number: GGBLUE. Reservations can also be made on the internet at this address: www.deltamontreal.com (in one section you will be asked for the reference number mentioned previously).
The Festival’s official airline company is Air Canada. You can make your reservations by calling 1-800-361-7585 or by visiting Air Canada’s web site : www.aircanada.com. Specify the reference number attributed to the Black & Blue: CV054163.
VOLUNTARY WORK: For general information about the Black & Blue Festival, partnership options, and especially for voluntary work opportunities for the events, call: (514) 875-7026 ext. 201 or write to: philippe@bbcm.org
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