Do you know the history of the Quebec City Summer Festival?
In the heart of the historic district of Quebec, the indoor and outdoor scenes welcome international stars, rising stars and emerging artists of all musical styles: The Rolling Stones, Foo Fighters, Keith Urban, Lady Gaga, Billy Joel, Bryan Adams, Stevie Wonder, Bruno Mars, Tiësto, Bon Jovi, Black Keys, Metallica, Iron Maiden, Sting, Charles Aznavour, Rammstein, Elton John, and many others.
HISTORICAL
A crazy project imagined at the end of the sixties by seven young artists, Diane Lavoie, Constance Pare, Bernard Pelchat, Louis Ricard, Hélène Savoie, Hélène Trépanier, Michel Viel and a group of businessmen wishing to animate the places of the city and promote the popular arts.
In 1968, they founded the Quebec City Summer Festival, which gives itself as its main orientation to present Quebec artists. Music, dance, theater and song intertwine. The founders of the event certainly could not imagine that their project would become an example in the field of outdoor cultural festivals and offer an extraordinary openness of Quebec to the world.
To support the funding of the first edition, a butterfly cardboard was sold for $ 1. It is in 1973 that we see appear the first badge bearing the new image of the FEQ, the flower of the Festival, a red and purple square flower that remains the official symbol of the event for 16 years. The Festival has its longest edition in 1971 with festivities lasting 24 days. In 1977, the opening show reached a record with a crowd of 15,000 festival-goers on the Dufferin Terrace. The festival is limited to 6 days of festivities in 1979, but that does not prevent to obtain an impressive number of 350 000 festival-goers.
From the beginning of the 80s, the Festival chooses to introduce Quebecers to artists from elsewhere and opens to Africa, Europe and the United States. These years also mark a significant shift with a first night programming and a section dedicated to Street Arts. The Festival Macaron is now priced at $ 2. The craze is buzzing, so that in 1983, the Crow group attracts a crowd so large that festival-goers have to climb on the roofs of neighboring buildings to watch the show. The event is gaining more and more popularity and for the first time in history goes beyond Winter Carnival.
A dozen years later, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the Festival offers a program of hundreds of shows with artists from 22 countries. It's the beginning of a long love affair with world music that still makes thousands of festival-goers dance. The Festival is also animated by local artists, such as Jean Leloup who sows hysteria at Pigeonnier in 1989. The young public transgresses the rules and breaks down the safety barriers to take center stage. In order to win over a younger clientele that is more interested in the new rock music festivals that are increasingly present in Quebec, the 30th edition, in 1998, includes performances by bands such as Bran Van 3000 and Moist.
A dozen years later, on the occasion of its 25th anniversary, the Festival offers a program of hundreds of shows with artists from 22 countries. It's the beginning of a long love affair with world music that still makes thousands of festival-goers dance. The Festival is also animated by local artists, such as Jean Leloup who sows hysteria at Pigeonnier in 1989. The young public transgresses the rules and breaks down the safety barriers to take center stage. In order to win over a younger clientele that is more interested in the new rock music festivals that are increasingly present in Quebec, the 30th edition, in 1998, includes performances by bands such as Bran Van 3000 and Moist.
A few years later, the event begins to welcome international stars. The audience enthusiastically embraces this orientation and in 2007, for the first time in its history, the Festival passed the million festival-goers mark. The following year is the 400th anniversary of Quebec City and the Festival follows the festivities. The city and the Festival, which welcome visitors from all over the world, will never be so radiant. The event reached unprecedented record attendance of 1.7 million festival-goers.
The following editions also feature an impressive list of such acclaimed artists as Sting, KISS, Placido Domingo, The Black Eyed Peas, Arcade Fire, Rammstein, Billy Talent, Simple Plan, Metallica and Elton John. Bon Jovi, Aerosmith, Johnny Hallyday, LMFAO, Lionel Richie, Vincent Vallieres, The Off Spring, Jean Leloup, Sarah Mclachlan, Pierre Lapointe and Skrillex. In 2012, there is an average of 46,000 festival-goers each evening on the Plains for the duration of the Festival. To date, an approximate number of 13,000 shows have been presented since the beginning of the event. With a 95% share of festival-goers satisfied with their 2015 experience, the success of the Québec City Summer Festival is largely due to the quality of the programming, the professionalism of the teams, and the party atmosphere that s seize the city during the festivities.
The 52nd edition of the Quebec City Summer Festival, which will take place from July 4 to 14, 2019, promises festive activities in addition to a diversified programming including safe values and beautiful discoveries
Credit: feq.ca/FEQ/Historique
