It's the weekend local Francophone music lovers wait for all year. Collège Boréal hosts La Nuit émergente tonight and La Nuit sur l'étang Saturday night.
La Nuit émergente, which runs from 7 p.m. to midnight March 24, celebrates its fifth anniversary this year.
The evening is a platform for French-language bands, many from Northern Ontario, that aren't as well known, said Stéphane Gauthier, director of the local Francophone music promoter, La Slague, which organizes the event.
“We find there's a lot of talent that we can't really put in our season because they're unknown,” he said.
“It would be hard to attract the public and the risk would be too high. But if you put all of these bands that are really cool, that are really hot, emerging in new sounds, in one spot, your selling point is this is a discovery ticket. The format is really cool. Then suddenly it's not as hard to sell the band.”
Francophone music promoters from southern Ontario and Quebec travel to La Nuit émergente every year to find out what's hot and new in Francophone music in Northern Ontario, so it's a great opportunity for participants.
This year's headliners are Quebec singer-songwriter Yann Perreau and Timmins native and “La Voix” contestant Céleste Lévis.
Here's a list of the emerging performers on La Nuit émergente's set list for 2017: Huu Bac Quintet, Lydia Képinski, Ponteix, Rouge Pompier, Joëlle Saint-Pierre, Soucy, Telecolor, Patrick Wright et les Gauchistes and Lavabo.
Celebrating its 44th year — and probably the best-known Francophone music event in the area — La Nuit sur l'étang, which runs from 7 p.m. to midnight March 25, is La Nuit émergente's big brother.
Dubbed La grande veillée, the evening will feature several orchestras and bands, including Les Pourquoi Pas, a well-known Francophone folklore group. They will re-enact what it was like at parties 150 years ago.
The Quebec folk music group Yves Lambert Trio will also perform.
“It's a family show, with brothers and sisters on stage, and they are going to teach others how to dance,” the event's director, Pierre Paul Mongeon, told Sudbury.com last November, as La Nuit announced its lineup.
After that, Violon a l'oeuvre will take the stage and provide more of a square-dance-style entertainment.
“This is only the first part of the 4.5-hour show, and there's much more in store,” he said.
There will also be 10 musicians and artists from Ontario who will take modern and popular Franco-Ontarien pop and rock songs, and perform them in a more traditional way.
Tickets for both La Nuit émergente and La Nuit sur l'étang are available through TNO's box office.
La Nuit émergente tickets cost $25 for general admission, $22.50 for seniors and $20 for students. La Nuit sur l'étang tickets cost $40 for general admission, $25 for students and $10 for children six and older.
Visit TNO's online box office here.
