Photos and text by Laura Carbone
This July the award winning Tremblant International Blues Festival is celebrating its 26th year with stellar lineup of 60 international acts performing over 100 stage shows. All the music is free, spread over four outdoor stages in the open squares of the pedestrian open village.
The 2019 festival, which runs from July 5th to July 14th, is one of Canada’s largest musical events, attracting over 100,000 festival goers over its 10-day span. The backdrop, Mont Tremblant, is an idyllic European-style resort nestled in the beautiful Laurentian mountains, a comfortable 90-minute drive from downtown Montreal, where they call it Le Festival International du Blues de Tremblant.
True to its name, Tremblant presents artists from the far corners of the world and a diverse spread of music from R&B, soul, funk and rock. The Tremblant International Blues Festival also was recognized for its excellence with The Blues Foundation’s 2013 “Keeping the Blues Alive,” “International Festival of the Year” award, which honors the world’s premiere blues festivals.The schedule is structured to have spaces during the day where attendees can participate in workshops, interactive classes, meet the artists, compete and jam. Build a cigar box guitar with JP Soars, learn how to play harmonica with Steve Mariner or sing Gospel with Dawn Tyler Watson. Unlike other festivals where you are forced to stand uncomfortably in a crowd in front of the stage, at Tremblant, the audience can sit outside at one of many bistros or the outdoor seating which circle the main stage.
Big names headline every night: Mr. Sipp—guaranteed to knock it out of the park—and the guitar sensation of JP Soars and the Red Hots; two-time Grammy award winner of the “Best Contemporary Blues Album” The Fantastic Negrito; The Eric Gales Band (just was awarded “Rock Blues Artist of the Year” by the Blues Foundation);. Samantha Fish, Larkin Poe, Big Sam’s Funky Nation, Joanna Conner and the Australian B3 monster band, The Lachy Doley Group, Dawn Tyler Watson, The Steve Strongman Band, Steve Marriner, The Paul DesLauriers Band, Angel Forrest and The Justin Saladino Band, all of whom are Maple Blues and/or Juno Award winners.
After the main shows, the live music spills out to many resto-bars and outdoor cafés as the regional bands play late into the night. Streets have a Disneyesque ambiance with parades, street performers, shopping, food choices from around the globe, and family activities, like a free gondola ride to the top of the village. For a small fee, take another gondola for breathtaking views of the top of the mountain or play miniature golf, ride an alpine luge or visit a bungee trampoline, paintball park, or forest adventure complete with zip lines and Tarzan ropes, biking, tennis, mountain hikes. Dip in the lake at the base of the village.
Throughout, enjoy Canadian hospitality, Canada’s love for the music and their civilized and relaxed approach to festival participation.
For more information about The Mount Tremblant International Blues Festival click HERE
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