Le Vent du Nord

As they return from their spring tour of the Canadian and American West Coasts, the Quebec-based quintet is gearing up for a return to Chants de Vielles at the very start of summer. They’re off to a strong start for a marathon of summer festivals!

Since its founding in 2002, Le Vent du Nord has enjoyed a meteoric rise that never ceases to amaze! They have performed over 2,400 concerts across four continents, released 13 albums, and received numerous prestigious awards, including three FÉLIX, two OPUS, and two JUNO AWARDS. In recognition of their pioneering work in the international traditional and world music scene, the group was named ARTIST OF THE YEAR by Folk Alliance International and at the Canadian Folk Music Awards, received the Charles Cros Grand Prix (World Music), was honored with the Édith Butler Award (SPACQ), and became the first Francophone to receive the Songlines Music Awards – Americas in 2023.

With their new show VOISINAGES, directed by Michel Faubert, Nicolas Boulerice, André Brunet, Réjean Brunet, Olivier Demers, and André Gagné throw wide open the windows of the good neighborly ties that enrich their repertoire, offering a program that builds musical bridges and allows audiences to discover rich musical heritages from Ireland, Scotland, American folk, Acadian songs, and the Francophones of the Americas, as well as unique and inspiring original compositions.

They give voice to rivers and other witnesses to history: battles won and lost, injustices, losses, friendships, and above all, love.

An invitation to discover a world of the humanities!

WATCH:
Live at Celtic Connections 2026 >>>
En spectacle à Joliette >>>

MEDIAS:

“In this day and age, the music of Le Vent du Nord is just the tonic we need and ‘Voisinages’ provides it”. 
 –  Tom Povey, RnR Magazine

“Spirited, open-hearted calls for more honesty and reconciliation”.
  SONGLINES

“Whether traditional, like the rambunctious call-and-response of opener ‘Par-dessus le pont’ or newly-minted from the five members of Le Vent du Nord themselves (Nicolas Boulerice, André Brunet, Réjean Brunet, Olivier Demers and ‘new kid’ André (Dédé) Gagné), these tunes are spirited, open-hearted calls for more honesty and reconciliation. Even after 23 years on the road, it’s brilliantly clear that Le Vent du Nord have lost none of their passion, creativity and joy”.
 Kevin Bourke – SONGLINES

“This album is everything you’d expect, and more. Epitomising the energetic contemporary folk of Quebec, Le Vent du Nord have been lauded and awarded more times than I can remember. (…) What to highlight? There’s so much good stuff, from the comic-protest song Par-Dessus le Pont with its topical resonance of the punishment for satire directed at the powerful, to the achingly beautiful Fleur Radieuse by André Brunet for his wife. In between are the pastoral Le Canotier as a birch bark canoe navigates the mighty St Lawrence, the warlike Carillon with its tale of blood and British defeat, and that turlute L’Acadie which puts me in mind of the calypso Banana Boat Song”.
 –  Alex Monaghan IRISH MAGAZINE

“It takes precisely two seconds and a rapid cascade down the piano keys before there’s zero ambiguity about who you’re listening to: it’s unmistakably Le Vent du Nord (…) When the second track, Bienvenue, shifts into a reel and the foot-stomping kicks in, it becomes impossible not to get swept along” – Rasmus Klockljung Gaffa, LIRA MAGAZINE (Sweden)

“Quebec folk band Le Vent du Nord are one of the most exciting and energizing live acts on the traditional music circuit.” “At a time when the US is turning its back on its neighbors from the north, Le Vend du Nord’s call “for more openness and reconciliation; an invitation to be more neighborly” couldn’t be more timely.” 
 ARTSFUSE (Boston, USA)

Le Vent du Nord keeps their music both dignified and commanding (…). Their alluring je ne sais quoi revolves around masterful musicians providing snappy instrumentals, evocative vocals, rousing responses in sweet, tasteful, dynamic musical arrangements full of soul and spirit
–  Joe Ross, ROOTS MUSIC REPORT (USA) 

“This far into their musical career, Le Vent du Nord have no difficulty conveying their passion for their music; it’s a joyful life-affirming listen.”
– AMERICANA UK

« Their work keeps the French language and the province’s rural repertoire alive while renewing it through rhythmic invention and harmonic depth. “Du Nord au Sud” draws on Quebec dance-tune phrasing. The twin fiddles of Brunet and Demers carry the lead in close counterpoint, with Boulerice’s hurdy-gurdy drone sustaining the centre and foot percussion marking the beat. Réjean Brunet’s bass and diatonic accordion hold the low register, while Gagné’s guitar and bouzouki trace the harmonic turns”.
– RHYTHM PASSPORT (USA)