Stevie Wonder, Carly Rae Jepsen & More Set for FESTIVAL D'ETE DE QUEBEC, 7/4-14

The 46th edition of Festival d'été de Québec, Canada's largest outdoor music event, will take place in the historic and breathtaking Québec City from July 4 to 14, 2013. Presenting more than 1,000 artists and offering more than 300 performances spread over twelve outdoor and indoor venues, the eleven-day Festival is one of North America's most important summer celebrations. The Festival features some of the most notable names in the international music scene, provides a chance to discover rising stars and new talents, and showcases a wide range of genres including rock, pop, hip-hop, French song, electro, jazz, classical music and world music.

The 2013 artist roster will include The Black Keys, Tiësto, Bruno Mars, Wu-Tang Clan, Def Leppard, Weezer, Rush, Wiz Khalifa, MGMT, Foreigner, Bad Religion, Bassnectar, Belle & Sebastien, Emmylou Harris & Rodney Crowell, Passion Pit, The Joy Formidable, Ellie Goulding, Solange, Ra Ra Riot, The Sheepdogs, Down With Webster, Mariana's Trench and Monster Truck, as well as hundreds of artists from around the world. The Festival's last days will feature performances by international sensation Carly Rae Jepsen (Call Me Maybe) on July 12 at Francophonie Park, and music legend Stevie Wonder on July 14 at Plains of Abraham- the Festival's main outdoor stage set in a historic battlefield park overseeing the majestic St. Lawrence River.

A citywide event, Festival d'été de Québec also features various street performers, acrobats, jugglers, stilt walkers, and family activities. In 2012, the Festival attracted 345,300 unique attendees, with a total of more than 1 million festival goers, and an average daily audience of 100,000.

OUTDOOR PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS:

The Main Stage, on the Plains of Abraham

The Festival will open on July 4 with Quebecois icons Paul Piché, Daniel Lavoie, Richard Séguin, Michel Rivard and Laurence Jalbert, performing their most-loved hit songs in French and accompanied by 400 choristers. On July 5, hip-hop and rap artists including the legendary American group Wu-Tang Clan, rapper Wiz Khalifa and Classified (known for the hit single Inner Ninja), Anodajay, Dramatik, Koriass, Manu Militari and Samian will perform. The Black Keys will return to the Festival on July 6, with Eagles of Death Metal and Father John Misty taking the stage earlier that night. On July 7, the Francophone bandLes Trois Accords will perform, preceded by M and Caféïne.

Pop superstar Bruno Mars will take the main stage on July 8, preceded by Ellie Goulding's world-popular electro pop and Toronto's own Diamond Rings. The Festival's hard hitting line-up continues on July 9 with performances by Passion Pit, MGMT, and Weezer. On June 10, Rush will perform their new, highly-acclaimed production, Clockwork Angel Tour, and on July 13, Foreigner and the legendary Def Leppardwill rock the stage.

ElectroFEQ

Building on the success of 2012, the 2013 edition of ElectroFEQ is bigger and better than ever with shows at four different venues on four consecutive nights. Running July 8 through July 11, ElectroFEQ will feature Le Matos, Keys N Krates, Austra, Mexican Institute of Sound, 3Ball MTY, A Tribe Called Red, Zeds Dead and Bassnectar. The grand finale on July 11 will present Tiësto, Madeon, Martin Solveig, andWolfgang Gartner on the Plains of Abraham.

Highlights of Francophonie Park Stage

Famed indie band Belle & Sebastian will make their first ever Québec City appearance on July 4. Here We Go Magic and Born Ruffians will set the tone for an evening of indie pop on the same night, then on July 5, punk rock will take over with a concert by Bad Religion and opening acts from The Hunter and The Balconies.

For metal fans on July 7, the fifteen musicians of the German band Avantasia, known for their symphonic metal sound, will perform a grandiose rock opera and Voivod will be celebrating its 30th year, immediately following Never More Than Less. Folk legend Emmylou Harris and her guitarist Rodney Crowell, will return to the Festival on July 9, and Bears of Legend will open the evening. On July 13, a Canadian pop rock concert will feature the band Marianas Trench? who recently won the Juno Award for Group of the Year? preceded by Down with Webster and Québec City's own Final State.

D'Youville Square (all free concerts)

D'Youville Square will offer a lively program of world beat, blues, soul, reggae, pop and electro music that will have the Festival hopping every evening this year. World music fans will dance to the music ofAmadou et Mariam, Kassav', Fatoumata Diawara, Locos por Juana and Balkan Beat Box. Afrobeat is out in full force with Femi Kuti & The Positive Force on July 6, and The Souljazz Orchestra on July 14.

Danakil, Meta and The Cornerstones with help from French reggae masters Alpha Blondy & The Solar System will fill D'Youville Square while soul fans will enjoy legend Booker T. Jones and a line-up includingThe Dynamites featuring Charles Walker. Gospel soul is also on tap with The Relatives and Naomi Shelton & The Gospel, and blues lovers won't want to miss James Hunter, The Slide Brothers, and Dr. John, the Night Tripper.

D'Youville will also spotlight francophone music as many of Québec's most popular artists including Loco Locass, Noir Silence, Canailles, Daran, and French singer Zaz are slated to play. The venue will also hostSocalled, Nomadic Massive, Nick Waterhouse, Charly Yapo, Sagapool, Coyote Bill, Kodiak, Gotta Logo Project, William Sévigny, Jeanphilip and local artists Juliel, Maude, Équinox and The Seasons.

INDOOR PROGRAMMING HIGHLIGHTS:

The Festival d'été de Québec's indoor shows offer a diversity of styles and performers, the chance to discover new talent, and the opportunity to hear established artists all in a more intimate setting.

Impérial de Québec will host jazz chanteuses Lily Frost, Coral Egan and Madeleine Peyroux; Québec francophone singers David Marin and Louis-Jean; Philippe Katerine with his project "Katerine, Francis et ses peintres", opening with La Jarry and Mauves. The first weekend will be wall-to-wall indie rock, starting with the Welsh trio The Joy Formidable, The Besnard Lakes, Ponctuation, and followed the next day with Denmark's The Raveonettes and Québec bands Modern Primitive and Young Galaxy. For Rock and Roll fans, American indie music icon Jon Spencer will perform with his Jon Spencer Blues Explosion trio with opening acts by Gros Mené and Machinegun Suzie. The Sheepdogs are back on July 14, with Monster Truck and the Québec band Les Indiens opening the evening.

California band Family of the Year (best known for their catchy single Hero) will conclude a folk pop evening that opens with The Belle Game and Bahamas on July 11. The rising star Solange, from the famous Knowles family, brings her soulful R&B to the Festival on July 12, with the band Ra Ra Riotopening the show.

At Petit Impérial the blues tradition continues with veteran saxophone player Eddie Shaw & The Wolfgang, bands the Mississippi Heat and The Ria Reece Band, Sue Foley and her guitarist Peter Karp, and the young Andy Poxon. The Nocturnes du Petit Impérial series? where artists will play for two consecutive nights? will showcase Heymoonshaker (whose sound is produced entirely by Dave Crow, one of the world's top beatbox artists) on July 12 - 13, blues and old school bands The Record Company(July 4 - 5), André Papanicolaou (July 6 - 7), and rockabilly master and one-man orchestra Bloodshot Bill, July 10 -11.

Le Cercle's daily Apéro discovery shows will present a blues performance with multi-instrumentalistNicolas Repac, Brazilian cellist Dom La Nena (world music), Sylvia and Cindy Bédard (country music),Forêt (indie pop) and Rod le Stod (hip-hop). Le Cercle is also the place to wrap up the evening while dancing to the electro beat of the Doldrums, Ain't Not Love and Balkan Beat Party. Festival favoritesBuddy McNeil & the Magic Mirrors are back with emerging indie rock composer Mac DeMarco, andKoriass.

Espace Hypérion's weekend jazz series (July 4 - 6 and July 11 - 13) of six shows is presented in collaboration with the Festival de jazz de Québec and will include Thomas Enhco and his trio, percussionistSamuel Torres, the Patricia Deslauriers Trio, and Raoûl Duguay with his musicians. Colin Hunter will sing greats by Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Nat King Cole and Tony Bennett, and Yannick Rieu Quartet will present a tribute to John Coltrane's A Love Supreme.

TICKETS AND INFO

The Festival Pass comes in two parts, one blinking pin plus one wristband containing an RFID chip, allowing buyers to attend all shows throughout the festival. Children up to 11 years old accompanied by an adult don't need a pass. Regular price is $76.00 CAN (taxes and service fee included, plus shipping) with a limit of 4 passes per transaction. Passes are available for purchase online at www.infofestival.com, and by phone at 1-855-800-3347 (toll-free). Day passes will be available for purchase online and by phone, once the Festival passes are sold-out. They will also be sold at the box office during the Festival, upon availability.

Photo by Walter McBride/Retna Ltd.