The organizers of the Flavours of Monkland street fest have agreed to make some changes for this summer’s event.

The changes to the food and music festival were announced at a meeting at the NDG community centre Wednesday night after some 350 people signed a petition complaining about issues like noise, litter and traffic.

Residents like Fred Headon said the festivals had stopped being about the community. 

"We need to put the Monkland back in the Monkland Street Festival," he said at a public meeting on Wednesday.

Shelley Corrin, who has lived in the area for many years, recalled the festival used to last just one day -- instead of having two events spread over eight days.

"In any event it's just not fair to do it to the same people year after year. Long ago it used to be one night, there was no sound stage, and it was a fun thing for the community," said Corrin.  

Shannon Bouchard agreed, saying that many of the kiosks and those hawking goods had nothing to do with the neighbourhood.

"The Monkland merchants aren't really being featured enough. In the booths it's just anyone's game," she said. 

Following the complaints, NDG councillors met with the festivals organizers and worked out a plan to scale back the event.

Some of the changes:

  • Shortening the festival from four days to three
  • Restricting the length of the pedestrianized area. It will reach from Girouard to Draper
  • Organizers will be hiring cleaners to assist city workers
  • More police will be on hand
  • Music from kiosks must not be audible from more than 10 metres away
  • More kiosks will be reserved for local community groups
  • There will be more activities for children
  • The number of food trucks will be reduced from 14 to 9. Three larger, quieter generators will be used to run them
  • There will be no live music on the main stage after 10 p.m. on Aug. 20 - instead, they will livestream the final Tragically Hip concert in Kingston

Festival organizer and Monkland Merchant Assn. president Danny Roseman said he hopes residents will be pleased with the changes – and that the focus really is on bringing business to the merchants along the street.

"What I don’t understand with some merchants who complained is it’s not about you, it’s about the street. It’s about vacancies on the street. It’s about filling the street, keeping the street alive. It’s about visibility for your business, it’s about traffic to the business, it’s about visibility for our neighbourhood. And not only that, for the merchants especially, it’s about giving back to the people that support you all year round,” he said.

Roseman revealed his company's financial statements, revealing the festival in Monkland Village earned $13,000 in profit last year, in addition to the $5,000 it is paid by the borough for each festival.

Following the meeting, Headon and others said they were satisfied with the resolution. 

"There were also a number of concerns that myself and some of the neighbours shared about the noise and security around the event and I was delighted to see that at least some of that's been addressed by the borough representatives," he said.

More meetings will take place in the next few months to determine if more changes will be made for next year's events.

The Flavours of Monkland Festival will be held Aug. 19 - 21.