Lovers of French-Canadian culture are in for a treat this week with the return of Festival d’été francophone de Vancouver.
Billed as one of the most important francophone rendez-vous west of Ottawa, it begins at 8 p.m. on Thursday (May 28) with Kelly Bado and Élise Boulanger. The two composers and singers will perform in Studio 16 at Centre culturel francophone de Vancouver.
The Winnipeg-based Bado was born in Côte d’Ivoire and moved to Manitoba as a student. She blends African rhythms into soulfully slick pop compositions on her second full-length album, Belles Âmes, which was released last year.
A prime example is the opening track, the upbeat “Jamais oublier” (Never forget). Shot in her African birthplace of Abidjan, it displays some of the city’s magnificent beaches.
Bado performed at the World Expo in Osaka.
Check out the beautiful beaches in Kelly Bado’s Official Music Video for “Jamais oublier”.
Boulanger was born in Cranbrook and spent her elementary-school years in Prince George before moving to Nanaimo as a teenager. A bilingual Vancouver Island University grad with a keen environmental sensibility, Boulanger is often praised for her haunting stage performances.
She is in the midst of creating her debut LP called O, Earthling, which addresses global heating. She’s no newcomer to this topic. Her 2021 single, “It Started in the Garden”, stresses the importance of biodiversity.
“It’s a moody love story of when you do something you love with someone you love and then they turn around and do it with someone else,” Boulanger says on YouTube.
She recently collaborated on “Oh, Deer” with Wet’suwet’en musician Simbeyez Wilson.
Watch the Official Music Video for “It Started in the Garden”.
Francophone stars play the Vogue
Festival d’été francophone de Vancouver continues at 8 p.m. on Friday (May 29) in Studio 16 with another double bill. Local francophone recording artist Arnaud Granoux will share the stage with Montreal-based TDH (Tommylee Dauphinais Howard).
Granoux’s newest album, Horizon, combines his rock sensibility with acoustic compositions. His 2015 double album, Momentum, earned him a nomination for Francophone Artist of the Year at the Western Canadian Folk Music Awards.
Meanwhile, TDH draws on his mixed Jamaican and Innu heritage to create truly original compositions. Check out how this sounds in his single “No Fear”.
Watch TDH’s Official Music Video for “No Fear”.
Festival d’été francophone de Vancouver will also present Quebec stars Les Trois Accords and Lou-Adriane Cassidy at the Vogue Theatre on Saturday (May 30).
Les Trois Accords have won four Félix Awards—including three for album of the year—for their catchy pop-rock. They combine this with imaginative and often outrageous lyrics.
For her part, Cassidy emerged as a true sensation last year after capturing 12 Félix Awards, including song of the year for “Dis-moi, Dis-moi, Dis-moi”, and female artist of the year. She followed that up this year with the Juno Award for Francophone Album of the Year for Journal d’un loup-garou, which is a stage show as well.
At the Vogue, Cassidy will perform the stage show for her new album, Triste Animal.
Watch the Official Music Video for “Dis-moi, Dis-moi, Dis-moi”.
For a full list of events at Festival d’été francophone de Vancouver, visit the website. Follow Pancouver on Instagram @PancouverMedia, on X @PancouverMedia, and on Bluesky @pancouver.bsky.social.
