Second multicultural festival a huge success in Hawkesbu

The 2023 Festival Multiculturel de Hawkesbury Multicultural Festival will be remembered as a huge success.

The festival, which was first held in 2022, aimed to showcase Canadian musical talent and various cultures and was held under Hawkesbury’s designation as a Communauté francophone accueillante (welcoming francophone community). This year’s free festival ran from Thursday, June 29 to Saturday, July 1 and was centered at Place des Pionniers and Main Street in downtown Hawkesbury.

An elaborate Indigenous-themed opening ceremony took place with dancers and singers from several Indigenous nations from across North America participating. Radio Radio followed as the headlining act for opening night. Mayor Robert Lefebvre, Glengarry-Prescott-Russell Member of Provincial Parliament Stéphane Sarrazin, and Member of Parliament Francis Drouin each extended a welcome, and best wishes for the festival. Drouin wished the community a Happy Canada Day and encouraged everyone to enjoy themselves.

On Friday evening, June 30, a huge, larger than expected crowd gathered around the main stage for a show featuring Manon Séguin, Steve Levac, Élisabeth Blouin-Braithwaite, Zachary Richard, and Claude Dubois.

On Saturday, July 1, Lefebvre said the promotion company that organized the concert estimated at least 5,000 people were in the audience. The mayor said there was some concern about security but additional police officers assisted. Municipal staff, including the full squad of bylaw enforcement officers, and many volunteers were already on the site. Lefebvre said there were no safety and security issues at all.

“The crowd was excellent,” he said.

Lefebvre gave much of the credit for the success of the festival to Director of Parks and Recreation Facilities Geneviève Goulet. She said the crowd on Friday night exceeded expectations.

“We were expecting a big crowd, but a crowd this big was special,” she said.

Goulet said consideration is being given to making changes to the Place des Pionniers area so large crowds can be more safely accommodated. Possible changes include moving the bar/concession stand and improving accessibility.

Both Goulet and Lefebvre are hopeful the Festival Multiculturel de Hawkesbury Multicultural Festival returns in 2024, but more funding will be necessary. The 2022 and 2023 funding was from the federal government’s Communauté francophone accueillante program and 2023 is the final year the town will receive the funding. Efforts will need to be made to secure further funding and corporate sponsorships for the festival to continue.

In 2022, the festival was a four-day event. It was reduced to three days in 2023. When severe weather entered the area late on Saturday, July 1, the Canada Day fireworks display to cap off the festival had to be cancelled. The display will be rescheduled for a later date. Lefebvre was still quite pleased the weather had been good for most of the festival’s three days.