Les Francofolies de Montréal

The impact on popular culture of Les FrancoFolies de Montréal has been astounding. Right from the start, prescient programming hit a popular note for presenting not only the incontournables of French-language song, but stars of the moment whose longevity was soon to be proven out. Among the latter were now-established artists like Patricia Kaas who made her North-American debut at the Francos in 1989. But perhaps an even better example would be the ineffable Jean Leloup who, as we've seen, has gone from total unknown to nothing short of a rock star within the life of the Festival.

It seems like only yesterday when, in 1989, the power went out at the Spectrum and he finished his show on the street outside, perched with his guitar on the roof of a car. But besides artists like Jean, Les Francos also devised several concept-driven programs, like the La fête à… and Carte blanche à…, showcases for musical exchange and collaboration between performers that immediately won the approval of spectators and media alike.

It was our intention from the beginning to promote French-language musical expression and to get music and its creators from the entire French-speaking world "out there". And when you look at the record of our first 15 editions, a pattern clearly emerges, indicating a steady increase in the number of shows, crowds and performing artists. In 1989, a mere 15 shows were attended by about 5000 people, whereas in 2003 no fewer than 814,244 spectators converged on some 200 performances, of which 150 were completely free of charge. Media coverage last year was extraordinary, too. Les Francos figured in hundreds of articles originating in Quebec, Canada, the U.S. and from all over Europe.