As soon as I set foot on the main street of the village of Gaspé, I quickly found what I had left last year at this time: the conviviality. This characteristic attribute of the regions gives me the feeling of being at home. Greetings and smiles from the locals are everywhere. rue de la Reine proudly bears its name because for the next few days, there will be music everywhere, all the time.
What I particularly like about FMBM is that it's a well-crafted program without tearing us apart between two major shows at the same time. You don't have to be a gazelle to see everything, most of it takes place within a block and the schedule doesn't drive you crazy. The different stages set up on the "main" take us from one atmosphere to another in a fire of entertainers or street shows always surprising and well balanced. A few steps away, the evenings are wild from the "just big enough to be intimate" Chapiteau des Grand Spectacles Hydro-Quebec offers us a supercharged atmosphere as a bonus.
As long as you're going to drive 500 kilometers, you might as well keep the party going, because there are plenty of opportunities to do so, I assure you! Late night bar shows are simply epic and it's a great time to experience unique moments with emerging bands.
Don't look for rides, cotton candy or pony rides, at the end of the world we focus on the essential: the music! And if you ever feel the call of the sea between two shows, just cross the boulevard and it's over!
A festival that is popular!
Having visited Gaspé several times in my life, the crowd that wanders around during the festival is a bit more heterogeneous than usual. Of course, the small families are there as well as the couples on the run in Gaspé, but there are those music and festival enthusiasts who are obviously not here by chance.
Like Jeremy, a dreadlocked backpacker from Western Canada for whom FMBM is an almost sacred summer moment.
"I've been coming here since the very beginning, I only visit Quebec once a year and that's at the FBMB (...) There's something here!"
But what?
It's 6 a.m. and judging by the line of customers at the restaurant, Jeremy is right, there is something going on in Gaspé!
