The full program of Francos de Montreal, which will take place from September 9-12, will be revealed this Tuesday. Big names like Klô Pelgag, Marie-Mai, Cœur de Pirate and Bleu Jeans Bleu will take to the stage with last year’s discoveries, including Calamine and Raccoon. Return “in the presence” expected of everyone.
This year, the Francos has only four days of festivities, half of what is usual, and two outdoor stages at the Place des Festivals and in the Symphony Arcade.
Laurent Saulnier, Vice President, Programming, calls them “mini-Francos, but with everything you need to make Francos!”. This means a variety of French-speaking artists, different musical genres, and original creations.
That’s really what the show, which unveiled in its entirety on Tuesday, promises. Audiences will be able to see established artists such as Marie May, Coeur de Perrett, Claire Ensemble and Adrien et Mallet. At the opening of the festival, we promise to present Chloe Belgaj with a performance full of surprises (even for the Francos team!).
“To this day, I don’t know yet what his show would look like. With Klô Pelgag, you never know, but it’s also her magic!”, exclaims Laurent Solnier.
Photo by Robert Skinner, press archives
The Chloe Bilge Francos will start on September 9th
Bleu Jeans Bleu also cultivates mystery. The group had carte blanche to invite surprise artists during their performance on September 10.
An evening will also be dedicated to hip-hop with the introduction of duo Koriass & FouKi, LaF collective, Sarahmée and Laurence Nerbonne, as well as the 2021-2022 Radio-Canada reveal, Calamine, and Raccoon, which we discovered this winter. In the TV contest weak end.
This is one of the items that appear in this table: young talents, who have doubled for a year and a half on social networks, and who are just waiting to get to know their audience, are in the flesh.
And there are so many, and even, that the Francos team is “already holding some for next year”. “There are some, like Lumiere, who have released a great album that we wanted to give this year,” said Laurent Saulnier.
Other names on the show: Clay & Friends, Robert Robert, Lawrence Ann, Vindo, Jerome 50, Betty Bellevue, Lou Colour, Amai Looney and the National School of Song. The public is also invited to discover the works of eight local and non-native artists, collected by Nikamu Mamuitun at the initiative of Florent Vollant.
digital component
If the festival only has about thirty performances instead of the hundreds as we used to, Laurent Saulnier is happy to return to the Place des Festivals after a primarily digital release last summer.
The pandemic has taught us that many cannot be taken for granted. Let’s make use of what we have while we can. We do not yet know how it will all turn out in the future.
Laurent Saulnier, Vice President, Programming, Francos de Montréal
A sign that times are changing, the festival retains a digital component, particularly with fun-flavored capsules featuring artists from the show, including Mike Clay, Clay & Friends, Claude Cobra, Blue Jeans Blue, Curias, Sarami and many more, which will air on the YouTube channel Francos, Nouveau and Belle. Also, a six-episode podcast kicks off to meet the artists who have marked the festival’s history, including Ariane Moffat, Diane Till, and nobody but Jane Birkin!
For the first time, external performances will also be delivered via webcast, but only live.
Compulsory reservation
Franco Montreal has always been free. This year is no exception. But what is exceptional is that you will have to reserve your place for each performance. An essential measure to comply with sanitary measures, but nonetheless carries risks, believes Laurent Saulnier. Specifically, he fears that festival-goers will book tickets “because they are free”, but will withdraw the evening of the show.
We will have a limited number of tickets. It would be really boring for artists who haven’t performed in the year and a half that half of the audience has lost. It would also be boring for fans who failed to get a ticket. He insists that if you make a reservation, come to the show.
Currently, each stage will be able to accommodate 2,500 people standing, that is, 5,000 people on site (since there are two stages).