Fierce fiddling to contra dance, as Festival du Bois unveils program for March 6 to 8

Aleksi Campagne, Bagatelle, Nicolas Pellerin et les Grands Hurleurs, and the Jocelyn Pettit Band are among offerings at celebration of Maillardville’s francophone roots

Festival du Bois takes place at Mackin Park, Coquitlam, from March 6 to 8

FIERY FIDDLING IS THE connecting thread at this year’s the Festival du Bois, set to run March 6 to 8 in Maillardville.

The 37th annual celebration of francophone culture has just announced its programming, which will kick off Friday night, March 6, in the licensed Grand Chapiteau at Mackin Park with Québécois/bluegrass band Bagatelle, plus contradance with the Sybaritic String Band and caller Katie Pinter. Admission is free with pre-registration.

The next day features Quebec traditionalists Nicolas Pellerin et les Grands Hurleurs and bhangra-Celtic fusionists Delhi 2 Dublin. Aleksi Campagne puts a new spin on fiddle-singing tradition, while Schryer, Enblom, Dobres & Hillhouse pair fiddle with Métis step-dance. Nova Scotian singer Jacques Surette and Celtic-influenced Jocelyn Pettit Band appear the same day.

The final day highlights the Latin influences of Locarno, as well as the fiddle power of the North Shore Celtic Ensemble.

Elsewhere, the Petit Chapiteau is back with family fare, featuring drumming with Malicounda, children’s shows by Will’s Jams and Micah!, and more.

And the popular Métis Village Experience also makes a return, with culture, arts, stories, and more.

Around the site, look for roving performers, the Cabane à Sucre André Beauregard Sugar Shack, plus many more artisan and food booths. Workshops and artist talks take place Saturday and Sunday onsite and at nearby Mackin House.

“When I started planning the lineup, I kept coming back to the fiddle. It’s the heartbeat of so many francophone, folk and world music traditions,” the fest’s new artistic programming director, Gabriel Dubreuil, said in today’s announcement. “I wanted to show the many ways it can shine, whether it’s driving the tune, holding down the groove, lifting a song, or leading a dance. I looked for artists who bring fresh ideas, strong voices, and real craft to what they do, and who each show a different facet of French Canadian music with this connecting thread.”

Find more details and early-bird tickets at Festival du Bois’s website here.

Featured

Janet Smith

Janet Smith is founding partner and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

Articles

Early Music Vancouver Summer Festival celebrates the Power of Music

This year’s edition spans repertoires from the Middle Ages to early opera, bookended by landmark works by Monteverdi and Vivaldi

Ablaye Cissoko and Cyrille Brotto explore the beauty of cross-cultural music, May 14 at BlueShore at CapU

Two master musicians blend tradition and innovation with effortless grace

Vancouver International Jazz Festival announces eclectic Granville Island programming

Performances will take place at Ocean Artworks and the Revue Stage as part of the 41st annual fest, which runs June 19 to July 5

x/o and gooie collaborate to conjure experimental performance hyaline, April 30

Interdisciplinary performance features movement, latex wearable sculptures by gooie, and new music from x/o

At Sundar Prize Film Festival, A Cree Approach pays tribute to a language matriarch

Vancouver filmmaker Tristin Greyeyes takes a personal approach to documentary that explores her grandmother’s role in nêhiyawêwin revitalization

Vancouver New Music wraps On Curation Mentorship Project with A Voynich Manifesto, May 9

Curated by Terri Hron, event explores a mysterious medieval manuscript through shadow theatre and live vocals

Tenor Ian Bostridge and pianist Wenwen Du join forces for a Nebula Performances concert, May 14

The Grammy-winning vocalist and artistic director collaborate on a program featuring music by Hugo Wolf and Benjamin Britten

Vocalists of all ages unite as the Vancouver Bach Family of Choirs performs SummerSing!, May 10

Annual celebration at the Chan Centre features nine ensembles, ranging from young artists to seasoned adult performers

All-female Solidaridad Tango showcases the many sides of Argentina’s national art form

At the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts the all-female Canadian ensemble’s Tango Fantasia intends to show that tango is music for both the body and the mind

Martin Harley melds folk and blues on slide guitar at BlueShore at CapU, May 10

After opening for Bonnie Raitt’s sold-out U.K. shows, the singer-songwriter tours solo across Canada

rEvolver Festival unveils adventurous lineup of form-mashing theatre arts

In Upintheair Theatre’s annual event at The Cultch, opera, standup, puppets, and more mix together in experimental stage works about everything from eco disaster to cats

Chor Leoni showcases the next generation of choral artists with The Big Roar, May 8 and 9

Hundreds of singers come together for an epic concert featuring a world premiere by Amplify Artist in Residence Miranda Currie

Vancouver Folk Music Festival announces 2026 lineup, from global icons to local heroes

U.K. legend Billy Bragg and Brazil’s Bia Ferreira share stages with Canadian names like Aysanabee and Empanadas Illegales at ʔəy̓alməxʷ Jericho Beach Park, July 17 to 19

Cuban-born Eliades Ochoa draws on his countryside roots at the Chan Centre, May 9

Original member of the Grammy Award–winning Buena Vista Social Club performs vibrant Latin tunes alongside a quartet

In Stephanie Lake Company’s Manifesto, thundering percussion meets dance

In this DanceHouse and Vancouver New Music copresentation, the Australian performers feed off the energy of nine drum kits on a stylized stage

Local lens-based artists share their influences in The Cinematheque x Capture Film Series, to April 25

As part of Capture Photography Festival, Dana Claxton, Althea Thauberger, and Stephen Waddell screen the films that shaped them

Gli Incogniti explores a musical enigma in Early Music Vancouver presentation, April 17

Amandine Beyer and her Baroque ensemble play compositions by an Italian violinist whose life and music are shrouded in mystery.

Sakura Days Japan Fair brings vibrant Nikkei culture to VanDusen Botanical Garden, April 11 and 12

In its 20th edition, the annual Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival celebrates Japanese artistry and eclectic cuisine

Mission Folk Music Festival unveils lineup for 39th annual event, spanning swing duo Blue Moon Marquee and soul singer Tanika Charles

From July 24 to 26, Fraser River Heritage Park hosts artists from B.C. and beyond

Vetta Chamber Music hosts its season finale Celebration, May 1 to 4

Violinist Joan Blackman, violist Hung-Wei Huang, cellist Zoltan Rozsnyai, and pianist Angela Cheng play pieces by Franck, Brahms, and Mozetich

Listening as Activism explores the power of sound, vision, and a decolonized conception of time

Vancouver New Music event brings together artists and activists for a roundtable discussion and performances

DOXA Documentary Film Festival unveils program of 40 features, including live, opening-night cinematic performance Bella Sutra

Running April 30 to May 10, 25th annual event features a South Korean spotlight, Fire of Love director Sara Dosa’s Iceland-set Time and Water, and world premieres Under the Red Roof, Illustrated Legacies: Graveyard of the Pacific, and more

Stir Cheat Sheet: Four boundary-busting concerts to experience at Music on Main's Month of Tuesdays

From Caroline Shaw’s pop-tinged Ringdown project to Ryan Davis’s heady looping viola, April means aural adventure at the intimate Fox Cabaret

Elektra's Tapestry International Festival unites four adult treble choirs, May 8 and 9

Triennial gathering features Chicago’s La Caccina, Halifax’s Aeolian Singers, and the Bay Area’s Peninsula Women’s Chorus

Rachel Fenlon expands solo piano performance to encompass folk

The standout soprano returns to B.C. at the Kay Meek Arts Centre with a blend of her beloved Schubert and Benjamin Britten’s arrangements of traditional British and French songs

Isaiah Collier, Keyon Harrold, and more as Vancouver International Jazz Festival unveils first ticketed shows

Running June 19 to July 5, event also unveils Performance Works Series that includes Haleluya Hailu Plays Ethiopia and Stranger Friends Orchestra with Fredrik Ljungkvist

Krystle Dos Santos and Dawn Pemberton’s ode to Hogan’s Alley hits VIFF Live, April 4

Powerhouse vocalists preview songs from stage show Meet Me at Vie’s alongside a screening of local documentary Union Street

Throat-singing duo PIQSIQ inspire with tales of complex heroes and eerie creatures of the North

Ahead of their Chan Centre show alongside renowned singer-songwriter Susan Aglukark, sisters Inuksuk Mackay and Tiffany Ayalik discuss Legends and the power of traditional Inuit storytelling