After a rainy start on Thursday and Friday, the sun brought visitors back on Saturday and Sunday to wrap up the four days of festivities for the 26th New France Festival in Quebec City, the cradle of French America.
The event was mainly installed in the place of the National Assembly, in front of the parliament, for the first time. A few strides from the former site of Esplanade Park, where some of the highlights of the program were still held.
“We gained in area, so we were able to accommodate more festival-goers,” welcomed the director general of the Festivals, Marie-Ève Jacob, Sunday afternoon, a few hours before the end of the 26th presentation.
Without wanting to “invent numbers” of attendance, she did not hesitate to speak of “several tens of thousands” of participants welcomed in four days.
Ms. Jacob is also the general manager of the Carnaval de Québec. The two flagship tourist events in Quebec City have been run by the same organization for about ten years.
Although the period of New France in Quebec began in 1534, with the arrival of Jacques Cartier, and ended in 1763 with the Treaty of Paris, the Holidays wanted to take a youthful turn this year.
“We brought new things in connection with a new clientele through the arts or modern modes of expression,” explains Ms. Jacob.
Improvisation, podcast, gastronomy, so many new approaches to bring the theme of the Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France to the eyes, ears and taste buds of twenty-somethings and thirty-somethings.
Comedian Charles Beauchesne, known for his popular series of podcasts and shows The Worst Moments in History, has adapted his concept to reveal under cover of laughter “all the horrors of New France”, says the director of Holidays.
The grand meal in the company of the king held in the Parc de l’Esplanade also allowed 250 interested parties to learn more about the food customs, etiquette and good manners of the time.
Without neglecting the “classics” like the inn, the village, the giant characters.
Ms. Jacob recalls that without claiming to create identical reconstructions, the organization of the Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France retains the concern for historical facts in its decorations and presentations.
The constant recourse to the advice of the historian Samuel Venière makes it possible to add certain lesser-known details of the time and never to stray too far from the historical reality experienced by the inhabitants of Quebec three centuries ago.
The Fêtes de la Nouvelle-France will return for a 27th time in 2024, from August 1 to 4.
2023-08-06 22:51:58
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