HEAVY MONTREAL On Hiatus In 2017

Concert promoter Evenko has announced that Heavy Montreal, the rendezvous of heavy music lovers, will be on hiatus in 2017 in order to return, stronger than ever, on July 28-29, 2018 at Parc Jean-Drapeau and on July 27, 2018 with Heavy In The City.

"During the past eight editions of Heavy Montreal, we always focused on the quality of the experience in order to give metal and rock fans a first-rate festival," said Nick Farkas, vice-president, concerts and events at Evenko. "Several factors, including the renovations at Parc Jean-Drapeau and the increase in cultural events during Montreal's 375th anniversary, contributed to our decision. We truly believe that a hiatus in 2017 before strongly returning in 2018 will ensure the festival's sustainability as well as offer festivalgoers an edition that will make them proud."

While awaiting the return of the festival in July 2018, Evenko will continue as always to offer a rich lineup of more than a hundred rock and metal shows a year to fans of heavy music. In the next few months, the Heavy Montreal team will announce several 2017 events that the metal and rock community are sure to enjoy.

Among the major must-see events of 2017, there will be the Montreal date of the "Not In This Lifetime" tour by the legendary GUNS N' ROSES, who will perform at Parc Jean-Drapeau on August 19.

Heavy Montreal and Evenko members will have access to a presale starting on Thursday, December 8 at 10 a.m. Tickets will officially go on sale the next day, December 9 at noon.

"The fact that we're moving to a temporary site next year for Osheaga and ÎleSoniq (and for Heavy Montreal, if it was to happen),that weighed on us," Farkas told the Montreal Gazette. "This year, we thought we really hit on a really cool site and we want to be able to make sure that we can replicate something good going into 2018. And there's a ton of traffic (in the summer of 2017) in terms of metal and hard-rock stuff. We just thought, all signs point to taking a year off.

"We did it before. We took off 2009 when there was a lot of traffic, and came back stronger than ever in 2010. … It's just a year off. It's a hiatus. GUNS N' ROSES is a huge deal, and there's other stuff that we're going to be announcing soon. The Heavy brand isn't going anywhere. We'll be doing Heavy-presented events this summer, and last year was a great year. So we're excited for the future."

BLABBERMOUTH.NET was an official partner of the eighth edition of Heavy Montreal, which took place this past August at the Plaine des Jeux of Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. FIVE FINGER DEATH PUNCH, DISTURBED, NIGHTWISH and VOLBEAT are among the bands that performed at this year's edition.