The Group of Independent Regional Artistic Festivals (REFRAIN) is taking advantage of the arrival of spring to already announce the summer season. This weekend at the Old Port of Montreal, REFRAIN is organizing Le Grand Ephemere, a unique gathering of festivals from across Quebec serving primarily to illustrate the multitude of cultural offerings (storytelling, music, circus arts, cinema, etc.). ) proposed by these events, then to launch a vast promotional campaign for the approximately 110 member festivals of the group. Ariane Moffatt, Kanen, Super Plage and Madelinot storyteller Gilles Lapierre will be there, despite the clouds hanging over the festival industry.
Patrick Kearney, general director of REFRAIN, wants to give César his due: the idea of creating in Montreal a sort of “festival of festivals, a weekend during which each event has its moment”, is that of Fred Poulin, co-founder and general director of the young music festival La Noce, in Saguenay, which will shortly unveil the poster for its sixth edition.
“But we didn’t want to do a festival fair, a sort of event where the public comes to shop for a summer festival,” continues Kearney, also at the head of Santa Teresa (from May 9 to 12, in Sainte-Marie). Theresa). “We wanted an event that brought together a diversity of artists and artistic practices — live art, story reading, burlesque, classical or pop music, etc. — well representing what REFRAIN is”, a grouping born in spring 2020 with the objective of being “the voice which carries the aspirations of independent regional artistic festivals and which demonstrates their essential contribution to the vitality of Quebec”.
The public who will attend (free of charge) the performances on the Grand Éphémère bill “will recognize moments specific to each invited festival. He will also be able to find out about these events — but not by visiting kiosks that distribute leaflets! » he explains. Because The Great Ephemeral is in reality the kickoff of a promotional campaign set up by REFRAIN, which benefits from financial aid for the effort from the Ministries of Culture and Communications and Tourism.
The event “serves to promote the REFRAIN platform, from which the public can discover festivals by carrying out searches by date, by artistic discipline, by region, etc.,” summarizes the general director. We even created festival routes, because these events are also a great way to discover Quebec.” At the same time, the group will hold the most important meeting in its history: “Out of 110 member festivals, nearly 70 will send representatives to Montreal this weekend. Even the Contes en Îles international festival, from the Îles-de-la-Madeleine [du 29 septembre au 6 octobre 2024], will be there! Since the founding of REFRAIN, we have always held our meetings on Zoom; The great ephemeral event will be the occasion for a great encounter like we have never experienced before. »
Black clouds
The opportunity, also, to discuss the problems that weaken the festival ecosystem in Quebec; the impact of inflation on event production costs as well as the limit on financial aid (state, sponsors, philanthropic) will undoubtedly be on the agenda, especially after the shock of the cancellation of the Juste pour festival laugh.
Patrick Kearney keeps a cool head, first believing that the bankruptcy of the Just for Laughs group is probably not attributable to the very activities of the festival he organized in July in Montreal. “I don’t think we will witness the collapse of the summer festival ecosystem following the cancellation of Just for Laughs,” he said, recalling that this ecosystem also lives “from the presence of MUTEK , the International Festival of Films on Art, the Underground Art Festival, among others. The community is rich in all that, and that’s what makes Montreal unique — not just the buskers in the streets during Just for Laughs. »
The recent tabling of the provincial budget did not satisfy the festival community and, more generally, the distribution of live performances. “We are disappointed, but at the same time, few ministries, apart from those of Education and Health, have won the jackpot,” said Patrick Kearney, lucidly. It should also be noted that there were no major cuts. I think the challenge for us right now is that the additional supports introduced during the pandemic have been abolished,” placing several organizations in a precarious position. “Hence the importance of ensuring that money is well spent and prioritized, and that is the job of the government to do so. » Eyes are now on the federal government, which will table its own budget on April 16, in the hope that it will respond to the community’s concerns.
“At least festival organizers are heading into the new season encouraged by the response from the public, who attend events in large numbers,” reassures Patrick Kearney. Festivals have never been so popular, ticket sales are going really well. The immediate challenge lies in certain subsidy programs and economic uncertainty. »