îleSoniq Music Festival Montreal 2019

By alantvuong on August 20, 2019

îleSoniq Music Festival is an electronic music festival that takes place in Montreal, Quebec, Canada on the 2nd or 3rd Friday/Saturday weekend of August since 2014. This year is the 6th year in a row it has taken place and is again held at Parc Jean-Drapeau on August 9 and 10. Surprisingly this music festival is open to all ages and free for children aged 10 and younger accompanied by a valid paying adult. General admissions weekend passes are about $210 plus taxes and fees. The event runs from 1pm to 11pm both days. Drinking age is 18+ in Quebec for those who want to buy alcohol at the festival. I don’t remember visiting any all-ages music festivals before, so this should be interesting to see. Thanks to Beatrice from îleSoniq, I brought one buddy to take me to this music festival and we met up with other friends. This year’s headliners include Marshmello, Above & Beyond, Kaskade and Excision.

thanks Beatrice for having us at îleSoniq

Getting There

We were staying at Travelodge by Wyndham Montreal Centre and it is about a 20 minute drive to Parc Jean Drapeau. We were told that the train station directly at the park has many stair and is not wheelchair friendly. The Parc Jean Prapeau station is old and is currently under renovations to include an elevator. With so many events happening at this venue, it is shocking that renovations haven’t already been made.

few sets of these stairs at Parc Jean Drapeau metro station

a few sets of escalators at Parc Jean Drapeau metro station too

Both days going to the festival, we called accessible taxis in advance, but always had issues getting one to take us to îleSoniq. They weren’t even interested or said they wouldn’t be running around 11 or 11.30pm to bring us back either. So the first day we took a regular taxi and I was just transferred into the front seat of the taxi. The second day, we booked a private accessible van company called Ambus Lemans and paid the $35 flat rate to Parc Jean Drapeau.

we did manage to get an accessible van to take the 4 of us to îleSoniq on the 2nd day

Coming back from the festival was a bit of a challenge as we were thinking about hailing a cab or an uber. With only designated areas and everyone trying to get taxis and ubers, it was near impossible. Instead of waiting and wasting time, our best option was to take the train at the unaccessible train station. Luckily I was with a few friends who also got transit security to help me go down a few sets of 10 stairs or more and help up/down escalators as we transfer to another station as we got home. Luckily the other 2 train stations we used had elevators. The train ride itself was a bit busy but there wasn’t any issue getting inside the train as there wasn’t a step in. The train even had a spot for wheelchair users to park.

a bit crowded on the metro, but still doable

Parc Jean-Drapeau

We got to the festival around 4pm the first day; and with it raining a bit, there wasn’t a lot of people in line. We got our wristbands at the media tent and was informed about the wheelchair info booth and about the layout of the festival and where the accessible routes were located. Again, our wristbands included admission to the wheelchair raised viewing platforms and porta-potties at each of the 3 music stages. Since it was raining off and on both days of the festival, the park itself was muddy and the grass was soggy. My buddy helped me push my manual wheelchair around the small hills, sand, bumps and used the accessible pathways when possible. There were also signs pointing to accessible routes.

this sign points to accessible pathway over hard sand

3 Music Stages

There are 3 stages at îleSoniq. The main stage is called Oasis Stage, while the other 2 are Bud Light Mirage Stage and Neon Stage. All 3 have wheelchair accessible raised viewing platforms and all 3 have oversize accessible porta-potties right at the entrance that can only be used exclusively by wheelchair guests and their companions. Oasis Stage had all the main dj’s performing on and was also the largest stage. It is located on hard sand and has the largest area for people to watch. There was also a splash water fountain right by the stage for those to cool off during hot sunny breaks. The accessible viewing platform was not as big as the Mirage Stage but it gave a great close up view of the stage.

great view from accessible viewing platform at Oasis Stage (main stage)

cool down at the splash water fountain beside Oasis Stage

Mirage Stage was the most difficult to get to. Parc Jean Drapeau is so huge and this stage was quite far from the other 2 stages. There are so many stairs to get up to get to Mirage Stage that we had to de-scan our wristband and exit the festival by the media tent and re-enter at another entrance by Mirage Stage. Glad we had help from security staff to help us get in faster to the other entrance. Yes, we had to do this every time we went to and left Mirage Stage to visit any other stages. The accessible platform here is even bigger than the main stage accessible platform and is a bit further back. This stage is on mostly grass so it was really wet and muddy the closer to the stage we went. There are plastic mats covering the grass at certain spots close to the stage to make it more comfortable to stand on.

great having staff like Mathieu get you to Mirage Stage

all 3 accessible viewing platforms have an accessible porta potty… this platform is in a muddy area and further back from Mirage Stage

Neon Stage has lots of grass and rocks surrounding the stage. Plastic mats are here too at certain spots. The accessible viewing platform here is a bit smaller and is back from the stage. A couple trees block views of the stage but it is not horrible. There are 2 covered gazebos by this stage which was helpful when it rained. When it really rained hard, we hid in the media tents since that was fully covered and away from all the big crowds.

hanging at the accessible viewing platform at Neon Stage

Good To Know

îleSoniq does allow re-entries until 9pm each day. Since our hotel was a 20 minute drive to Parc Jean Drapeau and was a bit of an ordeal to get to, we made sure we packed everything we needed for the day. This includes my blistered medication packs, sweater/jacket in case it rains and gets cold at night. Small amounts of snacks and food is also allowed to be brought in even though there are food trucks throughout the festival. Of course, I always bring my water bottle because it is good to keep hydrated at music festivals and get them refilled throughout the day. Something really important to remember is that taking breaks and rest breaks to do pressure relief prevents sores.

wheelchair information desk to answer all your question… glad we brought extra clothes, ponchos and an umbrella

After Parties

Just cause the festivals ends at 11pm both nights does not mean that the night is over. All the official after parties can be found on all social media channels of îleSoniq including Facebook and Instagram. They are held at venues like New City Gas, L’Astral, SAT (Society for Arts and Technology) and more. These official after parties features dj’s already playing at îleSoniq, and lets you hear them at a more intimate setting and provide another opportunity to see your favorite dj’s if you miss them at îleSoniq. We went to SAT both nights after the festival since it was only 2 blocks from our hotel. We even got lucky and got to meet Whipped Cream (Caroline Cecil) at the after party the first night and again before her îleSoniq performance the next day.

backstage after-party with Whipped Cream at SAT

I had an amazing time at îleSoniq. Big thanks to Beatrice, everyone at îleSoniq, my buddy who came with me, friends who came from Toronto, this has been one of my most memorable trips. We all got to go backstage to meet some of today’s top dj’s. Getting to/from Parc Jean Drapeau was a bit challenging especially with the old metro station at the festival not having an elevator until renovations are done. Parc Jean Drapeau was mostly accessible with paved pathways except going to Mirage Stage required exiting and entering at a different entrance. Otherwise, all the stages had top of the line, state of the art production and great music that îleSoniq is not to be missed… whether you use a wheelchair or not. Highly recommended and we will definitely come back.