Quebec City Summer Festival Draws Arcade Fire, Santana, Rush

Thursday marks the kick-off to Canada's biggest outdoor artistic event. Over the next 10 days, an array of English-speaking and francophone performers including Arcade Fire, Santana, the Besnard Lakes, Giles Vigneault and Sylvain Cossette will help to ring in the 42nd edition of the Quebec City Summer Festival.

As part of the annual celebration, concertgoers are invited to the historic Plains of Abraham to take in festivities that run nightly on the main stage. Festival spokesperson Luci Tremblay tells Spinner that the picturesque outdoor venue is something people attending the citywide event always rave about.

"The battlefield is in the middle of the city, so you can be watching a concert and see the Château Frontenac and the Parliament buildings," she says. "It gives the site a very special atmosphere."

"It's not like you're out of the way like when you go to Coachella for example, or other big festivals," Tremblay continues. "You can be on the street having a cocktail or dinner, and then you come to the Plains of Abraham and the show starts."

While the festival has attracted its share of superstar headliners over the years, this is the first year that the list of top-tier acts has been this extensive. Black Eyed Peas, Rush, Jimmy Cliff, Steve Winwood, Iron Maiden, Steve Hackett and Rammstein will all be playing Quebec City in the coming days as part of the series.

"We are very pleased and excited to give to the audience many big stars this year," says artistic director Daniel Gélinas, who's also quick to point out that when it comes to the francophone component of the showcase, people are in for a real treat.

"We want to give the audience that comes to Quebec City a nice photograph of francophone music," he says. "One of the missions of the festival is to... [highlight the] French culture of Quebec and France and other places like North Africa."

With more than 300 shows taking place through July 18, there's certainly enough action to keep music lovers captivated. And if you happen to attend one of the concerts on the Plains of Abraham, Tremblay and Gélinas explain that you might just find yourself captivated by something else entirely, namely, thousands of tiny LED lights.

"Our wristbands come with a pin, and in that pin there is an LED light," says Tremblay. "Last year, Loreena McKennitt actually stopped during a song and said, 'I'm sorry, but I have to tell you what I'm seeing up here: I see all these little flashing lights on the battlefield. It's amazing, so magical.'"

A complete Quebec City Summer Festival schedule is available here.