FRANCOFOLIES LINEUP UNVEILED
Tribute to Richard Desjardins planned
Some of the top names in francophone music from both sides of the Atlantic will be showcased free of charge on outdoor stages at the 29th edition of Les FrancoFolies de Montréal.
The fest will kick off June 8 with a concert featuring Les Trois Accords, Dumas, Pierre Kwenders and Lydia Képinski on the Ford Stage at Ste-Catherine and Bleury Streets. In all, there will be 150 free alfresco concerts by artists from France, Belgium, Algeria, Ivory Coast, Switzerland, Guinea and, of course, Canada.
The festival, dedicated to French-language music of every style imaginable, will continue through June 18. Normally it runs 10 days, but it has been extended an extra day this year thanks to financial support from the Society for the Celebrations of Montreal’s 375th Anniversary. That money has allowed Les Francos to book an all-day free show June 18 anchored by Québécois folky rock superstars Les Cowboys Fringants and French hip-hop icons IAM, along with Louve, Tiken Jah Fakoly, Philippe Brach and K.O.K.A. The show will run from 3 p.m. to midnight, starting on the Ford Stage and moving to the Bell Stage (de Maisonneuve Boulevard and Jeanne-Mance Street) at 6 p.m.
There will be marquee gigs every night at 9 p.m. on the Bell Stage, including veteran singer-songwriter Paul Piché’s 40 Printemps show, which also features Safia Nolin, Koriass and Laurence Jalbert (June 9). The series also features 2Frères (June 10), Yann Perreau (June 12), Bernard Adamus (June 13), France’s Tryo (June 15), Karim Ouellet (June 16) and Koriass (June 17).
The Bell Stage series also includes a tribute to singersongwriter Richard Desjardins, featuring the artists involved in the recent tribute album Desjardins. The lineup for the June 11 show includes Perreau, Nolin, Adamus, Brach, Koriass, Les soeurs Boulay, Avec pas d’casque, Philippe B, Émile Bilodeau, Klô Pelgag and Fred Fortin. The series also has La Soirée Acadie Rock, featuring a bunch of Acadian artists, notably Radio Radio, Lisa LeBlanc, Joseph Edgar, Les Hay Babies, Les Hôtesses d’Hilaire and Marie-Jo Thério (June 14).
The ticketed indoor lineup for Les Francos has already been unveiled.
For more information, visit francofolies.com.