Festival du Bois
Maillardville’s music and culture festival takes place in Mackin Park each spring. Festival du Bois is based in a community that is the cradle of francophone culture in BC.
How did the Festival du Bois—which translates as “festival of wood”—get its name? You have to go back into the history of Maillardville, to 1909, when a group of 100+ French Canadians from Rockland, Ontario, and Hull and Sherbrooke, Quebec, travelled by railroad to Coquitlam to work for Fraser Mills. The mill workers were enticed by the promise of “access to land for their families to settle, wood for building a house and the freedom to preserve their language.” More mill workers arrived the following year and Maillardville quickly became a blossoming community— the largest French-speaking community west of Saint-Boniface.
Over the years, the community has changed and grown. The original pioneer settlement has made way for a modern multicultural community—but it is one that still works actively to ensure that the French language, and a tight knit francophone community, continues to flourish.
Société francophone de Maillardville, a non-profit organization, was founded in 1983 with the objectives of promoting, supporting, protecting and facilitating the music, art, dance and traditions of the francophone community of Maillardville and surroundings through cultural and artistic events.
It provides services and activities to the French-speaking people in the region, and to produce Festival du Bois annually. In 2024, the festival celebrates its 35th year, and the Société marks its 51st anniversary.
Festival du Bois pays tribute to the legacy of those early French-Canadian settlers, their vibrant culture, language—and celebrates the community that Maillardville has become today.
The festival is a chance to experience brilliant music and dance concerts featuring artists from across Canada and beyond. It presents the highest caliber Quebecois and Francophone, Celtic, folk and world music artists, special performances for kids and families, workshops, on-site entertainers, delicious French Canadian and other food, artisan and exhibit booths based in the community. Everyone is invited to the big heated tents on site to share in the warm and friendly festival where everyone is welcome!
