Francophones get the free party started

Radio Radio keeps the party going in the Brigantine Room starting at 11:30 p.m. Saturday.

Published: June 19, 2009 1:45 a.m.

Last modified: June 19, 2009 1:24 a.m.

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Quebec folk-rock quartet Kain headlines Toronto’s premier francophone event this weekend, kicking off the summer concert season at Harbourfront Centre.

Although little travelled outside their home province, the group commands an enthusiastic following there, with women screaming for frontman Steve Veilleux and live audiences singing along word-for-word to such hits as Mexico and Embarque Ma Belle.

In keeping with Quebec pop tradition, Kain also holds cross-generational appeal.

Veilleux favours an acoustic guitar and the band seems as happy to show its soft side as to rock out. They play Franco-Fête, as the event is called, on the main waterfront stage Saturday at 9:30 p.m.

Also billed as the biggest French-language cultural festival in Ontario, Franco-Fête features French cooking demonstrations and a children’s show with TFO television hosts Dino and Marianne.

Other top music acts:
• Joanna Moon, a French-Canadian Torontonian who this week launches her debut album Vagabunda, an exploration of Cuban and Spanish flamenco. She sings in French and Spanish, and plays the main stage 2 p.m. Sunday.

• Madame Moustache centres on Geneviève Néron and Julie Ross, two country music fans who formed a band after visiting Quebec's annual rodeo and cowboy festival at St-Tite, between Montreal and Quebec City. Fun-loving, campy and not apt to take themselves too seriously, they open for Kain on Saturday at 8 p.m.

• Bombolessé, an infectious multicultural ensemble from Montreal, mixes rock with Brazilian and African rhythms. They take to the main stage at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.

• Radio Radio keeps the party going in the Brigantine Room starting at 11:30 p.m. Saturday with Acadian rap and hip-hop. The four performers from New Brunswick and Nova Scotia mix French and English into the hybrid language known to Acadians as Chiac.

Just the facts
• WHAT: Franco-Fête
• WHERE: Harbourfront Centre, 235 Queens Quay W.
• WHEN: Friday 8 to 11 p.m., Saturday 1 p.m. to 2 a.m., Sunday noon to 6 p.m.
• ADMISSION: Free to all events. Full information at www.franco-fete.ca and 416-644-1575.

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