About the Festival

Festival Mémoire et Racines happens annually on the last complete weekend of July. The festival starts Friday night at 20h and finished Sunday night. Approximately 100 artists perform each year. While the festival is strongly focused on presenting traditional music, song, dance and storytelling from the Lanaudière region and other regions of Québec, it also features roots music from other provinces and countries. The winning touch at Mémoire et Racines is a dedication to offering festival goers intimate workshops and acoustic concerts.

Saturday and Sunday festure performances, themed round-robin style workshops and participatory sessions beneath small tents, without amplification. The atmosphere is congenial and permits the public direct contact with artists, so they can better appreciate their playing and traditional repertoire. In the evening, the action takes place on the main stage (amplified, to be sure!), at the Scène Gilles-Cantin, which seats 2000 people. The entire festival takes place in beautiful Parc Bosco in Saint-Charles-Borromée, close to Joliette. This rolling site borders the meandering Rivière Assomption.

Performances

Festival Mémoire et Racines is first and foremost dedicated to the performance of traditional music, song, dance and storytelling. Artists can be from Québec or elsewhere. In most cases, festival artists will perform once on the main stage and offer acoustic concerts or workshops during the day, where they may share the stage with other artists to illlustrate a theme. Artists may also be asked to initiate amateur musicians (i.e. Master Class) in a particular area of specialization.

In exchange, the festival offers its performers :

• A reasonable fee
• Meals in the onsite performer/volunteer cafeteria
• Accommodations (either camping onsite or billets at a nearby volunteer home)
• Travel expenses, if required
• Professional sound tech
• A boutique in which to sell recordings and merchandise
• …and a weekend of friendship, music and pleasure!

Submissions

Please note that only artists selected by the programming committee will be contacted. If you are not chosen for the year in which you applied, you may still be contacted in future, so don’t be discouraged! The festival receives many submissions each year. Please note that the programming committee has a policy of not presenting the same artist or band in two consecutive years.

Send material to : Lanaudière : Mémoire et Racines, 200, rue de Salaberry, bur. 123, Joliette (Québec) Canada J6E 4G1

Submissions by mail

So you’d like to perform here? Send the following material to the address below.

• Artist or group name
• Bio of the artist or group members
• A link to download a high-resolution photo (300ppi, 4″ min. width)
• Description of the proposed show
• Discography (please include dates)
• Liste of recent and upcoming performances
• Press clippings or reviews
• Audio and/or video (CD, DVD, VHS, weblinks)

Submit online

To submit online, fill out and submit the form below. Don’t forget that you’ll still need to mail us your physical support material (CD, DVD, press clippings, etc), but we’ll know it’s coming!

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