Greater Sudbury's popular francophone music celebration, La Nuit sur l'étang, is going back to its roots.
After a four-year test run of La Nuit as an October event, marred by dwindling attendance and stiff upper lip atmosphere, the francophone music festival is returning to the spring.
Since 1973, La Nuit has celebrated francophone language and culture with the a night of music from some of the best francophone performers in the province (and many from Quebec).
It also stands as the last Franco-Ontarian festival left in the province. La Nuit sur l'étang 2006 will take place Saturday March 25, starting at 10 pm at Collège Boréal.
The two headlining acts for this year's concert are established rock-group Les Respectables, from Montreal, and Ya Ketchose, hailing from a small town east of Winnipeg. The group has just released its second album, En Route.
"The trial (October concerts) just did not work," said Paul Demers, president of La Nuit's board of directors. "If it was up to myself, it never would have been changed to the fall."
At the time, a new board of directors thought La Nuit might work best as a fall festival and experimented with the idea. It was obvious to Demers the autumn format didn't work and something needed to be done to revitalize the festival.
"You couldn't go to the last La Nuit in October 2004 and say it was a success. There were 100 people there," said Demers. "There were less than 300 people in two nights in 2004."
He said attendance numbers were a far cry from the 1,200 people who flocked to the Sudbury Arena and the Grand Theatre in the event's heyday in the early 1990s.
Demers, a 19-year veteran of La Nuit, remembers people being turned away at the door because the venue was packed.
A new board of directors, led by Demers, couldn't sit still and watch their festival perish so they got together on their spare time, organized and listened to the francophone community.
What they heard time and time again was a resounding desire to bring the festival back to March.
La Nuit and spring go hand in hand, said Demers.
"It really lost that charm and charisma that we had in March which was one big party." "La Nuit is going back to its roots . . . to what it was. It's going to back to becoming a party, it's not going to be a wine and cheese. I'm not going to round off the edges."
Demers said the response from the community has been overwhelming with 450 tickets already sold to this year's event this weekend.
"So far we've seen a tremendous response," he said. "People are happy it's going back to March."
In spite of Ontario's college strike, Collège Boréal is still supporting the festival and is purchasing a ticket to the concert for every student at the college.
Since the gymnasium holds a little less than 600 people, the college will open up more room within its walls to accommodate as many concert-goers as possible.
"What we are envisioning right now is opening up the cafeteria/pub at Boréal for the overflow of people with a giant screen and the sound piped in," said Demers. "People will be able to move freely between the gym and the cafeteria/pub."
Demers is pleased that the college strike will not affect La
Nuit in any way.
"We have chatted with the union members who have been on the picket
line and they understand their fight is not with us," he said.
"La Nuit is a very important identity to Collège Boréal and to the themselves as francophone teachers and we're extremely pleased they see beyond the fact that they have a work stoppage."
For more information or to buy tickets, phone 673-6848. Tickets are $22 in advance or $25 at the door. Visit www.lanuit.on.ca.
