Cindy Bédard At Fête Nationale

La Fête Nationale went Country for the second night of festivites in Longueuil.  The party moved over to the Parc de la Cité in the borough of Saint-Hubert where citizens from all over city gathered for an open-air hoedown.  In charge of getting the festivities off to a start, Cindy Bédard pulled some double duty.  They couldn't have made a better choice.  A native of St-Tite, Cindy Bédard has taken part in the legendary Country Music Festival Western St-Tite that takes place there every year since 1987.  She even got the crowd warmed up before her set by hosting a line-dancing course that had everyone in attendance braving the very hot weather, while wearing their best cowboy hats and jeans, to kick up some dust while they boot scoot boogied to several big name Country songs.  After a short break, Cindy Bédard returned to the stage with her band to let the assembled citizens put to use the new moves that they had learned mere minutes before.  She gave a great performance of several of the hits from her four albums, and also a more touching moment to honour Serge Fiori, the great Québec singer who we sadly learned has passed away earlier that day.  Cindy Bédard just released her most recent album, Je dis ça a personne, last fall and will be playing her songs to some rather big crowds in the coming months as she is slated to appear at Festival d'été de Québec, Montreal's Lasso Festival and, of course, another appearance at the Festival Western St. Tite.  Everyone at those festivals are sure to have a great time.  All of the photographs were taken at f/3.2 while using various different shutter speeds, ISO settings and focal lengths.  Here are the rest of the photographs that I took of Cindy Bédard while she performed at the Parc de la Cité as part of the Fête Nationale celebrations.

If you would like to find out more about Cindy Bédard and her music, you can do so by following the link to his website.  If you would like to see the photographs of the various politicians, Hommage aux Colocs, Loud and Francis Degrandpré, who all performed during the festivities, you can do so by following the respective links.  A big thank you goes out to Line Tremblay and Audrey Pilon-Sylvestre, the Ville de Longueuil and Longueuil est culture for putting together these shows and for allowing me to shoot them.  Merci beaucoup.  As mentioned, Cindy Bédard will be appearing at some big festivals this summer, but she also has a handful of small shows scheduled.  Be sure to check them out if she is playing in a town near you.