Québec@Edfests Returns to Edinburgh Festivals

Following last year's virtual showcase, the Québec@Edfests programme returns to Edinburgh once again, showcasing the talented artists and companies from Québec who will be appearing at the city's Festivals this summer.

Developed by the Québec Government Office in London (QGOL), the Québec@Edfests programme will feature artists appearing at a range of venues in the festival programmes, including Edinburgh International Festival, Edinburgh Art Festival, Edinburgh Book Festival, and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe.

The Fringe programme will feature leading artists across circus, theatre, and comedy, with returning companies joined by some first-time visitors to the city.

Following Fringe visits in 2015 and 2018, festival-favourites Cirque Alfonse return with Animal (at Underbelly Circus Hub from 6 - 27 Aug), a re-invented agricultural world where circus, song, dance and theatre all come together, and the farm is turned upside down!

Montreal-based Les Foutoukours, marking their 25th anniversary in 2022, premiere their international hit show Brotipo (Assembly George Square Gardens from 5 - 29 Aug). Having already taken the show to 16 countries, winning eight public choice awards in the process, the team are ready to delight Edinburgh audiences with their heartfelt brand of creative clowning.

And Muse (Assembly Hall from 5 - 28 Aug), from eye-popping acrobatic specialists Flip Fabrique, offers an energetic spin on established gender roles. Get ready to see powerful women, graceful men and every permutation in between. The company previously had two shows, Blizzard and Six°, featured as part of the 2021 showcase.

Montreal-based Matchmaker Theatre Company explore the inner life of a legendary writer with The Masks of Oscar Wilde (Greenside @ Riddles Court, 5 - 27 Aug). Starring Edinburgh-based actors Catherine Bisset and Conor O'Dwyer, the show follows a professor and student as they trace Wilde's story, from playwright to Victorian moralist to man of letters, the duo are left wondering if some masks are better left in the shadows. A test of wits, of "truth", and an examination of the fabulous and scandal-ridden life of Oscar Wilde and the man behind the masks.

Leading Québecois comedians also feature in the showcase. Fab La Roche-Francoeur blends fab stand-up with heartfelt music in Funny Stand-Up for Sad People, Sad Songs for Funny People (at Surgeons Hall, 5 - 13 Aug). Cycling-mad comedian and part-time bike mechanic Dion Owen returns with his hit free show Cyclopath (City Café, 4 - 28 Aug), while time-tested funnyman Evan Desmarais (Laughing Horse @ Bar 50, 4 - 28 Aug) will be weaving seamlessly between jokes, crowd work and improvised rants.

Throughout the month Evan Desmarais will also host We're Sorry (Best of Canada), a nightly rotating showcase of the top Canadian comics in town for the Fringe. Now in its sixth year, the event will run at Laughing Horse @ The Three Sisters from 4 - 28 August.

Other artists and companies performing at the festivals include:

Internationally renowned solo pianist Bruce Liu who, among other international accolades, won the 2021 Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. With a recital of music to astound and captivate, Liu makes his Edinburgh International Festival debut on 22 August at The Queens Hall.

Two world-leading conductors: Yannick Nézet-Séguin who will conduct the Philadelphia Orchestra as they perform Beethoven's Ninth Symphony on 25 August, and Bernard Labadie, who will be conducting an ensemble orchestra of The English Concert as they perform Handel's opera Saul on 24 August. Both performances will take place at the Usher Hall as part of the Edinburgh International Festival.

Co-commissioned by Edinburgh Art Festival and Edinburgh Printmakers, Montreal-based First Nations artist Nadia Myre will present Tell Me of Your Boats and Your Waters - Where Do They Come From, Where Do They Go, exploring indigenous storytelling and migratory routes through print, performance and sound. The work will be sited along the canal and in Gallery 2 at Edinburgh Printmakers, as part of Edinburgh Art Festival.

At the Edinburgh International Book Festival, Quebec-based novelist Kim Thúy will join writer Vesna Goldsworthy for to discuss her novel Em, a sensitive portrait of children swept up in the Vietnam War, as part of the event Stories of Exile.

Ingried Boussaroque, Director for Culture (UK, Ireland, Nordic Countries) said: "We're thrilled to be supporting the work of these leading Québecois artists as part of the landmark 75th year of the Edinburgh Festival Fringe, as well as the International Festival, Book Festival and Art Festival. It is hugely exciting to be showcasing the unique voices and talents of Québec as part of the world's biggest celebration of the arts, and we can't wait to enjoy their work alongside audiences in Edinburgh this August."