Festivals in Quebec

The dancing Bonhomie was my first introduction to the Quebec Winter Carnival, a blow out of fun, food and entertainment in the midst of the city's cold winter days. Held in the first part of February, it a fun way Quebecers outwit the harshness of winter, transforming the city into one massive outdoor party.

I'm sitting in a small cafe just off the Place Royale in Old Quebec sipping delicious cafe au lait and munching on a flaky croissant as snowflakes settle gently on the gathered snow mounds outside the door. The sub-freezing air outside frosts the cafe window and the wind blows in crisp gusts. Giant icicles hang from the eaves of centuries-old buildings along the narrow street. It's February--Carnaval time in Quebec.

Quebec is a city made for getting lost, where wandering the streets is a pastime, and during Summer Festival there is no telling what performance you may encounter just by rambling

The buildings in the old part of Québec City resembled a collection of treasured jewels surrounded by ancient walls and crowned by the beautiful Fairmont Le Château Frontenac Hotel. Looking down on the city from the top of the funicular, a reasonable alternative from the very long and straight-up stairway called 'Heart Attack', I was surprised by the variety of colors of the copper roofs.

As I make my way down a crowded narrow street away from the Place Royale in Old Quebec, a young girl, dressed as a scullery maid, her blouse smeared with dirt, looks up shyly at me from the street corner much as she might have done in 18th-Century Quebec. Not far from her, two couples, dressed in elegant brocades, chat, the husband of second couple gently kissing the hand of the first woman with a hardy 'Enchanté.' If I didn't know better, I'd have sworn I had been transported back in time to the beginnings of this beautiful city. But here I am standing amidst crowds of animated people, many of whom are dressed in 17th and 18th-century costumes. For this is Quebec's renowned Les Fetes de la Nouvelle France, or New France Festival.

Missing were the 'ooos' and 'ahhhs' heard at typical fireworks displays. The people sitting huddled under panchos and sheltered under a rainbow of umbrellas came to Montmorency Falls, just outside Quebec City, to witness a special kind of magic - the final display of the three-week long Les Grands Feux Loto-Quebec fireworks competition. A steady rain didn't stop them and neither did a mist so thick they could taste it.