It’s never cost less “to pique your interest”
Debaser’s eclectic art series Pique will be hosting a free edition on Sept. 26 at the Arts Court for the first time in the event’s history, thanks to partnerships with the City of Ottawa’s nightlife office.
Debaser’s director Rachel Weldon told the Fulcrum that she was worried Nuit Blanche, a free citywide arts festival, would compete with Pique when she realized their programming fell on the same day. Now, Pique’s 21st edition, featuring a Kiki Ball, world premieres, and workshops, along with electronic, noise, hip hop, hyperpop, ambient, contemporary classical, improvisation, and global club sounds, will be just one piece in the colourful tapestry that is Nuit Blanche Ottawa.
The most ambitious Pique yet
“There’s a lot of different things happening, as usual at Pique, but it’s definitely a larger-than-life edition this time,” says Weldon. With previous editions selling out at roughly 1,500 tickets quarter-annually, the fall edition is projected to hit capacity with roughly 2,000-2,500 attendees throughout the night.
Pique’s 21st edition marks a major milestone, which is all the more impressive given the series’ history.
Pique started out as an online event during the COVID-19 pandemic. Weldon says this period offered an unexpected opportunity to move beyond your standard music festival and acted as a “reset” of sorts.
Precedent was blown away during the pandemic because “all bets were off.” Looking back, Weldon is glad they got to slow down and ask, “What even is artistic presentation in a post-pandemic world where this could happen again?” Without that pause, she notes Pique would look completely different today.
Weldon adds that “In 2020, a lot of smaller independent festivals were shutting down.” Debaser saw that there was a DIY programming gap to fill, and with the Arts Court being redeveloped into a state-of-the-art facility for media presentation, there arose a pivotal opportunity.
Ottawa’s changing arts scene moulded Pique’s development, and it’s safe to say Pique’s returned the favour.
As Debaser sought to move away from single one-off concerts, the Arts Court renovations inspired the creation of the multi-floor ‘playground’ concept that defines the curated arts series. Against the backdrop of the pandemic’s impact on social opportunities for youth and people’s financial stability, accessibility in terms of all-ages programming and a pay-what-you-can model stood out as Pique’s core value. Weldon says:
“I never expected it to reach as many as it would. It’s reached people who are curious and adventurous, who might not know the artist on the poster, but are really hungry for artistically-driven experimental programming where they can meet people with similar values and also be challenged.”
From their regular 50 experimental showgoers, to 1,500 curious strangers, and now a thousand or so more, Weldon notes that Debaser has “gradually been building its reputation with the city.”
Working with the “Night Mayor”
In 2024, the city of Ottawa created a new post entitled nightlife commissioner; however, throughout Mathieu Grondin’s term, the title “night mayor” seems to have stuck.
Grondin told the Fulcrum that he acts as a liaison between the industry, the community, and the nightlife businesses. Noting that “the demand for a liaison came from the industry, [because] there was a lack of understanding of where to go when businesses had a question or an issue.”
When it comes to financial support, the Ottawa Nightlife Office has a limited funding envelope of $150, 000 to support new nightlife initiatives, which Grondin says “supported five or six different activities.”
The city makes no promises
In her capacity as director of Debaser and a member of the Ottawa Nightlife Council, Weldon says “The more ad hoc actors in Ottawa’s nightlife [are]…where so much of the great underground activity is coming from.” Adding that, “It takes time for a bureaucracy like the City of Ottawa to wrap [its] head around that, but I know that they’re aware of it… I hope that this is just the beginning.”
When asked where the upcoming election places continuity in their office and the possibility of future free Piques, Grondin told the Fulcrum that funding Pique “is a one-off thing” and that once the municipal “budget is voted on, we’ll know if [the $150, 000] envelope will be recurring next year.”
That said, Grondin added that “we collaborate with any event that happens; the collaboration with Pique is a funding contribution, a one-off funding contribution.”
Despite some Ottawans expressing opposition to his post, Grondin stated: “As for the election period, my personal situation is that in the last two and a half years that I’ve been here we’ve had consensus on council to have a position that is dedicated to the nightlife economy, so I don’t know what the results of the election are, but I don’t see anyone running against it either.”
