Bad weather, cancellations and other unforeseen events gave the organizers of the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) a hard time. But these obstacles have tipped the event into the big leagues, according to the leaders of the FEQ, for whom 2023 is “a pivotal year”. Explanations.
“It’s the most difficult edition we’ve had. We had a record number of cancellations. We had constraints with air transport for some artists. We had the toughest weather in maybe 15 years. »
At the other end of the line, Louis Bellavance, director of programming at the FEQ, sounds… exhausted. We feel in his voice (which he has half lost) and in his tone that the last few days have been trying.
The bad weather conditions were so frequent that it was necessary to cancel many concerts, including those of the hip-hop evening, which was interrupted halfway, and all those of the evening which was to end with the performance of the Cowboys Fringants last Thursday (during which we also expected Vance Joy, Robert Charlebois and Elliot Maginot, in particular). Lil Durk, Christine and the Queens, Patrice Michaud and Meet Me at the Altar all canceled their presence, for different reasons, but always on very short notice.
PHOTO CAROLINE GRÉGOIRE, THE SUN
The rain has repeatedly invited itself to the FEQ.
All these situations, which were impossible to predict, forced endless days and sleepless nights for the festival organizers. Despite everything, Louis Bellavance expresses great satisfaction.
“I have the strange impression that it was a pivotal year that rocked the FEQ. We’ll talk about it again in a while, but I have the impression that we are witnessing the FEQ’s claim to fame in terms of recognition, notoriety, magical moments,” he believes.
It is perhaps precisely because the challenges were numerous that the organization was able to demonstrate all its know-how, he thinks.
Adversity eventually helped to do a lot of magic tricks. But we were already starting with a very strong poster and an unequaled public participation.
Louis Bellavance, director of programming at the FEQ
Remember that passes for the festival this year sold out in record time, just one hour.
PHOTO YAN DOUBLET, LE SOLEIL ARCHIVES
Louis Bellavance in June 2022
“I spoke to the agents of the French, the Americans, the power people of the music industry who landed here, and I feel like it has become obvious to everyone this year, that we are here, that we are part of the big machine. »
Bring back the Cowboys
The FEQ can count on a “talented and ambitious team that thrives on growth and challenges,” notes the head of the festival’s operations.
The biggest (and grandiose) challenge this year was to extend the festival by one day to allow the Cowboys Fringants, Robert Charlebois and Sara Dufour to take to the Plains of Abraham stage on Monday, which they hadn’t been able to make due to severe thunderstorms last Thursday.
PHOTO YAN DOUBLET, THE SUN
Last Thursday, the Cowboys Fringants show was canceled because of the weather, the Plains site was evacuated.
The singer of the Cowboys Fringants, Karl Tremblay, suffering from prostate cancer, the concert that the group was to give had a very special meaning. A sense of urgency drove everyone involved to make Monday night possible. « The Cowboys, Robert Charlebois and Sara Dufour [sont revenus] And [ont dû] everyone make compromises to be there, says Louis Bellavance. Then there are our production and operations teams, our field teams, our suppliers, our ticketing system, the technicians. The City had to get on board, the police department had to get on board…”
To set up this special moment “which makes no sense financially” for the FEQ, the organization only had a few hours. The day after the cancellation, the concert on Monday was already announced.
Nobody can predict the future, but we felt that this concert had to take place, we wanted to save it, and it worked.
Louis Bellavance, director of programming at the FEQ
“This apocalyptic day was particularly special,” said Louis Bellavance, recalling last Thursday. This whole sequence of events marks a festival and marks a career. »
Keep moving forward
The FEQ is not perfect. Rather, it is constantly evolving. Its model has a flaw, for example, which means that festival-goers cannot be guaranteed, during events with very high traffic, that they will be able to access the sites.
Because more passes are sold than the maximum number of people admitted to the Plains site, it’s a risk we take (in good conscience, by the way). But this kind of situation only happens very rarely, specifies Louis Bellavance. “The last time was for the Rolling Stones, in 2015.”
The easy solution, he adds, would be to sell 35,000 fewer tickets and sell them for $100 more.
The FEQ system, which allows group purchases of passes to be shared, results in people buying at a derisory price. What we ask in exchange is to be conciliatory if it should happen that we have to close the site.
Louis Bellavance, director of programming at the FEQ
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, CANADIAN PRESS ARCHIVES
Aerial view of the crowd present for the Foo Fighters concert, July 8
The organization will look for solutions “so that it happens as little as possible”, while considering that the current model allows for larger crowds and unparalleled accessibility, says Louis Bellavance. “It’s part of what we sell to the artists we invite, this crowd,” he adds. That’s why we have a Pitbull on stage that looks completely overwhelmed, a Lana [Del Rey] who wonders where she is so there are people in front of her or an Imagine Dragons who wants to come back at all costs, who makes it her goal in life to finish this show at the FEQ.
“We set the bar very high, it puts a lot of pressure, it makes you feel dizzy. But we want to continue, we want to go as far as people will follow us. And, right now, they follow us everywhere, all the time. »