Singers Neil Young, Beck, Lorde at Quebec’s summer music festival
Folk rock legend Neil Young, alternative rock icon Beck and young pop prodigy Lorde will be among headliners at Quebec City’s sprawling summer music festival, the event’s organizers announced on Wednesday.
The festival, in its 51st year, follows an unusual model for a North American music event with low-cost passes for 11 days of music at venues across the historic city.
Toronto R&B sensation The Weeknd will open the festival on July 5 followed the next day by Young, who is making his sole scheduled appearance of 2018 in his native Canada.
Other acts will include electronic music sensations The Chainsmokers, dreamy French electro-pop band Phoenix, pop chart-topper Shawn Mendes, rock crowd-pleasers Foo Fighters and veteran acts Cyndi Lauper and Jethro Tull.
The Quebec festival also showcases French-language music with the lineup to include Jane Birkin, who will bring her orchestral renditions of the music of her late partner Serge Gainsbourg.
The music closes on July 15 with the philosophical country singer Sturgill Simpson and jam-rock favorites Dave Matthews Band.
Unlike major commercial music events which strictly check ticket purchases, the publicly supported Canadian festival encourages fans to share their passes, which cost as little as Can$100 ($78 US) for all 11 days.
The Festival d’ete de Quebec, as it is known in French, makes up for its inexpensive tickets with its vast size of 100,000 capacity at the main stage, the scene of the 1759 battle in which British forces decisively defeated France.