Meet a Montrealer: Nick Farkas

As cofounder of festivals Osheaga, Ile Soniq, Heavy MTL and, starting this September, YUL EAT, Nick Farkas never stops. The only downside to his culturally immersed life is that sometimes, he’s too busy to enjoy other people’s events, like Just For Laughs and the Rogers Cup! This is how he experiences Montréal.

Job: Vice President, Concert and Events, Evenko.

Favourite pastime: Listening to music.

How long have you been a Montrealer? Since 1970, when I was 5 years old. My parents came from Hamilton.

What’s the coolest thing you’ve done so far this year? Osheaga this weekend! The next three weekends of festivals, with Osheaga followed by Heavy Montréal and then Ile Soniq, are our busiest time in the year.

What’s the next big thing you’re planning? We’re doing a new festival called YUL EAT in Old Montreal, near the Clock Tower, in the beginning of September, over Labour Day weekend. In the midst of doing our other three festivals and the 13,000 shows we do a year, the team decided it was time to do another festival. Tons of chefs, cooking classes, brunches, dinners, free concerts and more.

What’s your favourite thing about organizing events? Definitely seeing the reaction of the crowd, seeing the fans, the reaction of the artists, and seeing the whole team at Evenko working together to create something that’s special – the interaction between all that is just unbelievable. Also I love walking the fields, talking to people and seeing how many come from outside of Quebec, outside of Canada. It’s generally a very rewarding experience.

What was your most memorable Osheaga show ever? Oh, so many! So many. If I narrow it down to last year’s, I think my favourite moment would have to have been seeing the Replacements play – they were one of my favourite bands growing up, and I’ve travelled to go see them in New York, and anywhere they played on the east coast, but then they broke up for 20 years – pretty much the entire length of my career! So for them to reform and for us to be able to have them play last year, that was a definite highlight for me.

Who are you most looking forward to seeing play this year? Another tough one… I’m really happy to have Black Keys come back for the festival’s 10^th anniversary, that’s something special. I love The War on Drugs too, so I’m looking forward to that, and to Iron and Wine with Ben Bridwell.

Where do you like to go and see live music during the rest of the year? My favourite place to see a show right now is the Corona. I’m kind of biased because we run it, but I loved it before we ran it too. You walk in there and you’re transported into a different era. It’s historically very, very similar to what it was 100 years ago, and acoustically it sounds amazing – bands love it, and audiences do too.

What’s your favourite Montréal memory? At 12 or 13, getting on the bus, then taking the metro, to go to Jarry Park to sit in the bleachers for a Montreal Expos game for 50 cents a ticket. I remember being so impressed by how big the city is. Now I try to get up there to see the Rogers Cup, but it’s always at my busiest time.

What’s your favourite Montréal restaurant? Chuck Hughes is our chef, he does all the catering for Osheaga, so I love his food; Bremner is one of my favourite places. I go with the flow, I let them bring whatever they want to serve and it’s always amazing! I also love Park, and I’m a big fan of Liverpool House as well. That whole area is amazing – the Notre-Dame strip has so much going on. Atwater Market, the Lachine Canal – those are some of my favourite places in the city.

Where do you like to go for drinks with friends? We go to Burgundy Lion a lot, and when we’re not down this way we go to Sparrow.

What’s the one thing anyone visiting Montréal should absolutely do? Visit Old Montreal. There are so few cities in North America that have that kind of heritage. It’s so well preserved. I find it inspiring,, you get a chance to sit back and absorb the history of what the city was a few hundred years ago. We go down there for lunch all the time, there are so many good restaurants.