CANADA: The Festival de musique émergente en Abitibi-Témiscamingue (FME) has released details for its 15th anniversary edition, taking place from August 31 – September 3 in the Canadian city of Rouyn-Noranda.
Nearly 70 artists will perform across the weekend, and although the full schedule is set for release on July 11, the festival has confirmed several of the acts that will appear. Names confirmed so far include A Tribe Called Red, Pierre Kwenders and La Bronze.
On September 3, the group of artists responsible for the tribute album Desjardins, on l’aime-tu, will perform at the outdoor stage at Kiwanis Lake for the festival’s closing concert, presented by Sirius XM in collaboration with the City of Rouyn-Noranda.
Philippe B will present music from his new album La nuit vidéo, while Saskatchewanian Andy Shauf will grace the festival with his delicate folk music. The show also features Ludovic Alarie, Sarah Toussaint-Léveillé, Geoffroy, FUUDGE, along with veteran rockers Canailles and festival stalwart JF Lemieux with his new project Afrikana Soul Sister. In collaboration with Montreal’s Distorsion Psych Fest, FME will host rock acts Atsuko Chiba, Paul Jacobs, and Sunwatchers; and finally, New Yorker Emily Wells will drop by Rouyn-Noranda as part of her Quebec tour.
As part of CULTURAT – an initiative led by Tourisme Abitibi-Témiscamingue to bring cultural communities together through the arts – members of the Pikogan Pow Wow organising committee and the FME hosted an exchange in 2016. This artistic and cultural collaboration aims to establish a dialogue between two communities that share Abitibi-Témiscamingue. The results of this yearlong series of meetings will be presented at the Pikogan Pow Wow on June 10 – 11 and at the FME from August 31 – September 3.
