Festival du Bois, Maillardville’s annual music festival, announces 2021 lineup
BC’s largest fest of French Canadian and Francophone music and culture celebrates online with artists from all across Canada
Musical prodigy Jocelyn Pettit is among the B.C. artists performing at Festival du Bois.
Every year, Festival du Bois welcomes spring with a lively, song-filled celebration. Maillardville’s annual music festival moves the magic and vitality online this year with a stellar national lineup.
Now in its 32nd year, Festival du Bois takes place April 16 to 30.
It’s B.C.’s largest fest of French Canadian and Francophone music and culture. This year’s event has been dubbed “Festival à la Cabane” as audiences will experience the festival at home, in their own cabane. On tap is a diverse showcase of brilliant artists from all across the country. With performances for people of all ages, including special presentations for kids, the online cabane experience is all free.
Le Winston Band. Photo by Marc-André Dupaul
Joining the festivities from Québec are Innu folk-country singer Florent Vollant, formerly of the celebrated duo Kashtin; Le Winston Band, a one-of-a-kind Montréal Zydeco group; and Genticorum, a traditional-music power trio that incorporates fiddle, flute, accordion, harmonies, and foot percussion in a jubilant musical expression rooted in Québécois tradition. New Brunswick-born, now Montreal resident Joseph Edgar is an influential Acadian singer/songwriter with an eclectic musical sensibility.
Sirène et Matelot is composed of singer-songwriters Patricia Richard and Order of Canada recipient Lennie Gallant. Both Acadians from Prince Edward Island, they perform an intriguing mix of folk and country influenced by the musical and cultural currents of PEI and the Maritimes.
Jocelyne Baribeau is an award-winning Franco-Manitoban artist whose blend of folk and pop country is marked by her pure vocals, sparkling ditties, and tender ballads.
Among the featured B.C-based artists is Loig Morin. Originally from Brittany, France, Morin draws on popular influences from both sides of the Atlantic, seducing French and non-French listeners alike. Fiddle master Pierre Schryer and renowned guitarist-vocalist Andy Hillhouse form a dynamic duo that performs everything from old time to Irish traditional to Québécois tunes and beyond. Jocelyn Pettit, a young musical prodigy, is a fiddler, step dancer, singer, and composer who delivers a fresh take on tradition.
Kids and families will find a happy place online with a range of child-focused performances by artists such as Monsieur André in the sugar shack, Roger Dallaire and his accordion, and Isabelle la Wonderful. Frenchie the Clown will read stories for little ones from Peter H. Reynolds’s book, “Be You”.
The festival’s website will also feature interviews, videos, and more.
Festival du Bois is proud to work in partnership with the Association Francophone de Kamloops, the Association des francophones des Kootenays Ouest, and the Association franco-yukonnaise.
For more information, visit Festival du Bois.
Roger Dallaire.