In mid-June, mere mortal vehicles will once again be banished from Montréal, QC’s club- and pub-lined Crescent St. Instead, sleek, sexy Ferraris, McLarens and Williams race cars will be displayed on the white line amid a driving beat of live bands and a sea of fans. After a year’s hiatus, Formula 1 racing is back in Canada—and so is the world’s biggest Grand Prix party!

Crescent St. is the official hub of off-site race celebrations. There will be daily Pit Stop Challenges—see how fast you can change a race-car tire—as well as high-tech simulators to fuel fantasies of sitting in the driver’s sea. Then, on Sunday June 13, the roar of engines will reverberate across the city as the world’s fastest cars hit Gilles Villeneuve track—named after the Quebec-born and six-time race winner—on Île Notre-Dame, site of Expo 67.

Canada has hosted the top car race since 1961, but in 2009, when Grand Prix management demanded a huge increase in fees to host the event, federal, provincial and local government balked and the event was cancelled and run in Turkey instead.

In a car-crazy town with a disproportionately high share of Canada’s luxury and performance vehicle sales, it’s not surprising that the Grand Prix has long been Montréal’s biggest annual event. Every year it brings in $89 million with 75,000 overnight hotel stays for the three-day gig, and it has more impact on the tourist industry than any other sporting event in the country.

So it was relief that it was announced that the Grand Prix du Canada would return to its pole position in Montréal in 2010. Gentlemen, start your engines and let the party begin!

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