“I’ve got a question for you, Quebec City. Are you alive?” bellows James Hetfield.
The Metallica frontman’s words elicit a huge roar from the nearly 100,000 spectators who have packed this outdoor show. The combination of crushing guitars and drums with adrenalin-charged lasers and fireworks delivers pure escapism on a warm July night with classic numbers like “Enter Sandman” and “For Whom the Bell Tolls.”
It’s a perfect illustration of why summer in Quebec City is cartoonishly fun.
The Plains of Abraham are the setting for the most anticipated concert at the Festival d’été de Québec (Quebec City Summer Festival), celebrating its 50th anniversary in 2017. It’s a joyful, animated contrast to what happened here in 1759, when Britain defeated France in a battle that took the lives of both generals, James Wolfe and Louis-Joseph de Montcalm — and incurred some 1,300 other casualties.
Today, the Festival d’été de Québec focuses on happier numbers. “We’re one of the biggest festivals in North America, probably in the top five,” says general manager Daniel Gélinas. Up to 45 percent of concertgoers hail from outside Quebec. It’s no wonder, because an early-bird general-admission pass for all 11 days goes for the absurd price of just $95. More than 120,000 passes are sold each year.
With eight outdoor and indoor venues around town, plus lots of pop-up shows, every genre is represented. Are you a classic rock fan over 40? Then you’d have tears in your eyes when Roger Daltrey, the Who’s 73-year-old frontman, pulls off his scream at the end of “Won’t Get Fooled Again” in the British band’s only Canadian date this year. Would you rather party with Pink or the Backstreet Boys? They too graced the main stage in 2017. You can also check out dozens of up-and-coming folk, worldbeat, reggae, and hip-hop artists.
In fact, “the spirit of the party,” as Gelinas puts it, pervades the picturesque, cobblestone streets of Canada’s most European city all summer long.
One way to keep your spirits high is to take the Old Quebec Beer Tour with Broue Tours. Start at Inox, a 1990’s-founded local craft beer pioneer on the Grande Allé, and swig La Sacache, a refreshing strawberry and basil beer, while snacking on sausage infused with Gruyere cheese beneath red umbrellas on the patio.
Down on bustling Rue St. Jean, the popular pub Le Projet awaits, boasting 24 taps.
“They take pride in selling all Quebec products,” says guide Sam Ouellet.
Inside the converted 19th-century bank with a gorgeously renovated interior, tattooed waitresses bring bearded hipsters À la Fût’s funky Cowsûre Saison Sûre and Harricana’s acidic, malty Old Stock IPA as New Wave music plays. If you’re feeling daring, try a shot of Ungava premium gin (ABV: 43 per cent), made with indigenous Quebec herbs.
The tour wraps up at Ninkasi, a neighbourhood pub that also screens experimental films and hosts live radio broadcasts. Not to be missed is Le Trou du Diable’s Shawinigan Handshake. The not-so-subtle label of this robust Hopfenweisse with peach notes depicts former Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien choking a devil. (It’s an allusion to the so-called “little guy from Shawinigan” confronting a protester in 1996.) Ninkasi’s view overlooking the Drague Cabaret Club and a neighbouring church is a microcosm of contemporary Quebec.
A different art form takes centre stage at the Musée de la Civilisation’s Hergé exhibition (to Oct. 22). Dedicated to the Belgian artist who created the cartoon adventurer Tintin, it’s a fascinating look inside Hergé’s creative process. View sketches for classic books like The Black Island and Cigars of the Pharaoh, check out a telegram from Salvador Dali congratulating Hergé on the “psychedelic” and “paranoiac” quality of his work, and discover how he consulted scientists about his interplanetary spaceship in Destination Moon. Afterwards, you can buy Tintin alarm clocks, jigsaw puzzles and other souvenirs.
More surreal fun awaits outside the historic Fairmont Le Chateau Frontenac hotel, where a Dali-designed elephant sculpture stands – available for purchase for just $3.6 million. Historic sights abound here in Old Quebec, a 1985-designated UNESCO World Heritage Site, where British and Russian cannons loom above the St. Lawrence River. In Place Royale, a square in the lower town, a giant wall mural depicts characters from explorer Samuel de Champlain, the 1608 founder of New France, to a kid in the jersey of Peter Stastny, the NHL superstar of the now-defunct Quebec Nordiques.
Depending on your budget and the weather, you can find different escapes here. If it’s cloudy, take a free guided tour of the Parliament Building, Quebec’s 1877-built provincial legislature. Magnificent stained-glass windows depict Champlain’s arrival in the region and the frontal clock tower is another great photo-op. For sunny days, Croisières AML offers a 1.5-hour cruise ($35/adult) on the St. Lawrence with fantastic panoramas of the city and the Laurentian Mountains. A costumed interpreter delivers intriguing facts on whale-watching and German U-Boats as you head up to Montmorency Falls, which, at 83 metres, is taller than Niagara Falls.
Innovative takes on poutine spice up the menu at Le Chic Shack. Photo Lucas Aykroyd
When you need a break from exploring Quebec City, Le Chic Shack, just across from the Chateau Frontenac, is a perfect stop for a casual lunch. Dig into their innovative poutines, like La Masala, featuring chicken curry, cheese curds, cherry tomatoes, prune chutney, and cilantro for $15, plus a $4 side of maple-and-pepper potato chips. For a more romantic dinner atmosphere, salmon tartare, grilled beef steak, and strawberry pie in a private room at Louis-Hebert hits the spot.
When you come to Quebec City, it’s like entering a parallel universe, and the double whammy of European flair with North American comforts is cartoonishly fun. Anyone with an appetite for summer concerts should already be making plans to head here next July. And if you’re worried that the 51st edition of the Festival d’été de Québec can’t possibly live up to this year’s glories, don’t be. Headliners at the 49th edition in 2016, after all, included Duran Duran, Rammstein, and Red Hot Chili Peppers. Oui merci!
Lucas Aykroyd was a guest of Québec City Tourism, Tourism Québec and the Festival d’été de Québec, none of which reviewed or approved this article. The next Festival d'été de Québec runs July 5-15, 2018. For more information, visit quebecregion.com, quebecoriginal.com, and infofestival.com.
