July 20, 2025

Le Festif in Baie-Ste-Paul

By student Miriam Chakir

The festival greets me with vivid colors, locals singing karaoke to catchy songs I have never heard of, and the aroma of food trucks and wood smoke. I wandered off to booths of knick-knacks and merchandise of the festival’s mascot: A giant eight-armed cat astronaut holding various items. I got a shirt for the memories.

a student wearing a t-shirt — Mariam wearing her Le Festif t-shirt (photo courtesy of Jeanette Landin)

At first, this was very overstimulating, but luckily, I had headphones.

A sculpture of a pink squid — One of the mascots of Le Festif-- a large pink squid (photo courtesy of Mason Roy)

Then I went off to explore other parts of the festival, and I passed by a street performer tapping his shoes to the rhythm of his guitar. I saw people decked out in vibrant clothes and cutesy floaties.

A giant unicorn pool floatie — People throughout the event had pool floaties for floating on the nearby river (Photo courtesy of Theta McQuaide)

I noticed a large crowd and stopped at a concert featuring a rock band with an electric atmosphere. I could feel the bass reverberating through the ground and up and down my body like a series of waves. It was intense, and my social battery was running low. Overall, it was a great time, and I would go there again!