Festivals often highlight the positive repercussions of their events on tourism, and more broadly on the economy. This time, the refrain decided to focus on the impact of its members on emerging artists in a document made public on Tuesday.
We see festivals as a summer pleasure, a moment of relaxation [pendant lequel] have a beer, but these festivals have a much more important role [en ce qui a trait au] culture development, which is underestimated
explains Patrick Kearney, director general of the refrain.
Patrick Kearney directs the regrouping of independent artistic regional festivals (refrain).
Photo : Radio-Canada / Marie-Eve Cloutier
Music prescribers
If the public tends to buy concert tickets for artists he already knows, the festivals offer a kind of cultural buffet, betting on big names, but also on less known artists. The latter thus find an opportunity to conquer ears more ready to open up to voices less familiar than usually.
Over time is a link of trust between festivals and spectators, to the point that a music worker consulted by the refrain compares the programmers of music festivals to employees of video clubs of yesteryear.
In time, we were going to rent cassettes and they knew us, argues Patrick Kearney. They were like: “Hey, you, you will love that, this film, because you liked this other affair.” Previously, you could chat with someone, that’s what algorithms do not do.
Sara Dufour: small festivals on television
Another strength of festivals, according to the refrain: their human size, which allows artists, even emerging, to create a stronger connection with the public.
Present in number on Quebec territory, independent music festivals offer artists an opportunity to multiply concerts, diversify their audiences, therefore to consolidate their income.
-According to Patrick Kearney, festivals have helped new artists to become more established, like Sara Dufour. She made a lot of festivals. Now she makes a lot of rooms and she makes TV.
The singer Sara Dufour on the set of the program “Good evening good evening! »(Archives photo)
Photo: production is still young / Karine Dufour
Festivals frequented by international professionals
He also quotes the example of the good -natured group, which even managed to break into Europe where he went twice on tour.
Region festivals are facilitating networking all the more with broadcasters and programmers from elsewhere in the world as certain events are particularly eccentric, such as the Emerging Music Festival (FME) in the city of Rouyn-Noranda in Abitibi-Témiscamingue.
Professionals from abroad become captive of this festival, because, when you are in Rouyn, you stay there, you cannot come out, so you frequent the festival, you will see lots of Quebec artists and then you may have the taste for bringing them [un] perform
this Patrick Kearney.
About 80 festivals members of the refrain will be held in Quebec by September.
With the information of Rose St-Pierre
