Literary releases
Nestled in the heart of the Appalachians, just a few steps from the American border, the charming village of Saint-Venant-de-Paquette will come alive on Saturday for its Grande Nuit de la poésie. Under the artistic direction of David Goudreault, the event, which is in its 4e edition, promises to bring together the greatest voices of Quebec poetry. From 3 p.m. until early morning, Michel X Côté, Hélène Dorion, Joséphine Bacon, Jean-Paul Daoust and Jean-Christophe Réhel, among others, will parade at the microphone. Further north, in the Laurentians, the town of Prévost hosts its 12the Comic strip festival. 39 comic strip artists from the French-speaking world gathered for the occasion, including Delaf, the man who brought Gaston Lagaffe back to life, Réal Godbout (Red Ketchup) and Denis Rodier (The Bomb).
Immersions and acrobatics
Lumifest promises to bring the Espace culturel de Repentigny to life with digital arts. Through a journey of visual and sound projections or the use of technologies such as the mappingparticipants are invited to immerse themselves in a dreamlike universe. We will particularly remember Beautiful night, O night of lovean immersive virtual reality experience that highlights the musical work of Jacques Offenbach, presented Saturday and Sunday at the Diane-Dufresne art center. La Tohu, for its part, begins the celebrations of its 20e anniversary with the first of its Aerial Weekends. On the program, aerobatic acts, circus workshops and film screenings for toddlers. The highlight of the show will be the crossing on Saturday of tightrope walker Laurence Tremblay-Vu, who, balancing on her wire perched 23 meters in the air, will defy gravity in a 45-minute show.
Musical discoveries and surprises
Combining culture, food and music, the Festival des traditions de Sherbrooke brings together musicians from all corners of the globe. Among the artists to watch are the standard-bearers of Quebec trad De Temps Antan, the rockers of Teke::Teke and the Afro-Colombian rhythms of Bumanraga, who presents the closing concert on Sunday. In Morin-Heights, the SuperFolk festival is banking on the element of surprise. As has become their trademark, the programmers have kept their choices secret in order to encourage great discoveries. Looking at the guests from previous editions (Leif Vollebekk, The Barr Brothers, Martha Wainwright, Marie-Pierre Arthur, Catherine Durand), we can still assume that fans of guitars and sweet melodies will be delighted.
Country weekend
There is no shortage of celebrations of country and western music and culture in Quebec this weekend. The Lasso festival will give many fans of the new country music the chance to gather at Parc Jean-Drapeau on Friday and Saturday. In addition to American headliners Eric Church and Sam Hunt, a few Quebecers have managed to carve out a spot on the lineup, including Matt Lang, Emilie Clepper and Tom Chicoine. Far from the flashy and on a much smaller scale, the Festival country des Nord-Côtiers, in Chute-aux-Outardes, near Baie-Comeau, and the Festival western de Malartic promise a wild weekend for fans of Stetson and Boulet boots.