On Bellechasse street in La Petite-Patrie stands a building that appears long forgotten at first glance. Step beyond its threshold, and you’ll find an ever-changing space that reinvents itself with every gathering that takes place.

Parquette emerged in response to growing calls for accessible gathering space for queer and BIPOC communities in the face of shrinking nightlife infrastructure.

Opened last year by Oliver Anthony, co-founder of the nightlife non-profit FANTOM (Fédération Pour Les Arts Nocturnes), Colin Rothfels (once of 820 Plaza), and a number of close collaborators, Parquette was imagined as Montreal's answer to the queer-friendly, grassroots club spaces that anchor nightlife in cities like New York and Detroit.

The project came at a time when Montreal’s nightlife stood at a crossroads. One venue after another had fallen like dominoes under the pressure of noise complaints, exorbitant rents, and layers of red tape that made continuing to operate untenable.

When asked whether the decision to open their space was driven by a sense of urgency, Oliver’s answer was an unequivocal yes.

He and the team had been searching for a space since 2022, exploring several options, but were immediately drawn to the former gym on Bellechasse that Parquette now occupies. Though the building will be demolished, they negotiated the lease anyway, signed it, and launched the pilot project fully aware they could only operate on a temporary, year-to-year basis.

“We weren't exactly sure what it would be and how it would all go, but we had a pretty good feeling that it would be all right and it would be worthwhile,” Oliver says.

Their instincts were right: Parquette quickly found its rhythm, becoming a haven for alternative nightlife, arriving just when Montreal needed it most.

An unlikely space on borrowed time

Parquette is open throughout the week, serving as a café by day between nightlife events that hosts the likes of book launches, markets, accessible fitness classes, and dance classes like whacking.

While Parquette's building is set to be torn down near the end of this year, Oliver says it felt like the perfect opportunity to experiment and get the most out of the space within the allotted time. “It felt like a great chance to try out a bunch of things, learn a lot, and hopefully give some people a space to do new and interesting things,” he says.

Parquette can feel like a completely different place depending on the day. Its décor, music, and events are in constant flux, mirroring the evolving rhythm of Montreal’s nightlife. What remains unchanged is the feeling you get when you step through the entryway’s curtain.

“Seeing that the different classes that people are giving here on a regular basis really resonate, and seeing their classes be full, is really cute,” Oliver says, pointing to Parquette’s shared focus on community built through art, music, and movement.

“You come in here after a yoga class or a Pilates class and the cafe is full of people hanging out. They're all in good spirits because they just used their bodies, which is very much what the parties are about and what dancing is about, too. It's just a different version of it.”

Space shaped by those who use it

While Colin’s early funding helped cover rent for the first few months and allowed for crucial initial equipment purchases, the transformation of the former gym into a functioning venue was powered by a groundswell of community support. Friends and members of Montreal’s extended nightlife family contributed hours of hands-on labour to clean and prepare the space.

That community-driven model continues to sustain Parquette’s events today, with a core team of staff working alongside a rotating crew of volunteers who exchange their labour for access to the space and its programming.

“When people talk about a lack of space in Montreal, it's not that there's a lack of spaces to do stuff,” Oliver says. “It's that there's a lack of spaces to do stuff at a price point that allows for tickets to be accessible to the audiences and the communities that (people) are trying to reach.”

With the work kept among friends and the wider community, tickets can remain affordable. “We can also offer rates to external organizers that are heavily discounted versus what they would pay for a similar amount of square feet elsewhere in the city,” Oliver adds.

The DIY system, long a centripetal force of Montreal’s most vibrant nightlife, is also what allows Parquette’s atmosphere to be shaped by the people who occupy its space, not the other way around. An alternative to the commercial club culture of recent years, the energy inside events unfolds almost organically, guided by a shared understanding of the space’s purpose and the communities it serves.

When it comes to the audience, Oliver says it’s less about “curation” than about setting clear expectations. “You just have to put stuff out there that you hope is going to land with the right folks, communicate what your values are, and what the expectations are for people coming into the space. If those expectations are broken, nobody's surprised if they're being asked to leave or if there's an intervention of some kind.”

The groundswell

Before hosting their first party, the team made sure to touch base with the surrounding community: “We went around and gave out letters just introducing ourselves and explaining what our intentions were… encouraging people to get in touch with us if they were bothered by anything or if they had questions or concerns,” Oliver says.

Residents are encouraged to contact the team directly through call or text, rather than contacting police, a crucial step when it comes to protecting queer space.

“I think it's allowed us to have a pretty mutually beneficial relationship with our neighbours, even when they want us to turn it down.”

This open communication method has helped Parquette thrive as a hub, pushing back against the idea that nightlife venues are a problem to be dealt with rather than essential community and cultural engines.

“I think a lot of people have responded really warmly to what we're doing,” Oliver says, noting that many of Parquette’s immediate neighbours are regulars at the cafe. Many are also regulars at Flip, Parquette’s flagship 24-hour party that has hosted some of Montreal’s most well-loved collectives, like Flush, Hauterageous, and Ferias.

“Doing Flip has been really special,” Oliver says. “It's been really meaningful to see that people continue to want to be here for that. That means a lot to us.”

A precedent for Montreal nightlife

Parquette is set to close its Bellechasse doors in the next year, and its absence will be felt by many.

“The sheer volume of inbounds that we receive from interested organizers and collectives, the overnight success of Flip, the number of people who come up to us every day to thank us for building Parquette tells me that it's become something very special to a lot of people,” Oliver says.

Though the project has been a success, uncertainty still looms over the future of Montreal’s nightlife. “There are all too many stories of cornerstone spaces being forced to close when their leases expire,” Oliver notes, highlighting the ongoing challenges of keeping spaces like Parquette alive in a speculative real estate market.

“When we imagine something long-term, we imagine owning over renting. We imagine carving out a space resilient to those specific kinds of economic pressures.”

But through the short-lived project, momentum is building for what comes next. Parquette has proven its model is viable, and future projects at different scales can now be approached with greater clarity, guided by the lessons learned from the space.

Going forward, Oliver says FANTOM and the Parquette team plan to continue filling the gaps in Montreal’s alternative nightlife scene, whether by running their own projects or helping others launch theirs.

“I think there's a lot that we've learned here that we're going to be happy to share.”

The next big thing.

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An unlikely space on borrowed time

Space shaped by those who use it

The groundswell

A precedent for Montreal nightlife

The next big thing.

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Megan Pietrus

Parquette Proves How Nightlife Can Work on Borrowed Time