Acadian Festival
The Evangeline Region Agricultural Exhibition and Acadian Festival will take place August 31–September 3 in Abram-Village. The four-day weekend includes concerts, skills and talent shows, fiddling and stepdancing, book launch, album launch, flying dog show, Acadian dances and more to entertain visitors of all ages.
September 1 will feature musical performances by local artists during the official opening ceremony at 1:30 pm, followed by the provincial finals of the PEI Youth Talent Competition at 2:30 pm. Gadelle (Louise Arsenault, Hélène Bergeron, Caroline Bernard and Rémi Arsenault) will entertain the crowd during the Festin acadien avec homard, a four-course meal which begins at 5:30 pm at the Village musical acadien with host Georges Arsenault. Visit expositionfestival.ca for tickets. This year, a show exclusively for the residents of Le Chez-Nous Co-operative’s community care centre in Wellington will take place at 6 pm, featuring the Écho du Royaume choir, from Saguenay Lac St-Jean, Québec. La Soirée des retrouvailles (An evening of reunions), one of two Acadian Festival dances scheduled this year will also take place at 9:30 pm. Festival-goers can step back in time at the square dance concert, which will feature Acadian country-folk music by Terry Melanson (NB) interspersed with instrumental tunes by traditional Québécois square dance caller Ghislain Jutras, who accompanies himself on diatonic accordion, jaw harp and seated stepdancing. Tickets will be sold at the door only.
The Festival strives to present a mix of traditional and new activities to its many visitors. A new facet added to this summer’s program is the Flying Dog Show which will be presented five times on the exhibition grounds over the weekend—September 1 (3 pm), September 2 (1:30 pm and 3:30 pm) and September 3 (12 noon and 4 pm). The Quebec-based flying team showcase their canine partners doing skilled tricks like agility, frisbee, canine dance, skipping rope, speed, jumps, canine skateboarding, comedy tricks and rhythmic choreography to music including obstacles.
The theme for the Evangeline Region Agricultural Exhibition and Acadian Festival is V’nez fêter chez nous! (Come celebrate with us!).