WATCH ABOVE: Reality star Kylie Jenner is the latest American teen making the trip up to Quebec to celebrate her 18th birthday with a plan to drink legally – and without limit. Global’s Sarah Volstad investigates the potentially dangerous trend.
POINTE-CALUMET – Reality star Kylie Jenner recently announced she’ll be celebrating her 18th birthday at Pointe-Calumet’s Beachclub.
She’s the latest celebrity to party it up at the Montreal-area venue.
Why? Because it’s one of the few places in North America where she can legally drink.
“She’s not legal in the States, so it made sense for her to make an event in Canada,” said Jean-Louis Labrecque, general manager of Beachclub.
“The venue is large enough. It was a good spot for her.”
Labrecque said he’s expecting roughly 8,000 people to attend the August 16th event – mostly female and between the ages of 18 and 30.
He’s also planning for there to be a lot of alcohol.
READ MORE: Kylie Jenner to celebrate 18th birthday in Montreal area
Jenner won’t be the first American teen to take advantage of Quebec’s low drinking age for her birthday festivities.
Hubert Sacy, Director General of non-profit organization Éduc’alcool, said it’s a dangerous trend that should not be encouraged.
“If you’re 18, you can have a drink,” said Sacy.
“But why push on the alcohol consumption? Why push on the idea that without alcohol you can’t have fun? Why push on the fact that it’s a huge relief that now you’re 18, now you can drink?”
Labrecque said a large security team will be in place, ensuring party-goers are of legal drinking age.
He added that safety is a priority for the club since sun, crowds and alcohol can often be a dangerous combination.
“It’s tough to know how people react to certain alcohols so we need to have people in place,” said Labrecque.
Jenner has a massive social media following – nearly 31 million followers on Instagram and more than 10 million on Twitter.
The event is drawing a crowd from around the world and many fans will make the commute to the party from downtown Montreal – bringing up the issue of drinking and driving.
“We do a lot of prevention,” said Labrecque.
“A lot of clubs don’t let people fill their water bottles, stuff like that. We’re really against that.”
“When we see that the clients are too intoxicated, we have areas, we have infirmaries to take care of people.”
A shuttle bus will run between Montmorency metro station and the club as part of an effort to make sure everyone gets home safely, but Sacy hopes out-of-towners will recognize Montreal as more than just an alcoholic watering hole.
“Montreal is not just booze city,” said Sacy.
“Montreal is a nice place to be. It’s fun, yes, you can have a drink, but it’s not only this. We are not just a huge tavern, we’re a little bit more than that.”
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