Rivers of light flow through Sherbrooke
Magic, music and mystery filled the streets of downtown Sherbrooke on Saturday night as participants in the annual Rivières de Lumières Festival made their way from the Centre des Arts de la Scene Jeanbesré to the Marché de la Gare. Caught up in a carnivalesque atmosphere of rhythms and unusual performances, people young and old rode a current through the city’s core bearing lanterns they made by hand and delighting at the surprises prepared by local theatre and dance companies the Théâtre des Petites Lanternes , Labokracboom and the Maison des arts de la Parole.
The night’s festivities began with a gathering at the three companies’ collective workshop space at the corner of Depot and Wellington Streets. While visitors collected the lanterns they have been making at workshops across the region throughout the summer, they were serenaded from above by local music collective Ze Radcliffe Fanfare. Shortly after 8pm, once the mass of several hundred people had their various lanterns in hand, the “river of lights” was set loose on the streets, flowing up Wellington bit by bit while accompanied by costumed dancers and enthusiastic percussionists.
Designed to be a “walk that makes you look twice” according to Théâtre des Petites Lanternes Executive Director Kristelle Holliday, the walk gave its participants a slightly more magical view of
Ten men and six women were selected among 300 candidates on Friday to sit as jurors in the trial of three men charged in 2013 Lac- Megantic train derailment.
The 14 jurors will hear the evidence but only 12 will be selected at random to deliberate over the fate of three former railway employees: train driver Thomas Harding, traffic controller Richard Labrie and manager of train operations Jean Demaitre.
All three have pleaded not guilty to one count of criminal negligence causing death.
A total of 47 people died and part of the Quebec town was destroyed when oil laden train cars derailed and caught fire.
The trial is scheduled to begin Monday.
Would-be jurors were asked questions in a courtroom in Sherbrooke, Que., about their knowledge of the case, if they had been personally affected by the tragedy and what connections they had to people working in the railway industry.
Several jurors were rejected after they told the court they had made up their minds about whether or not the three accused were guilty and said their opinions were likely not going to change.
Quebec Superior Court Justice Gaetan Dumas told prospective jurors they would be required to dole out justice impartially and “without fear'' if they were chosen.
Dumas also told them they must be patient and have an open mind while listening to the evidence.
The Crown has signalled it will call 24 civilian and 11 police witnesses, and one expert witness in a trial that is expected to last until December.
The bankrupt former railway company Montreal Maine and Atlantic Railway has also pleaded not guilty to causing the deaths of 47 people and will face a separate trial at a later date.
Between 800 and 1,200 prospective jurors were called to court in the initial days of jury selection.
Sherbrooke than usual, with performers hidden around corners or passing through the crowd in unusual ways and at unexpected times.
A highlight of the journey took place at a stop next to Sherbrooke’s City Hall, where performers from the Labokracboom circus workshop put on an impressive fire dance for the entire assembled crowd.
Although there were other stops and sights along the way, the crowd eventually made its way to the festival’s night market at the Marché de la Gare, where the unusual performces continued, but here in the company of a wide range of local vendors who came out to sell their wares.
The Rivières de Lumières Festival concludes next Friday and Saturday, October 6 and 7, with the presentation of this year's outdoor play "Il était une fois Doltra," in the Sherbrooke’s Domaine Howard Park. More information about that performance is available online at https://petiteslanternes.wixsite.com/rdlen or by calling 819 346-4040.