Thousands gather downtown for the 36th edition of Les Francos de Montréal

Festival goers can now make their way to Quartier-des-Spectacles and join the thousands that will be heading to Montreal’s downtown area for the 36th edition of the annual Les Francos de Montréal Festival, presented by Rogers.

“I think that last year, we were over 600,000 people coming on site, I think it’s going to be bigger this year,” said Maurin Auxéméry, spokesperson for Francos de Montréal Festival.

With over 150 shows – running until June 21 – and more than two-thirds of them free – there’s plenty of talent to choose from.

“The lineup is pretty dense and more popular than ever,” said Auxéméry.

“We’ve been working on some bookings for probably two, three years now,” he added, referring to Alain Souchon and Maitre Gims who are all making an appearance at this year’s festival.

Fans descended on Quartier-des-Spectacles as the site opened at 5:00PM ahead of the artists they planned to see.

“I’m coming for the F1 but I came to the Francos and I’m coming to see Jay Scott,” said a fan before Scott’s performance was set to begin.

“I want to see LaF tonight, they are a very good rap francophone music group,” said another festival goer.

On Friday night artists like LaF and Jay Scott took to the stage on the Scène Rogers to get the festival going with free outdoor performances.

“I used to come here when I was young to see the shows on this stage, wishing to one day step on the stage myself and have my own show — well tonight it’s happening,” said Jay Scott hours before he was to come on stage to perform his biggest hits.

With his dream coming true as a headliner, Scott says he’s developed his unique style by fusing his love of guitar and rap.

“My style eventually evolved into a smooth blend of those two worlds, which seems to work quite well,” he said.

This year’s lineup includes more than 250 artists from various styles of music, representing countries like Congo, Belgium, France and Switzerland – all with connections to French-language music.

“I think French worldwide it’s romantic and it’s very nice, the music people love it,” said another festival attendee who’s been coming to the festival for many years. “I think it’s very important for people to know the culture and keep it alive.”

“What we’ve been working on during the last years, is try to talk as much as possible to different communities in Montreal, because Montreal is not only Quebecers,” added Auxéméry when discussing how the festival has evolved since its inception back in 1989.

On top of all the shows, the festival also includes many more festivities such as DJ sets that begin later in the evening and continue until the site closes at 3:00AM, promising to keep Montrealers interested and coming back for more every year.

“I come here every year, I really like this festival and every year it’s super fun,” said another festival goer who lives right next door and attends the festivities often.

Rogers Communications is the parent company of CityNews.