Joyeux Noel!
French music and e Grinch, en francais, on o er this weekend
Colchester County’s growing francophone community is celebrating Christmas in a traditional way this weekend.
Francophone and Francophile families can enjoy a French-language showing of e Grinch Saturday morning at the Cineplex, followed by an evening Christmas concert by several bands and artists including Route 102 and Les Étoiles at the Centre communautaire francophone de Truro.
“It will be an opportunity for francophones to enjoy the holiday in French and everyone knows the [ Grinch] movie, so even if they don’t understand the words, they know the tale,” said Delaney Clarke at the École acadienne de Truro. “To take a Hollywood movie and show it in French in an Anglophone community, it shows that we are here.”
e event will be an opportunity for people to discover francophone culture and increase the community’s visibility.
Clarke felt it was important to raise the pro le of local francophones, especially after Ontario Premier Doug Ford recently announced plans to scrap a French- language university and downgrade his province’s watchdog on French- language services.
“ e culture is vibrant, the language is here,” said Clarke.
It was a point echoed by Yvette Saulnier, director of the Centre communautaire francophone de Truro.
She said a lost generation of francophones is now making sure their children can speak their ancestors’ language.
Her centre plays its part by organizing cultural and social activities, while French classes for adults are o ered.
Geared toward parents of children in French immersion schooling, the language classes are also open to the public.
The federal government recently gave the centre $280,000, which together with sales of Acadian flag licence plates allowed them to pay for renovations, including new bleachers, curtains and a light and sound system.
Demand for French remains high locally, as the École acadienne de Truro next door adds more students.
“It’s the fastest-growing school in the province,” said Saulnier.
Anyone wanting to see The Grinch can do so at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 15 at the Cineplex in the Power Centre.
Tickets are $6 and seats are limited, but people can register online at https://goo.gl/forms/ JKYSOJNYM4CBQZZS2.
Those wishing to celebrate Un Noel Acadien can do so at 7 p. m. at the Centre communautaire francophone de Truro Saturday.
Tickets are $20 per person and can be bought in advance from the centre.
For more information, email centrefranco@ns.aliantzinc.ca or call 902-897-6864.