It takes a village!
EN - Like the fjord, the bay, the whales and baby belugas, it's part of the landscape, even part of the local wildlife: in June of every year, for the past 42 years, the Festival de la chanson de Tadoussac has made its home on the Tadoussac shoreline.
Festival de la chanson de Tadoussac [Tadoussac Song Festival]
It takes a village!
Like the fjord, the bay, the whales and baby belugas, it's part of the landscape, even part of the local wildlife: in June of every year, for the past 42 years, the Festival de la chanson de Tadoussac has made its home on the Tadoussac shoreline. Its call is one of unity, of joy! It feeds off of group momentum, off the energy put out by the team, and by volunteers… Or, as we like to say, the festival feeds off of the energy put out by a whole village! While the festival has had some great times over the decades (we're thinking Les Colocs, in their earliest days, the youth hostel, the well-established tradition of performances on the rock itself, with rorquals playing peek-a-boo), we've got to admit: the festival looks good, in its 40s. It's like a second childhood, brought to life by a solid, fresh, and electrifying dynamic from the (incidentally, all female) team at the helm of this major organization for the last three years. You can feel their blazing imaginations in the Hydro-Québec garden surroundings; their eclectic, feminist playlist in the gender-balanced programming; their qualities as positive leaders in the genuine gathering of humans who support the operations of such a big festival; and their unconditional love for this village on the upper North Shore bravely perched on rounded rocks, right next door to Charlevoix. From all this, these women create an event that has a human scale to it, where the intimacy between artist and festivalgoer can be felt, from stage to stage.
A collage of music!
A beach party in the afternoon, a very late evening in a church basement turned underground landmark, and a gradual waking-up in the morning fog off the St. Lawrence, to the sounds of an acoustic guitar and an accordion: we want to see everything, experience everything, feel everything, and this is what the program, consisting of new discoveries, of the team's favourites, and of established performers, provides the audience. With neon colour and funky branding, the names that lead us straight to "Tadou" are: Mike Clay, Louis-Jean Cormier, Basia Bulat, Gab Bouchard, Bon Débarras, Kat Pereira, We are Wolves, Pierre Lapointe, and Sarahmée… The artistic direction is a treat, music to our ears! And not just to our ears, but to others as well: attendance is on a steady increase (20% over three years) while the audience is getting younger. In short, you can spot the momentum a mile away; it's a gathering you don't want to miss, an event that should be on your summer calendar… At any rate, getting here is a beautiful trek; it's almost time for vacation, and almost time to cross Charlevoix and leapfrog the Saguenay Fjord, sunglasses perched on your nose, hair flying in the wind. See you in Tadoussac!
