Last night, at Les Insulaires microbrewery in Laval, Marilène Barale and Guillaume Ouimet, the festival’s owners and founders, presented the program with Luc Rousseau – president of Concept B, which is organizing this year’s 9th edition of the festival.
The vibe was tangy and charged with the excitement of summer vacations and sticky July nights. The restaurant, brand-new after a fire that gutted it last November, was packed and everyone had a pint of soft fuchsia beer in hand.
It’s the official beer of the 9th edition, Festivaloise, a pale ale with camerise (a berry resembling an elongated blueberry, fruit of the blue honeysuckle and also known as honeyberry). It’s a collaboration between Les Insulaires and Ô Quai des Brasseurs, and it tastes like summer…
Program
From July 11 to 13, the festival will be jam-packed with stages, activities and, of course, beer. A little folk, a little rap, and a little family, the 3 days are a kind of ultra-local Quebec woodstock .
Christine Poirier, aide to the mayor of Laval, calls it a “classic Laval summer event”. Tourisme Laval, one of the festival’s partners, describes it as an effervescent event .
On the beer side, there will be some 75 exhibitors and 30 Quebec microbreweries represented. The festival showcases local and artisanal production – not just beer, but also cider, mead, spirits and local products.
Music-wise, the Hay Babies folk trio , Qualité Motel, Naomi, Jay Scott and country singer Steph Morin will be performing on the Loto Québec stage.
New additions to this 9th edition of the festival include line-dancing classes with Cowboy Barbu and comedy shows in the relaxation zone. The Insulaires are no strangers to comedy shows, holding them in their microbrewery-restaurant, and we’ve heard they’re very popular in the area…
Practical info
Tickets for the Festival de Bières de Laval are available in presale now on the festival website, here!
Ticket prices are:
- 1 day: $18
- 3 days: $29
- and 17 and under are free!
We’ll be able to buy our tickets at the door, but they’ll cost a few dollars more…
Don’t forget to enjoy your beer, preferably in the shade (except before the line dancing, when we’ll chug to work up the courage), and drink lots of water!
Enjoy the festival!