Submitted by Association des francophones des Kootenays Ouest
Since the start of the pandemic, the West Kootenays Francophone Association (AFKO) has taken up many challenges in order to bring together the francophone and francophile communities in the region around sociocultural, community and educational activities. Like many organizations, AFKO has had to reinvent its programming to adapt to the pandemic.
Since 2019, the month of March has been underlined by AFKO Fait Son Show, which brings together francophone and francophile artists from the region. The event historically took place at The Royal bar in Nelson. For the 2021 edition, the francophone organization launched the challenge “Are you game?” to showcase talents from the region. The result is a musical, poetic and humorous show in the format of a 45-minute video that will immerse you in the creative world of our regional artists. This video will be available on request from March 26th to April 3rd.
You will find talented and daring artists showing us their multiple talents. Nelson’s tasty French-speaking drag queen Johnny Poutina will bring Nelson’s burlesque scene and outdoor community together in a hilarious video. She is game to ride a bicycle with oversized tires.
Onezie Parade are game for a rooftop sing-along on the Queen City Escape Rooms overlooking Elephant Mountain. The talented bilingual folk duo consists of Albertan Julie Johnson-Murray and New Brunswicker Josh Murray.
Cuckoo Tales, run by Roxanne Roy and Gabriel Gagnon, present in exclusivity their new video for AFKO Fait Son Show, 2021. These two artists form an original musical duo with electronic compositions, a love for jazz and popular songs.
Véronique Trudel and Djef will compose electronic music. Véronique Trudel starred at AFKO Fait Son Show, 2020 after releasing her album last winter. D’Jef already wowed the West Kootenays community on a 2019 AFKO music tour.
Vincent Deslauriers will perform slam poetry perched on a mountain at Whitewater Ski Resort. It is filmed by Stéphane Malette and Alex Balcer, two renowned videographers from the region.
Finally, Marc-Alain Savard is set to make a new video of “There’s always something to do at home,” a humorous video concept created during the pandemic.
The 2021 edition of AFKO Fait Son Show, is promising for the association, which intends to offer more video content to showcase local creativity.
Amélie Sauquet, socio-cultural co-ordinator believes that “it is important to document the variety of regional talents who are showcasing the dynamic francophonie in B.C.” The event’s partners are the Nelson and District Art Council, Patrimoine Canadien, the Francophone Cultural Arts Council of British Columbia and Louis Fortier Design.
To buy your tickets and access the video from March 26 to April 3, visit www.afko.ca or buy directly from: https://lepointdevente.com/billets/afkofaitsonshow