Gerts Bar’s re-opening on Jan. 6, 2025 marks the return of McGill’s beloved student-run pub. However, the basement-floor room is not just a watering well for off-duty academics; Gerts is also a well-known venue for university clubs and music shows. The Tribune interviewed several club executives who have hosted an event at the bar before to get their insights on Gerts as a venue and collaborator. If you’re planning an event this semester, take a look and stay tuned for how to plan your special affair at the end!
What do students think about Gerts’ booking services?
As part of their celebrations for their opening week, Gerts hosted a live music event by Resonance, an alternative rock and indie music band from Montreal. In an interview with The Tribune, band member and Concordia student Nick Kouniaris discussed their experience with developing their event with the bar.
“Overall the booking for Gerts is probably the easiest out of the majority of venues we’ve played at. They respond pretty fast and are very understanding of us,” Kouniaris shared.
Mayra Baca, U3 Management, hosted a Halloween party in 2023 at Gerts with her club, K-rave. She explained in an interview with The Tribune that the bar provides certain event amenities at no extra cost, such as microphones and screens to project videos on. While A/V equipment is available through the McGill Library and certain faculties, Baca expressed that it was nice to have the items on location and staff who know how to troubleshoot any issues.
Sarah Kotb, U3 Management, who hosted a karaoke night in 2024 with McGill’s Filipino students’ association as part of Gerts’ culture night event series, echoed that sentiment.
“[The staff] were very accessible. If we needed something, they were very easy to talk to and they would explain to us how to hook up the mics, adjust the music, and how to work with the TV,” she said in an interview with The Tribune.
In the past, the bar has supported a variety of gatherings, from clothing swaps to partnered events with The Player’s Theatre, offering discounted drinks on show nights.
“It’s a good venue for clubs big and small. The staff are extremely flexible,” Baca added.
Kotb also noted that the location is easy to communicate to guests and that passersby can often get drawn in by random events they’ve never heard about—it’s a universal McGill experience to wander into Gerts for a pint only to discover there’s a whole event underway.
However, the limitations of the space and staff should be known to any event organizer. The bar’s capacity sits at 250 people, which can pose a challenge to larger clubs. Additionally, if you’re a small club and can only book half of the bar, it’s hard to create a barrier between your event and regular visitors.
Baca explained in an interview with The Tribune that the security and bar staff were unable to verify which guests had tickets to her event, leading to some people walking in on the private party. Since their admission tickets included one free drink per person, the confusion also led to several people receiving drinks for free who were not attending the event.
Given that the bar is re-opening with almost all-new staff and managers, it remains to be seen how the crew will deal with pre-purchased drinks and ticketed events in the future.
How to book an event
The scheduling process is fairly simple: Gerts has a form available on the SSMU website where interested parties can input all booking details. These forms must be filled out a week prior to the event at a minimum—though it’s usually better to submit further in advance. It’s essential to have all the little details of your event accounted for, like the expected amount of guests attending and any external items you may need.
Once you submit the booking form, your event will be reviewed by the Gerts manager and a SSMU representative, after which you can sign the final agreement.
