On July 28, 29 and 30, Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts will host a fifth festival of singer-songwriters, the Festival des Chansonniers. It’s an event dedicated to this purely Québécois performance art.

More than 30 of these artists from all over Québec will head for Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts to gather, for a weekend, with others sharing the same passion. Guitars in hand, the artists will play on ten stages set up in downtown Ste-Agathe. The festival will close at Le Patriote theatre, on Sunday evening, where all these singers will grace the stage of this famous Laurentians theatre, one after another, along with surprise artists.

“I wanted to create a gathering of chansonniers, because it doesn’t exist in Québec. Besides, chansonniers themselves only exist in Québec,” says Daniel Fontaine, seasoned chansonnier and founder of the Festival des Chansonnier. “It’s rare for us to be together, as a chansonnier almost always sings alone.”

“The important thing is have fun yourself onstage and to share that enjoyment with the audience,” Mr. Fontaine continues. “A chansonnier is an interpreter who travels with his own campfire to sing, at gatherings, songs that everyone knows, to create a party.”

This musical weekend, organized in partnership with the Ville de Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts and Le Patriote, invites the general public to a wide range of free shows. To ensure an atmosphere suitable for the musicians, the closing show will only cost $25.

“In earlier times, when I got started, there were more than 250 boites à chansons – singing venues – in Québec. Now there are hardly any. Thanks to the Ville de Sainte-Agathe, Norexco and the Caisse Populaire Desjardins, in particular, this festival offers a whiff of oxygen to this musical art which defines a part of the Québec cultural identity,” Mr. Fontaine concludes.

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