FEQ Delivers Dream Of A Festival In The Heart Of Québec City

Many people say that one of the things that makes Québec City so special — and by extension the Festival d’été de Québec itself — is that it feels like you’re visiting a European city. And with its charming architecture, darling restaurants and townsfolk speaking French, Québec definitely has an enchanting European vibe. That said, one of the best things about the city and FEQ is how uniquely Québec it is.
Since FEQ launched in 1968, the not-for-profit music festival has expanded its programming of its early decades of specializing in Francophonie and world music artists to a lineup topped by superstars, especially since Louis Bellavance, who serves as vice president of content and artistic direction at BLEUFEU, the organization behind FEQ, came on board in 2011.

The 11-day extravaganza returned to the capital city of the Canadian province of Québec July 4-14 with a multi-genre range of headliners including Post Malone, J Balvin, Jonas Brothers, Killer Mike, The Offspring, Zac Brown Band and Mötley Crüe. But while the big-name acts could compare to the lineup at any number of major festivals, Bellavance and his team are also passionate about continuing to make FEQ a hotspot for music discovery and showcasing Canadian artists. What really sets FEQ apart is the opportunity for catching rising acts from across the globe and in particular Québec — while enjoying one of the world’s most beautiful, historic cities.

FEQ’s main stage, the Bell Stage, is located on the Plains of Abraham, where the Battle of the Plains of Abraham took place in 1759. The festival invested in hydraulic screen holders to hold massive LED screens on each side of the stage for the 2024 edition and expanded Bell Stage’s capacity up to 100,000 fans. And then there’s the Hydro Québec stage, which is located at the Place de l’Assemblée-Nationale in front of Québec’s gorgeous Parliament Building and to the left of the stage can be seen the ramparts of Québec City. The ramparts surround the western end of Old Québec’s Upper Town and was first built in 1690. Hydro-Québec features up-and-coming artists, rising stars and world music — and free admission.

Also new to FEQ in 2024 included booking a few concerts indoors at the Grand Théâtre de Québec and free performances by emerging talent at the Crave Stage, a fifth outdoor stage in another part of downtown at the public square Place D’Youville.

Ahead of the festival’s launch, Bellavance spoke about how Post Malone was a big get for FEQ after trying to book him for years and how there were also tons of rising acts he was excited to see. He explained, “There are smaller bands that not a lot of people are aware of [that] we want to give a shot, see how it goes and maybe start building new stories with future headliners. Those are artists we’re keeping on the radar and all the buyers will be there to see that band that’s going to play in front of 1,500. We feel something’s going on. You never really know.”

Asked for recommendations for up-and-coming artists, one of the acts Bellavance enthusiastically endorsed was Rau_Ze, a trip-hop and soul quintet from Montreal, Québec, who was the winner of the 2022 Francouvertes.

“She sings in French and she is very impressive,” Bellavance said of vocalist Rose Perron, who is joined by a drummer, keyboardist, bassist and saxophonist (who also plays the flute). “I think it’s one of the most exciting Francophone artists I’ve seen in a while.”

No screens were needed for Rau_Ze’s intimate performance on July 6. A smoke machine set the atmosphere as the saxophonist wailed on, making the audience feel as though they were in a jazz club in France. The soulful Perron – who took the stage carrying multiple beverages and wearing a black loose mock neck sweater, boyfriend shorts, black tennis shoes and black socks – is just so damn cool. Whether she’s leading the band through a more sultry song or a tune with more of an angry, rock vibe, you can feel the emotion in her performance, facial expressions and vocals – even though this journalist must admit she has no idea what Perron is saying (note to self: download Duolingo and learn French ASAP).

Thankfully, as the cliche goes, music is a universal language. Another stand-out artist on July 6 was Son Rompe Pera, a five-piece band from Naucalpan, a suburb of Mexico City, that played the Hydro-Québec Stage and offered up a mix of cumbia and punk, with lyrics in Spanish.

The atmosphere at the set felt like you were in on a cool party before everyone knew about it, as the audience members shook their hips to the beat and waved their arms in the air.

“We saw them at South By… and we [were like], ‘Wow!’” Bellavance said. “It’s a party. Very talented, very traditional but explosive.”

The next day, the Hydro-Québec Stage hosted a set from Kin’ Gongolo Kiniata, a five-piece band from Kinshasa, the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The group’s sound is a blend of Afro-pop, punk, electro and Congolese rhythms, with lyrics in Ingala. The members of Kin’ Gongolo Kiniata play instruments made out of recycled objects including a xylophone made out of plastic bottles with what looked to be small rubber sandals used as mallets.
Djino Bass, bassist for Kin’ Gongolo Kiniata, told Pollstar, “It was a great pleasure to be at the FEQ” and praised the festival for being “well organized.” He added, “We really liked the city of Québec, very nice and beautiful. We would love to come back. Thank you to all the FEQ fans.”

From the charming city to meeting some of the kindest people ever (the cliche is also true about Canadians being super nice) along with so much delicious food, lovely weather and a range of incredible music, the three days I spent at FEQ were a total dream of an experience.

Plus, FEQ offers one of the cheapest passes ever (with general admission tickets at $150, which works out to less than $14 bucks a day) and attendees are encouraged to share their wristbands. The ultra reasonable ticket price is thanks in part to FEQ being supported by municipal, provincial and national governmental bodies, making up roughly 10% of the fest’s $48 million budget. CBC/Radio-Canada reports that FEQ “earns half of its revenue through ticket sales,” with sponsorships and derivative products representing 35% and the organization’s financial participation corresponding to 5%. Bellavance told Pollstar that this year’s ticket supply (including premium tickets priced between $560 and $970) sold out in less than 90 minutes, saying “it’s probably 140,000 tickets that went away instantly.”

One of my favorite sets of the festival was neo-classical composer and pianist Alexandra Stréliski, who hails from Montreal and was accompanied by 26 musicians including members of the Québec Symphony Orchestra and special guests Loud and Sarahmée.

It was so neat to see a pianist headline the main stage, attracting what appeared to be just as large of a crowd as acts like the Jonas Brothers and The Offspring. But Stréliski is also a rock star in her own right, complete with crowd surfing in her light pink suit as the audience cheered.

Other Canadian artists booked on the 2024 festival included singer-songwriter Elisapie (who played the Bell Stage July 8 and whose beautiful set included covers such as Fleetwood Mac’s “Dreams” sung in Inuktitut); rock band Nickelback (who headlined the first night of the festival); pop star Carly Rae Jepsen, folk/pop singer/songwriter Martha Wainwright and indie rock band Karkwa (who headlined July 9).

As wonderful as all of the music is, a perk to FEQ is that the programming doesn’t start until the evening — giving attendees the chance to properly enjoy Québec City.
“You’re glad there’s no shows during the day — you want to walk these streets … sit on a terrace and have a coffee and a glass of wine a bit later and wander around,” Bellavance said.

On this reporter’s final day at FEQ I stopped at a merch booth and chatted with two fans who have been attending the festival for many years, Lynda Bolduc and her 25-year-old daughter, Mathilde Bolduc Fortin.

Asked their favorite thing about FEQ, Bolduc praised the audience that attends the festival and the overall vibe: “You can bring your children. We saw many people on crutches. People give them space. We live in Montreal and it’s not the same crowd. Here, people are very kind.” Her daughter added, “We discover a lot of artists as well.”

FEQ returns July 3-13, 2025, with the lineup to be announced in March. s