Panton and Whitehorse at FrancoFEST
“This kind of event can allow people to be a little French for a day or even a few hours”
The annual FrancoFEST two-day celebration of French-Canadian culture is ramping up its entertainment lineup this year with free performances by three Juno-winning acts — Hamilton’s Diana Panton, folk-rock group Whitehorse and the Okavango African Orchestra.
FrancoFEST, entering its third year at Hamilton’s Gage Park, will take place on Friday, June 23, and Saturday, June 24 (Saint-JeanBaptiste Day), and feature a variety of family entertainment from Quebec and Ontario focusing on a vintage circus theme, complete with a big top tent.
“This kind of event can allow people to be a little French for a day or even a few hours,” said Pier-Bernard Tremblay, the cultural co-ordinator of the Centre Français Hamilton, which organizes FrancoFEST. “That’s our goal.”
Main stage entertainment begins at 5 p.m. on June 23 and 12:45 p.m. on June 24.
Panton, a Hamilton-based jazz singer with seven highly-acclaimed albums to her credit, will perform with guitarist Reg Schwager and pianist Don Thompson as the headliner on June 23 on a stage next to the Gage Park bandshell.
Panton won a Juno in 2015 for best jazz vocal album for “Red” and a second Juno this year for best children’s album “I Believe in Little Things.”
When not recording albums and touring internationally, Panton is a French immersion teacher at Westdale Secondary School, and plans to sing a substantial portion of her set in French.
Whitehorse, the husband-andwife team of Burlington-raised Melissa McClelland and Luke Doucet, will perform June 24 at 8 p.m., in both English and French with a backing band.
Whitehorse’s third full-length album “Leave No Bridge Unburned” won the Juno for adult alternative album of the year in 2016. The duo has also released an EP of songs written in French called “Émphémère sans repère.”
The Okavango African Orchestra, which takes the stage June 24 at 2:30 p.m., is based in Toronto but takes its name from the Okavango Delta river basin in Botswana and brings together the traditional music and instruments of several African cultures.
“They perform in multiple languages including French and English,” Tremblay said about the Toronto-based ensemble of African-born musicians.
Returning to FrancoFEST this year is the popular Vague de Cirque acrobatic troupe, which tours Canada in a colourful caravan of tent trailers designed to resemble houses from their home base in the Magdalen Islands. Vague de Cirque performs under the big top tent, capacity 200, on June 23 at 7 p.m., and on June 24 at 3:15 and 5:45 p.m.
“Vague de Cirque was a very big hit last year,” Tremblay said. “So we’ve added an additional show so that more people can get to see them.”
As well, buskers will perform throughout the festival between the main stage acts, Tremblay said.
FrancoFEST is organized by Centre Français Hamilton, with funding from the federal, provincial and municipal governments. For more go to the website francofesthamilton.ca.