Quebec City Marks Four Centuries
Canada's Founding City Hosts Year Long 2008 Birthday Party
Poised on its 400th birthday, Quebec City, seat of French civilization in North America, is bubbling over with joie de vivre. Its walled “old city”, perched cliff-side between the mighty St. Lawrence River and the Cap Diamant fortress, is alive with anniversary events.
The year-long celebration is well under way. On July 3, the birthday itself, bells of 400 cities and towns across Canada will ring out to mark the city’s founding.
17 Weeks of Uninterrupted Daily Entertainment
Espace 400, created for the celebration, is centerpiece for a whirlwind of cabaret shows, other entertainment and free family activities. Each day for 17 uninterrupted weeks, artists, singers, musicians, dancers, acrobats and historians will light up its Grande Place, the wharves, the Ephemeral Gardens and Petite Place.
Also featured here is the multi-media show “Passengers”, which plunges visitors into the human flow that shaped the face of Québec City. During this extraordinary journey, the visitor, now a “passenger”, learns stories from those who lived here. Nearby, The Image Mill, one of the world’s largest sound and light productions, will debut the night of the summer solstice (June 20). It is projected on 81 huge concrete silos.
Thousands will assemble for the July 6 “Great Family Gathering“ official souvenir portrait near the spot where, in 1759, French and English armies faced off to determine who would benefit from westward expansion on the North American continent.
Outdoor Cafes, Street Entertainers and Concerts
Quebec City is bursting out of its seams with hundreds of outdoor cafes and dozens of street entertainers. Hundreds of costumed “historical figures” ply the streets.
This year fire-eaters, magicians, dog and bicycle acts, stilt walkers and comedy teams have drawn practitioners from around the world to this city that is so French that movie-makers use it to film stories set in France.
There are more than 130 scheduled 2008 anniversary events, plus dozens of impromptu ones not on the official docket. They range from sand sculpting tableaux, circus art, an air show, French film festival, marching band competitions, and an international fireworks contest, to parades featuring giant mummers, changing-of-the-guard ceremonies at the fort, check-in booths for ancestor searchers and the world premier of the opera version of “Starmania.”
Many music concerts of every genre are free, but tickets for the August 22 Céline Dion show in the park, Placido Domingo’s Sept. 18-24 “Operalia” international lyrical singing competition, and the Oct. 17-19 Cirque de Soleil performances are at a premium.
Turn Your Own Pages in Champlain’s Giant Notebook
A compelling work based on Samuel de Champlain’s “New France” notebook is on display at the newly restored Redoubt at the Citadelle. The book weighs 500 kilograms; pages are two meters high. Visitors can turn the pages.
A popular vignette of the city and its history is a mural painted in the trompe-l'œil style. It depicts life in Quebec City during four centuries. Executed in three-dimensional technique on a flat surface in the Petit Champlain quarter, it is the style which, translated, means "to deceive the eye."
Historically Proud from Everest to the Hearts of Its People
Thanks to François-Guy Thivierge, a fervent, seasoned athlete, the official flag of Quebec City’s 400th anniversary now flies from the world’s highest peak, Mount Everest.
That’s for the world to see. The history itself keeps pulsing in the hearts of the Quebecois who have, for more than 12 generations, put the stamp of their North American spirit and French finesse upon this unique city.
