The Hawkesbury Multicultural Festival began on Friday, June 28 and continued until Sunday, June 30. The event featured numerous performers representing several genres and cultural backgrounds on stages in downtown Hawkesbury at Place des pionniers and in nightly jam sessions at Dèja Vu Resto-Bar. The festival continued Saturday despite the rain during the earlier part of the day. Bleu Jeans Bleu performed on Saturday night. Now in its third year, the festival began in 2022 as part of Hawkesbury’s communauté francophone accueillante designation. Unlike in previous years where there was an elaborate opening ceremony with a significant Indigenous element and elected officials on stage, the 2024 festival began with Master of Ceremonies, multiculturalism advocate Nadia Cétoute getting the crowd excited before introducing Yao, the first band to play at the 2024 Hawkesbury Multicultural Festival.
“This year, we are back in celebrating diversity and homogeneity of culture,” Cétoute said.
