In 1971, the 25 member countries of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation decided to hold a major youth festival to strengthen ties between French-speaking countries in a spirit of international fraternity.
In June 1972, Quebec’s candidacy was officially accepted. And the festival was held from August 13 to 24, 1974. It brought together “athletes, artists and researchers aged 18 to 35, eager to bear witness to the creative spirit, richness and complementarity of their respective cultures.”
In total, 1,500 participants from 25 French-speaking countries are coming. Sports activities and accommodation will be on the Université Laval campus. Artistic activities will take place on the Plains, where the large outdoor stage and the Village des arts will be located. But, in fact, all of Quebec and its greater region will be living in the Francophonie for 12 days.
French Woodstock
The event begins on August 13. The delegates, dressed in their national costumes, parade on the Grande Allée, from the Parliament to the Plains of Abraham. And there, it is the color itself that has taken to the streets.
The Nigerien drums resonate and attract onlookers to the steps. Perched on their stilts, the Belgian delegates amaze the children. The disciplined Vietnamese sing the tunes of their country.
The crowd, gathered on the sidewalks, applauds the delegations who sometimes stop to improvise a dance or a piece of music for them. On the plains a large country supper is held.
People who weren’t along the parade or at this dinner come. They come to see Félix Leclerc, Gilles Vigneault and Robert Charlebois, who give the opening show at 9 p.m. More than 125,000 people finally come.
The weather is humid and the temperature is stifling. But the three singers are in great shape. They perform each other’s hits on the theme of justice and brotherhood.
All their greatest hits are played and the crowd sings along. And the three stars end this recital by singing Raymond Lévesque’s song, When men will live on love.
The crowd rises. Everyone lights their candle or lighter in the dark, even the performers on stage. The show ends like this. Thanks to the recording, we will make a record of it. We come down from the trees, monuments, sculptures, walls of the courtyard of the old prison.
People come back from everywhere, walking on cans and debris of all kinds. The next day, in the newspapers, this spectacle is described as “Woodstock of French-speaking youth”. The journalist of Duty warns his absent readers that they may have missed the show of their lives.
Village
The heart of the festival is the Village des arts, in the outer courtyard of the old prison, the Petite Bastille. According to many visitors, “the most beautiful initiative of the festival”.
This Village welcomes more than a hundred artisans from four continents. They work in public until nightfall in the five pavilions made available to them.
They weave, pottery, paint, sculpt and basket weave; they work with metal, wood, ivory, stone and leather. Visitors learn about European, African, Asian and American crafts.
Let us imagine a visit to this famous Village on Wednesday afternoon, August 14. The big stage is animated by artists and national troupes. Incredible acrobats from Dahomey offer an improvised show to visitors. They follow the frenetic rhythms given to them by singers and musicians from the same group.
Africans, dumbfounded, watch Michel Gros-Louis, Absalon’s son, making a racket and wonder what it could be used for. In his corner, Antoine Manirampa, from Burundi, sculpts bas-reliefs of the customary life of his country. Beside him, artists from Dahomey make a painting using pieces of banana bark. Kimchombé Kola, from Mali, weaves tirelessly from morning to night.
Nicolas Baguini explains to a woman that the important thing is not to call Africans in this or that way, but to love them. Jules Ralantomahefa, from Madagascar, a marquetry specialist, talks with Montrealer Roger Leblanc, a carpenter who knows this art well.
Tears
In the evening, 30,000 people attended the spectacle of Cameroon and Ivory Coast. The next day, the journalist from Sun wonders: “Couldn’t there be in some distant ancestry a small hint of physical kinship between Quebecers and Cameroonians or the inhabitants of the Ivory Coast? One would have believed it seeing all this crowd reacting with their muscles to the yet very exotic accents of the music of these two countries… From ebony flesh to pale complexions, there was only the difference in costume and location, since the spectacle of the two countries took hold of the spectators to such an extent that they danced and chanted as much as those on stage.”
The whole festival will be marked by similar shows. Jugglers, griots, dancers, storytellers, mimes, singers, magicians. Leaving the crowds stunned, dazzled by wonders of colors, rhythms and songs.
In the Village, there will even be Nigerian wrestlers, dressed in a simple skin tied at the waist, engaging in a series of fights to the sound of tam-tams and the songs of the griots.
The closing day, Saturday, August 24, begins with a grand parade of delegations, starting at 3 p.m., in Old Quebec. At 6 p.m., a big country party, a super picnic, is held on the plains.
The entire population of Quebec was invited to bring their snack and 15,000 to 20,000 people are now having a bite to eat there.
For the farewell party, at 8:30 p.m., an “international” show is given on the main stage, a show that attracts at least 100,000 people. A sort of show summarizing the last 11 days.
At 10:30 p.m., President Richard Drouin thanks everyone and hands over the festival flag to the secretary of the Agency for Cultural and Technical Cooperation. The event ends with the Superfrancofête anthem, while many spectators shed a few tears.
In total, more than a million visitors attended the Superfrancofête. This demonstration of fraternity exceeded all expectations.