The Festival d'été de Québec (FEQ) welcomed Friday a "historic" federal aid of $ 12.9 million, without which the 2022 presentation could not have been so complete.

The president and CEO of the event, Anne Hudon, was delighted with the magnitude of the amount that was granted in the context of a post-COVID recovery, after an enforced two-year break.

Feverish

“We are excited for the return and for today’s announcement. It's historic, it's never happened in our history, not even in our 50th."

Without this help, the FEQ would have had to make choices, indicated Ms. Hudon. “We would have arranged it, but the experience would not have been the same. […] It would have been an adapted edition”, underlined the general manager.

The grant makes it possible to hold the additional evening on the Plains, on July 6, with Charlotte Cardin, to offer a second stage at the Parc de la Francophonie, to deal with an unexpected change of supplier for the Bell stage, to buy equipment that you would otherwise have had to do without, because they are no longer available for rent.

Gifts

"When you're putting a rusty machine back in motion, it's not the time to make small gifts. This help allowed us to say that we made this choice [to improve the event] for the festival-goers and our team.

The funds come from Canada Economic Development in a support program for major events in the country. Federal Minister Jean-Yves Duclos was delighted with the granting of this amount to the FEQ. “It is a considerable investment in a context where competition for these investments is strong across Canada and Quebec.”

He announced that other events will benefit from the aid to restart their activities.