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Picture a group of about 20 adults chatting it up in a driveway, all smiles, beers in hand with music blaring from nearby speakers — and the vast majority of them are meeting for the first time.
That was the case during the evening of July 16 on King Edward Avenue in Montreal’s Nôtre-Dame-de-Grâce neighbourhood. The mood was festive, friendly and welcoming, with people passing by, who are also strangers, invited to join.
This weekly event is called NDG Neighbour Nights, and it was started by residents Jenny Donovan and her husband Andy Froncioni.
The idea came from what Donovan felt was a need to reconnect with people that lived near her.
“We are missing that muscle of connecting to people and communicating with people in a real way,” Donovan told All in a Weekend host Sonali Karnick.
Neighbours connect with one another at the NDG Neighbour Nights event on July 16 2026. (Hannah Beach/CBC)
Donovan says many people have become more insular, and even more so after the pandemic and they are “missing that muscle of connecting to people and communicating with people in a real way.”
“We had neighbours that have lived on our block for decades and they know the people that live across that have also been there decades, but they’ve never actually spoken,” she said.
“So when they showed up, last week, it was the first conversation they’d ever had. And to me, that’s golden.”
Many of the people who showed up to the event on July 16, 2026 were meeting each other for the first time. (Hannah Beach/CBC)The importance of knowing the people around you
So far, the couple says, the response to NDG Neighbour Nights has been very positive and it’s brought people closer.
“Now we’ve got our regulars,” said Froncioni. “We have people we can’t live without now all of a sudden.”
Amanda Martin and her husband have lived in the area for four years and attending two events has made a subtle but significant difference to daily interactions around her home.
“There’s definitely more neighbours that I recognize. So I feel like I can say hi to more people when I’m out walking every day” said Martin.
Andy Froncioni (third from left) chats with neighbours at the NDG Neighbour Nights event on July 16 2026. (Hannah Beach/CBC)
It was also the first NDG Neighbour Nights for Jesse Scoble, who has lived just a few blocks away from the King Edward Avenue meetup spot for seven years. For Scoble, the impact of knowing your neighbours goes beyond simply knowing and being able to greet each other on the street.
“We’ve become very isolated in our homes and our family kind of units,” he said, adding that it’s important to know the people around you to “ask them for help if you need it, offer them help if they need it.”
Donovan hopes that NDG Neighbour Nights becomes a blueprint for others to create similar events in their communities.
“If we had little neighbour gatherings like that all over the place, I think we would see a real change in our global community,” said Donovan.
LISTEN | More on NDG Neighbour Nights:
All in a Weekend12:43Jenny and Andy welcome neighbours with their new NDG Neighbour Nights
A couple in Montreal’s NDG neighbourhood wanted to get to know who lives around them and help other people make better connections. We speak with Jenny Donovan, who, along with her husband Andy, started a weekly gathering called NDG Neighbour Nights. You can find more information on Facebook: search for Thrive NDG or NDG Neighbour Nights.