An Evening with Québec in Louisiana

Lafayette (Louisiana), USA – Festival International is hosting a special celebration with Québec on Festival Saturday, April 26, 2008. Québec is celebrating 400 years of history and would like you to celebrate with them. Québec, a long term financial supporter of the Festival, has provided many outstanding performances throughout the years, while promoting cultural exchange and tourism. On Saturday, April 26, 2008 at the TV5MONDE Scène Lafayette stage, three great bands from Québec (Benwela, Alain-François, and Les Breastfeeders) will help celebrate Québec’s 400th birthday from 6:15pm until 11:00pm. An evening filled with great music from Québec. Don’t miss this event; this kind of celebration only comes around once every 400 years.Saturday, April 26, 2008: TV5Monde Scène Lafayette:

 

Benwela (Rock/Reggae) – 6:15-7:30pm: (Musical diversity is the heart of Benwela. The group is devoted to the mélange of musical styles of its arrangements of violin, mandolin, trumpet and banjo, thus offering a single sonority. The group works to compose and produce original songs which arouse the interest of people of various ages and cultures. Benwela expresses heart in all of their music by cleverly combining whimsical texts but also incorporating impressing spectacle sets of themes of sarcastic humor. The philosophy of Benwela is quite simply pleasure by the music.

Alain-François (Contemporary Fiddle) – 8:00-9:15pm: Alain-François is a singer-songwriter with relentless joie de vivre, which he shares with spectators through his music and his irresistible charisma. He blends his traditional-style lyrics and music with a thinly disguised rock sound that gets the crowd on its feet! Alain-François is a highly skilled multi-instrumentalist but his favorite instrument is the violin, on which he plays his wild rhythms for our pure delight.

Les Breastfeeders (Garage/Pop Punk) – 9:45-11:00pm: Since its arrival on the boards, in 1999, the sextet Les Breastfeeders did not stop short of astonishing. Recognized for its intense and feverish performances, the group with six heads knew how to make the barriers between music fall and prove in Quebec, Canada and Europe that rock’n’roll is still alive. This Canadian indie rock group from Montreal, whose style is a combination of garage rock with yé-yé influences. (Yé-yé mainly features female singers crooning Beatles-style pop.)

Formed in 1986, Festival International de Louisiane is a community-based, non-profit arts organization that provides a FREE family event celebrating the French cultural heritage of southern Louisiana – primarily a combination of French, African, Caribbean and Hispanic influences. Celebrate the 22ème Festival International de Louisiane from April 23-27, 2008, in downtown Lafayette, Louisiana. If you would like more information on Festival International de Louisiane, visit www.festivalinternational.com or call (337) 232.8086.