In Quebec, a festival deep in the woods where new talent can be found

As the season of major festivals comes to an end in France, the programming of events for 2023 is being played out now. In a sector affected by the crisis, between inflation and labor shortages, it is increasingly necessary to demonstrate inventiveness. So, at the beginning of September, most of the representatives of the sector are in a very remote corner of Quebec, at the Festival de Musique Emergent en Abitibi-Témiscamingue, in the city of Rouyn-Noranda, where they come to discover young artists who will soon cross the Atlantic.

More than 600 kilometers from Montreal and ten hours by bus in the middle of lakes and forests, Abitibi has to be earned. But for twenty years, Rouyn-Noranda has been transformed for four days at the end of summer. On the big stage, in a theatre, in a basement, in bars, concerts everywhere: we go from traditional to completely barred, and it’s been like that since Sandy Boutin, a native of the city, created the FME.

“We are not a festival of headliners, we are really a festival of discoveries: this is what will be the Quebec culture of the moment.”

Sandy Boutin

at franceinfo

And precisely in the crowd, is the director of the biggest French festival, Les Vieilles Charrues: “There are a lot of nuggets that we welcomed to Les Charrues that were discovered here, at the FME, thus indicates Jérôme Tréhorel. We have all experienced more or less the same effects due to the health crisis, the global economic recovery which has been complicated, or the impact of Ukraine. But it’s interesting to have the different points of view, and the different readings of the future.” “It even happened to me to discover French groups here“, laughs the programmer Kem Lalot, a fan of the FME.

“When I have a crush, I go directly to the band and I ask them when they are coming to Europe. And when it’s a huge crush, I make a direct offer, charging the artists to find dates around.”

Kem Lalot, programmer

at franceinfo

The French music industry is even more popular with Quebec artists. Clarisse Arnou runs the independent label Yotanka, among others. “We have somewhat the same approaches to the market of artist profiles which are still quite compatible, she points out. There is also an element that is still decisive, and that is that Quebec supports these groups a great deal in exporting. This makes things possible, especially in an economic context which is still complicated.”

In front of Quebec star Lisa LeBlanc, who plays by the pool, Sandy Boutin insists: as in France, here the pandemic has sparked a crisis of vocations in culture. “The unemployment rate in Quebec here is very low, it’s almost full employment! This helps convince people because in the cultural sector, often, the salaries are perhaps a little lower…” On both sides of the Atlantic, the same observation, therefore, and the same artistic desire: to discover new faces.