Photo Credit: FEQ / Stéphane Bourgeois
A 11-day celebration of music and culture, hosted in one of North America’s most beautiful cities, Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) is truly one-of-a-kind. The festival, which started on July 6th, continued this week with an all-star array of international talent, drawing hundreds of thousands of fans to the center of the city.
The weekday shows at FEQ shined a special spotlight on high-level talent from Canada, including many artists uniquely popular in the province of Québec. Since his debut in 1965, Québecois singer Robert Charlebois has been an experimenter, drawing international acclaim for his psychedelic folk music and wild performances. Now 79-years-old, the legendary artist showed no signs of fatigue, performing for a legion of Québecois fans from the Bell Stage on the Plains of Abraham, before the rain ended Thursday’s show early. On Monday, modern rock band Les Trois Accords shook things up from the main stage, inspiring rousing sing-alongs from their home province fans.
On Tuesday and Wednesday, fans of hip-hop, EDM, and Hard Rock made their presence felt at the festival. Rain disrupted the proceedings on Tuesday, but not before scintillating performances by Vancouver-born sensation bbno$ and Montreal rapper Naya Ali. On Wednesday, EDM artists took over the main stage, with Illennium closing things out with an amazing light show, and Gryffin and Nervo warming up the crowd with energetic sets of their own. Fans looking for something different headed to the SiriusXM stage witness the power of Lamb Of God, or check out the genre-bending prowess of Sudan Archives at the Hydro-Québec Stage.
To compensate for the uncooperative weather, FEQ added a 12th day to highlight some of the best music Québec has to offer. Thanks to the flexibility of the festival, its partners, and all the artist teams, FEQ will continue the celebration on the Bell Stage at the Plains of Abraham on July 17th, presenting performances by Les Cowboys Fringant, Robert Charlebois, and Sara Dufour. Originally scheduled to headline on July 13th, the popular Québecois folk-rock act Les Cowboys Fringants will return to perform for their numerous fans in Québec City, offering a moment of catharsis to end the 2023 festival.
Keep an eye on FEQ’s Instagram for in-the-moment highlights from Quebec City, plus updates, guides, announcements, and much more.
Stay tuned throughout the week for much more from the one-of-a-kind festival, continuing each day until July 17th. Artists to come include Lana Del Rey, Pitbull, Green Day, The Smile, Koffee, and more.
