THE 43RD FESTIVAL D’ÉTÉ DE QUÉBEC: In Perfect Harmony
Quebec City, July 19, 2010 – “Seldom have we seen such harmony among performers, the public and their festival! Even before the numbers on sales and attendance, which promise to be exceptional this year, are in, we will remember this 43rd Festival d’été de Québec for all the smiling faces, the gestures of generosity, the many appreciative comments and the obvious pleasure of just being there,” affirmed the Chair of the Board for the Festival d’été de Québec, Marie-France Poulin.
Surprised, enchanted, impressed– the artists who performed on the Plains of Abraham Bell Stage– whether Win Butler of Arcade Fire, Will.i.am of The Black Eyed Peas or Santana– all praised the size and the quality of the crowd. The members of BILLY TALENT consider the Festival d’été de Québec the best festival in Canada, if not in North America.
Colourful world music such as Staff Benda Bilili, Éthiopiques, Chicha Libre or Hindi Zahra on the Metro Stage in Place D’Youville once again had the crowd dancing and singing, while the Molson Dry Stage in Parc de la Francophonie was the place to discover new music and enjoy old favourites such as The Cat Empire, Thievery Corporation and Jimmy Cliff, to name a few.
“It’s true that we have an outstanding public that is totally into the Festival. The proof, all 150,000 flashing Hydro-Québec passes were sold out just two days after the opening. A first in the history of the Festival that speaks volumes about its ever-growing popularity. We have people coming to the Festival from all over the world. More than 20,000 fans followed us on Facebook and thousands of people visited our website to plan their vacation and choose their shows. We are now up there among the biggest and the best,” said General Manager, Daniel Gélinas.
This year’s edition was memorable, even historic, in many ways:
• The exclusive ‘custom’ concert Gilles Vigneault gave to mark a career spanning 50 years
• The determination of the Iron Maiden fans who slept on the sidewalk to make sure they had the best spots when the gate opened (“The heart of metal is here,” according to Bruce Dickinson)
• The biggest technical installations ever deployed for the Festival and the impressive capability of the crew to handle complex stage changes so quickly
• The Festival’s biggest TV production ever, the program Les chansons d’abord, which will be broadcast tomorrow evening on Télé-Québec and this fall on France 3 and TV5 Monde, to a potential 16 million television viewers
• The unprecedented number of passengers using RTC busses
• A record crowd on the Plains for the The Black Eyed Peas concert
