The Festive! of Baie-Saint-Paul | One of a kind

(Baie-Saint-Paul) The Festive! at his best. After a canceled edition and another more modest one, the music festival returns to its usual formula. This weekend, Baie-Saint-Paul is celebrating music in style. This does not prevent the intimate and comfortable atmosphere that those who are there describe as specific to the Festive! The Press is on site.

Marissa Groguhe
The Press

We are Thursday evening. A group of soggy festival-goers wait under a tent for the storm to pass. The mood is good, even though most of the evening’s shows have just been canceled due to thunderstorms and downpour. It’s past 10 p.m., but rather than going to bed, people are waiting. It’s just that at the Festive!, it’s not over until it’s over. An hour later, the music resumes. The Urban Science Brass Band plays on the square in the center of town. Mattiel finally represents himself at the Garage du Curé. Surprise: Bran Van 3000 is DJing in a backyard. At 1:30 a.m., festival-goers start swing with Daddy Long Legs.

It’s only the first day, and already, the Festive! lives up to its reputation. A reputation for being an event like no other where music is honored in a unique way, making Baie-Saint-Paul, for a weekend, a village where you never sleep .

Before the storm, on this launch Thursday, friends Caroline and Karine are having a good time on the forecourt set up in the very center of the municipality. “We come every year, it’s our seventh year,” explains the first. Landed in Montreal, like many other festival-goers, they have not wanted to miss an edition since their first experience – except one, when the COVID-19 hit. “I saw Grimskunk for the first time here. I had the chance elsewhere for years, but I wanted to see them at the Festif! The two friends reminisce about a ton of musical memories here, from Alexandra Stréliski’s candlelit show — “it was magic” — to Lisa LeBlanc’s show where she had fun with a bra tossed on stage. “The Festive! lives up to its name,” says Karine, who only regrets that tickets are now difficult to obtain, as demand is so high. “You have to prepare well in advance,” she said. We coordinate the day they go on sale, with two connections, we try to get our hands on the ones we want! »

The particularity of the Festive! also depends on certain details. A stand screen printing to mark his t-shirts with the festival logo. A stack of gigantic poufs to dig into to settle on the forecourt. Thursday, a free sushi stand next to a stage to give visibility to a local restaurant. But also, little more than many people encountered by The Press raise, the Festive! offers surprise shows across the center of the city, in sometimes unexpected places, which give the spectators a feeling of privileged experience.

“You go to So and So or So and So’s garden, and you have access to artists in small groups,” says Isabelle Bédard, whom she met with her brother-in-law, Richard, on the site’s campsite. We find it right here. »

” Something in particular ”

While walking in Baie-Saint-Paul, we notice that backyards are occupied by campers in tents. Residents often rent their land to festival-goers. The owners of the Les Petits Délices snack bar in Les Éboulements tell us that they have even rented their own room as well as the space in their garden.

The community of Baie-Saint-Paul welcomes the community of festival-goers and the meeting seems harmonious. “There is something special in the atmosphere,” says Isabelle Bédard, who came from Quebec in her converted van.

Thursday, while the indefatigable Pierre Kwenders made his audience dance on the main stage, some took the time to relax during the dj set by Radio-Canada host Nicolas Ouellet. And while, later, Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire was as amusing as it was pleasant to listen to in front of the Microbrasserie Charlevoix, Bran Van 3000 entertained a compact crowd a few steps away. The next day, Geoffroy gives his show on the floating quay installed on the Gouffre River. The center of Baie-Saint-Paul becomes a small musical village. Most stages are within walking distance. Shuttles are available for those a little further out.

Also crossed at the campsite, Mangué Touré notes the fauna “different from other festivals”. At the Festif!, he says, “there are a lot fewer people there just to put their phone camera in front of everyone”. “It’s no longer the fun. The proximity, the people… The atmosphere is cool. He and his brother are at the festival for the second time. “After the premiere, we thought it was going to become a tradition. It had been a revelation, ”he explains, comfortably installed under a tarpaulin hung on their van to replenish their energy before going back to running the shows.

Everyone finds their account

During the day, Friday, it is almost stifling hot. The many water stations are welcome, as are the shaded areas on the forecourt, for taking a break or even a siesta – it’s been seen!

On that day, Ariane Roy, Ouri, Basia Bulat, Geoffroy, Bon Enfant, Connoisseur Ticaso, Manu Militari, Les Louanges, Gros Mené and Hubert Lenoir are expected. Among others! We even have to make harrowing choices sometimes, as the programming offer is so abundant.

Accustomed to festivals “all over Canada”, but present for the very first time at the Festif!, Astrid Esmeralda considers that the event is “really unique”. “It’s an experience that’s really different from that of more corporate festivals like the FEQ, for example,” she tells us. In Tadoussac, it looks like it, but it’s more slow. Here they know how to keep us on our toes hype. »

The Quebec City resident says “ [trouver] everything” at the Festif!, she who plans to attend shows this weekend by Safia Nolin, Larry Kidd, Lisa LeBlanc, P’tit Belliveau, Connaisseur Ticaso and Manu Militari, in particular. “I find my account at 100%. »

The accommodation costs for this report were paid by the Festif!