View source for Divers/Cité

{{Short description|Music festival}}
{{Infobox music festival
| name =Divers/Cité
| image =File:Divers-cite.jpg
| caption =
| location =[[Montreal]]
| years_active =1993–2014
| founders =
| dates =
| genre = [[Electronic music]], multidisciplinary arts and music, jazz, pop, Latin, rock, house, R&B and electronica
| attendance =
| capacity =
}}
'''Divers/Cité''' was an [[LGBT]] multidisciplinary arts and music festival taking place each year in the heart of [[Montreal]], since 1993. A week-long [[avant-garde]] event in the heart of downtown Montreal and in Montreal's [[Gay Village, Montreal|Gay Village]] area held usually on the end of July and beginning of August every year, it was open to all audiences, [[gay]] and [[heterosexuality|heterosexual]], including many free events.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Burnett|first=Richard|date=March 4, 2015|title=Has Montreal's founding gay Pride group Divers/Cité folded?|work=Xtra|url=https://www.dailyxtra.com/has-montreals-founding-gay-pride-group-diverscite-folded-66542|access-date=July 16, 2020}}</ref>

Organized in 1993 by Suzanne Girard and Puelo Deir, Divers/Cité served as a response to the [[Sex Garage]] raid of 1990.<ref>"Raid united city's LGBT community". ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'', June 27, 2015.</ref> The event formerly served as Montreal's primary [[LGBT pride]] festival.<ref name=xtra>[http://www.dailyxtra.com/canada/news-and-ideas/news/montreal%E2%80%99s-founding-gay-pride-group-divers/cit%C3%A9-folded-100016 "Has Montreal’s founding gay Pride group Divers/Cité folded?"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702200842/http://www.dailyxtra.com/canada/news-and-ideas/news/montreal%E2%80%99s-founding-gay-pride-group-divers/cit%C3%A9-folded-100016 |date=2015-07-02 }}. ''[[Daily Xtra]]'', March 4, 2015.</ref> An announcement in 2003 claimed that the Community Day in particular had as many as 200,000 attendees.<ref name=ec>[https://web.archive.org/web/20030731214815/http://ec.gayalliance.org/articles/000026.shtml Montreal hosts Pride Festival, July 28 through Aug. 3]. ''[[The Empty Closet]]'', July 3, 2003.</ref>

In 2006, that year's festival suffered a significant decline in attendance and revenues due to the city's contemporaneous hosting of the [[2006 World Outgames]];<ref name=plummets>"Divers/Cite attendance plummets by 20%: Outgames 'weren't good for us financially'". ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'', August 9, 2006.</ref> the increased number of LGBT tourists in town for the Outgames had been expected to be a financial boon for Divers/Cité, but according to Divers/Cité director Suzanne Girard, "even if there were more people than usual, there were 10,000 more things to do."<ref name=plummets /> As a result, later in the year the event dropped its Pride mandate and was repositioned as an LGBT arts and culture festival, leading to the creation of the new [[Fierté Montréal]] to manage the newly separate Pride parade.<ref name=xtra/> As both events took place at different times during the summer, the split sometimes led to confusion among tourists visiting the city.<ref>"Pride, but no parade; Divers/Cite. Rift means events are separate". ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'', August 11, 2008.</ref>

In 2012, the event moved from Montreal's [[Gay Village, Montreal|Gay Village]] to the [[Old Port of Montreal|Old Port]].<ref name=burnett>[[Richard Burnett]], [https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/local-arts/pop-tart-the-day-diverscite-died "Pop Tart: The day Divers/Cité died"]. ''[[Montreal Gazette]]'', February 26, 2015.</ref>

Following a long history of financial difficulties,<ref name=burnett/> Divers/Cité filed for bankruptcy in May 2015.<ref>[http://ici.radio-canada.ca/regions/Montreal/2015/05/20/002-lgbt-festival-montreal-divers-cite-faillite-canada-tourisme-fierte.shtml "Le festival LGBT Divers/Cité en faillite"]. [[CBC News|Radio-Canada]], May 20, 2015.</ref>

==See also==
{{Commons category|Divers/Cité}}
*[[List of electronic music festivals]]
*[[Live electronic music]]

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Montreal landmarks}}
{{LGBTQ culture in Montreal}}
{{LGBT topics in Canada}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Divers Cite}}
[[Category:Music festivals in Montreal]]
[[Category:LGBTQ history in Montreal]]
[[Category:Pride parades in Canada]]
[[Category:1993 establishments in Quebec]]
[[Category:Electronic music festivals in Canada]]
[[Category:Music festivals established in 1993]]
[[Category:2015 disestablishments in Quebec]]
[[Category:Recurring events disestablished in 2015]]
[[Category:LGBTQ music festivals]]
[[Category:Defunct music festivals]]

{{LGBT-event-stub}}