For three straight weekends in July - Week-ends du monde and Fête des enfants de Montréal take centre stage at Parc Jean-Drapeau

MONTREAL, July 4, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Week-ends du monde presented by Loto-Québec and Fête des enfants de Montréal, two events synonymous with summer in Montréal, are back at Parc Jean-Drapeau on July 6, 7, 13 and 14 and July 20-21 respectively. The two free events, whose programs were announced today, are the focal point of a host of sport and cultural activities that enliven Parc Jean-Drapeau all summer long.

"Parc Jean-Drapeau is a must-visit destination in the province of Québec for the outstanding quality of its cultural program, and the month of July is certainly no exception," said Daniel Blier, Executive Director of the Société du parc Jean-Drapeau. "Hundreds of thousands of Montrealers will be coming over to Île Ste-Hélène again this year, and they are going to enjoy two unique and highly popular events. With Week-ends du monde, the population will have the opportunity to discover Montréal's cultural wealth, and with the Fête des enfants de Montréal, families and especially children will have the chance to be active and have lots of fun in an educational and extraordinary environment."

Weekends du Monde

In its three-year existence, Weekends du monde, which offers veritable trips around the world to Parc visitors, has struck a responsive chord with Montrealers who are interested in learning about the cultural wealth of the various communities that have made Montréal their home. Attesting to this popularity, 85,000 people attended the event in 2010, and it attracted 187,000 in 2011 and 198,000 last year. Week-ends du monde has a simple premise: on a daily basis the various communities share the main stages set up on the site, and the public is invited to leisurely go from one stage to another to watch the shows. There are also satellite stages with performances all day long.

The main partner enjoys the people-gathering aspect of the event. "For many years, Loto-Québec has pledged its support as the main sponsor through its Les rendez-vous Loto-Québec program which promotes holding major events that have a social and economic impact for Québec regions, remarked Lucie Lamoureux, Corporate Director of Sponsorships and Social Commitment at Loto-Québec. "Besides supporting 120 festivals throughout the province, Les rendez-vous Loto-Québec helps to make it easier for thousands of festival-goers to gather together so they can celebrate and have fun."

New in 2013

The program for Week-ends du monde 2013 is as diversified as ever, and it's full of discoveries and new features. These include the Relais gourmand gastronomical zone, Piknic Électronik's free Saturdays, the Peruvian festival, united Gospel festival, percussion workshop with Samajam and a series of performances by fire-eaters. Three theme nights have also been added to the program, in which Montréal groups will be playing a wide range of music, exposing people to the wonderful diversity that makes Montréal such an incredible on-stage experience.

Along with the new features, there are the traditional get-togethers such as Jamaica Day, Colombia's national day, the Cambodian festival, EUROfEST, Brazilian Carnival, the big Québec Maghreb celebration, and activities at the Stewart Museum.

The Week-ends du monde event is produced by the Société du parc Jean-Drapeau in collaboration with the City of Montréal and Public Mobile.

Fête des enfants de Montréal

The Fête des enfants de Montréal, which is the ultimate family gathering, is an event that fosters the development of children aged 12 and under through its array of free and original activities. As it makes its big return this year, Fête des enfants de Montréal has a diversified program for everyone's enjoyment.

Children will delight in a performance on the main stage by Télé-Québec stars from the 1,2,3... Géant and Toc-Toc-Toc shows. The popular Henri Godon et les bedondaines and his five musicians will also be part of the festivities, as will the group Les Petites Tounes. Other shows include performances by the Akya Circus artistic acrobats and flying trapeze acts by the Carpe Diem Circus.

And, of course, it just wouldn't be the Fête des enfants de Montréal without its giant inflatable structures and the young buccaneers zone for youngsters aged 0 to 6, its make-up, home decorating and scientific workshops, its climbing tower, zip-line and giant foosball game. Then there is the intercultural aspect of the Fête with the Village des traditions by the Société du patrimoine du Québec which is staging 10 workshops showcasing the assortment of cultural wealth and providing interactive traditional dance lessons in collaboration with the Sortilèges group. Meanwhile, the Stewart Museum and the Biosphère, Environment Museum will also be part of the Fête, with plenty of surprising activities for people to discover.

There are two other new features this year, including the Challenge plein air WIXX, which invites children aged 9 to 13 to get physically active through an impressive obstacle course that has been set up. And the Naître et Grandir mobile squad will be going along the site's trails handing out free copies of Mon Joujou-livre, a storybook designed for young tots.

Fête des enfants de Montréal has been made possible by the participation of the City of Montréal, Challenge plein air WIXX led by Québec en Forme, the Fondation Lucie et André Chagnon, the Société de transport de Montréal (STM), Samajam, Minute Maid and the Société du patrimoine d'expression du Québec.

The mission of the Société du parc Jean-Drapeau is to manage, administrate, develop, protect and animate Parc Jean-Drapeau. For any information on these two events and on Parc Jean-Drapeau's activities, please go to parcjeandrapeau.com.

SOURCE: PARC JEAN-DRAPEAU

François Cartier
Société du parc Jean-Drapeau
514 872-7318
[email protected]

Sarah Shirley
Attachée de presse
Cabinet du maire et du comité exécutif
Ville de Montréal
514 872-5628

Renée Pageau
Relationniste
Ville de Montréal
514 868-4580