21st edition: A festival of encounters
and crossbreeding!

On Saturday evening, the bands Ati me Care (Centre France), Les Mononcles (Lanaudière) and Jourdan Thibodeaux et Les Rôdailleurs (Louisiana, U.S.A.) joyfully warmed up the hall!

Then on Sunday evening, with Élizabeth Gagnon as host and under a radiant sun, inaugurating a new layout in the park in front of the church, still with the river in the background, Grosse Isle (Ireland, Lanaudière, Quebec), Daniel Bellegarde (Haiti) and Le Vent du Nord (Lanaudière, Mauricie, Montérégie) offered the final concert with boundless energy and great authenticity.

Overview of vibrant festival moments

The popular dance brought together young and old, beginners and advanced dancers alike, with La Famille Aucoin for Québécois dance, and Malvenn, Ati Me Care and Charles Quimbert for Bal Folk/Fest-Noz Chants de vielles. The dancers from Bal Folk Montréal and Bal Folk Sherbrooke not only took part in all the dances, but also created plenty of dancing opportunities throughout the weekend.

On Saturday evening, the bands Ati me Care (Centre France), Les Mononcles (Lanaudière) and Jourdan Thibodeaux et Les Rôdailleurs (Louisiana, U.S.A.) joyfully warmed up the hall!

Then on Sunday evening, with Élizabeth Gagnon as host and under a radiant sun, inaugurating a new layout in the park in front of the church, still with the river in the background, Grosse Isle (Ireland, Lanaudière, Quebec), Daniel Bellegarde (Haiti) and Le Vent du Nord (Lanaudière, Mauricie, Montérégie) offered the final concert with boundless energy and great authenticity.

Overview of vibrant festival moments

The popular dance brought together young and old, beginners and advanced dancers alike, with La Famille Aucoin for Québécois dance, and Malvenn, Ati Me Care and Charles Quimbert for Bal Folk/Fest-Noz Chants de vielles. The dancers from Bal Folk Montréal and Bal Folk Sherbrooke not only took part in all the dances, but also created plenty of dancing opportunities throughout the weekend.

On Saturday afternoon, a tribute was dedicated to artist Daniel Thonon, in his presence. For the occasion, the church stage was named Scène Daniel Thonon, in honor of this passionate artist, hurdy-gurdy maker, hurdy-gurdy player himself and long-time friend of the Chants de Vielles festival, who notably created Quebec’s first festival around the hurdy-gurdy and bagpipes.

Le Chevreuil 2025, Michel Bordeleau (Manigance, Bottine Souriante, Les Charbonniers de l’Enfer and Hommage aux aînés), seemed endowed with the gift of ubiquity! Incredibly dynamic, he improvised original musical moments with the festival’s various artists. Moments of sharing that will live long in the memory.

The Notre Festival exhibition, by photographer Guillaume Morin, le Folktographe, presented a selection of the images he has taken over the past 11 years, like an overview of festival memories, touching the hearts of many festival-goers in attendance, whether they have been attending for several years or are experiencing the festival for the first time.

Experiences both grand and simple

The unique programming of Chants de Vielles has offered a host of quality experiences for which the festival is now renowned: workshops and sessions, shows and events for young audiences, musical parades, sung aperitifs, intimate concerts, sung dragon-boat rides and pedestrian walks…

If you’d like to revisit some of the highlights, or get back into the swing of things, you can find Chants de Vielles on our social networks… Here or here!

Chants de Vielles would like to thank its partners for making this adventure possible: Conseil des arts et des lettres du Québec, Municipalité de Saint-Antoine-sur-Richelieu, Tourisme Montérégie, MRC de la Vallée-du-Richelieu, Patrimoine canadien, CODOFIL, Simon Jolin-Barrette, député de Borduas, Xavier Barsalou-Duval, député Pierre-Boucher – Les Patriotes – Verchères, Desjardins – Caisse Beloeil-Mont-Saint-Hilaire, Hydro-Québec, Fonds de solidarité FTQ, Les Subversifs, Dieu du Ciel microbrewery, La Compagnie du Nord, Relief Création, Groupe R-M, L’Œil régional, Le Courrier de St-Hyacinthe, CJSO, CFNJ, Décibel Audio and Maison Riviera.