The 1st World Outgames took place in Montréal, Quebec, Canada from July 26, 2006, to August 5, 2006. The international conference was held from July 26 to the 29. The sporting events were held from July 29 to August 5. History The event evolved out of a dispute concerning spending for the 2006 Gay Games (formally called Gay Games VII), which Montréal had been awarded. However, the Gay Games sanctioners (Federation of Gay Games) and Montréal 2006 quarrelled over the budget and scale of the Games and the amount of control each party would exercise; subsequently, the FGG parted company with Montréal, awarding the games to Chicago. It was the second major multi-sport sporting event that Montréal had hosted since the Montréal Olympics in 1976. It used facilities from the Olympics and those from the 2005 World Aquatic Championships, the previous major multi-sport event in Montréal. The Outgames Montréal 2006 were larger than the 2006 Gay Games in number of events and amount spent but not in the number of participants. Unlike the Gay Games, the 1st World Outgames also included non-sport events, such as a Country-Western Dance competition (as well as exhibitions) and a Choral Festival that also had a competitive component. The event was held concurrently with Divers/Cité, the city's primary LGBT pride festival. The increased number of LGBT tourists in town for the Outgames had been expected to be a financial boon for Divers/Cité, but ironically that festival's attendance and revenues actually declined from previous years. According to Divers/Cité director Suzanne Girard, "even if there were more people than usual, there were 10,000 more things to do." Later in the year, as a result of the financial impacts of the Outgames, Divers/Cité dropped its pride programming and repositioned itself as an arts and music festival, leading to the creation of the new Fierté Montréal to take over as the city's pride festival. A Quebec government audit revealed a CAD 5.3 million deficit for the 2006 Outgames on a CAD 15 million total budget on November 13, 2006. On December 7, 2006, Outgames Montréal 2006 filed for bankruptcy protection. Of the deficit, CAD 3.1 million was in loans from the governments of Montréal and Quebec, while the other CAD 2.2 million was due to private companies and individuals. Organizing committee Mark Tewksbury, co-president Marielle Dupéré, co-president Paul Uline, Secretary François Goulet, Director Marie-Josée Malo, Director Johanne Roy, Director