Summer music festival in Quebec facing backlash for not including female artists

A Quebec summer music festival with an all-male lineup is being criticized for not including any female artists.

The backlash started online and then popular singer-songwriter Emile Bilodeau announced he had dropped out of the 16th edition of Festi-Plage de Cap-d’Espoir, on Quebec’s Gaspe peninsula.

Bilodeau said Wednesday that not only artists, but everyone in the music industry, including festival organizers, have a role to play to increase female representation and that he couldn’t take part in an event that didn’t share his values.

Festi-Plage, which will be held on July 27-30, is scheduled to showcase a variety of musical genres, including Quebec folk, rap and funk music.

The 14 featured acts are entirely male – except Les Cowboys Fringants, a four-person band with a female member.

Festival organizer Ghislain Pitre said in an interview today he was disappointed by Bilodeau’s reaction and surprised by the criticism.

Pitre says he was unable to find a single female musician or female-majority band available that had a musical style aligned with the festival.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published on March 10, 2022.