The kick -off of the 57th Quebec Summer Festival (FEQ) will be given Thursday evening on the Plains of Abraham with the concerts of Glass Tiger, Richard Marx and the headliner Rod Stewart.
In an interview Thursday morning, at the microphone of Isabelle Perron on the air of Qub Radio at 99.5 FM, the vice-president of content and artistic direction, Louis Bellavance, was reassuring about the crossing strike.
“We understand that it will force a large number of people to plan their transport differently,” he told the host, adding that he had observed an increase in the trips of festival-goers on bicycle and by all kinds of means.
“We think people will adapt as they did last year. The current strike movements can always be resolved. It’s a day at a time. It is not known how long it could affect the movements of festival-goers, “continued the vice-president of content, which estimates that 15% of spectators only use public transport to go to the FEQ.
Income depending on the exchange rate
Consumed mainly by the Quebec public, the FEQ is subject to a large share of volatility as to its income, according to the vice-president of content and artistic direction.
A situation which is explained in particular by the difference in currencies between income and expenses of the festival, which, unlike its European counterparts, is not to the advantage of Canadian events.
“Our competition in July is a lot of Europe, France and Spain, which have extremely efficient festivals. These are people who receive revenues in euros and who pay for pills in US. We receive revenues in Canadian dollars and we pay for pills in US, “said Mr. Bellavance on Radio Qub.
“The summer festival has always known, year after year, make courageous decisions at the organizational level to generate income and be able to reinvest in its content. This is a priority for the organization to offer this level of programming, this scale, and we give ourselves the means, “he added, stressing that the FEQ reinvested each year in his product to maximize the experience of festival-goers.
“This is what is at the heart of our success,” he concluded.
