Festival Joie de Vivre to honor French Canadian heritage in Chassell Aug. 29-31

CHASSELL -- The Festival Joie de Vivre, celebrating French Canadian heritage, is underway in Chassell. If you missed tonight's events, sponsored by Keweenaw National Historical Park, be sure to catch the exhibits, documentaries and great music this weekend, Friday through Sunday, Aug. 29-31, in Chassell.

Beginning Friday, Aug. 29, exhibits showcasing the French-Canadian cultural presence in the Keweenaw will be on display in the Chassell Heritage Center. French Canadians were the first European-descent ethnic group to settle in the Chassell area. The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday.

Five documentaries on various aspects French-Canadian and Franco-American culture will be shown at the Chassell Heritage Center during the festival.

Réveil: Waking Up French, by Ben Levine, is an 81-minute documentary that will be shown at 3 p.m. Friday, Aug. 29, and at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 30. Réveil explores the struggle for cultural survival in the very heart of American monoculture and reveals the importance of history and heritage understanding. It demonstrates how languages can be re-acquired for personal and community renewal.

Franco-Americans: We Remember, an hour-long film by Barbara Coles and Kevin Tierney (New Hampshire Public Television), will be shown at noon on Friday and at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday. Hosted by Tom Bergeron, this documentary explores the culture of the French Canadians who settled in New England.

Medicine Fiddle, by filmmaker Michael Luokinen of Northern Michigan University, will be shown at 1:30 p.m. Friday and at noon on Saturday. This award-winning, 81-minute film explores the fiddle traditions of Native and Métis families in the northern U.S. and Canada, featuring fiddle players from Michigan's Upper Peninsula, Wisconsin, North Dakota, Ontario and Manitoba. It examines the influence of European music and dance on Native Americans beginning in the 17th and 18th centuries.

J'ai Été au Bal: I Went to the Dance, by Les Blank, Chris Strachwitz and Maureen Gosling will be shown at 10:30 a.m. on Friday and at 3 p.m. on Saturday. This 84-minute documentary on the Cajun and Zydeco music of Louisiana was inspired by Ann Savoy's book, Cajun Music: A Reflection of a People.

On Friday afternoon, August 29, take a Guided Tour on a Trolley Bus and visit the places in Chassell and the surrounding countryside where the French Canadians settled. One hour tours will run from the Chassell Heritage Center, from 1 p.m. to 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and may be purchased at the point of departure.

Friday night De Temps Antan, musicians from Québec, will be honored at a reception at 8 p.m. at the VFW, followed by an hour of music by this lively group, current or former members of the popular Québecois group La Bottine Souriante -- André Brunet on fiddle, Éric Beaudry on guitar and Pierre-Luc Dupuis on harmonica.

Workshops on French Canadian music, genealogy and dance will be held on Saturday. The music group De Temps Antan will teach selections from the repertoire of Québecois music on their respective instruments. Music will be taught by ear, so participants are encouraged to bring battery-operated recorders. In the Fiddle workshop, learn selections from the repertoire of Québecois fiddle tunes. Techniques include bowing ornamentation to bring flexibility and fluidity in tunes. The Guitar workshop includes techniques on accompanying French-Canadian dance music; Guitar and Fiddle workshops include instruction in foot percussion.

On Saturday afternoon, Chassell's Centennial Park will be the scene of "Adventure Day" with French Canadian sports, food and games -- from lumberjack demonstrations to rowing, sled dog training and "Traditions Alive" children's games.

Saturday night De Temps Antan will play Québecois music at the Festival Joie de Vivre Soirée, beginning at 7 p.m. at the Centennial Park Pavilion. The cost is $15 for adults and $10 for students. This event of music, dancing and food will be the Festival's primary fundraising activity for the Chassell Heritage Center's Handicapped Access Project.

On Sunday Morning the public is welcome to gather at the Grotto at 8:45 am in downtown Chassell and join a procession to 9 a.m. Mass at St. Anne’s Catholic Church, originally a French parish. Music will include traditional hymns and chant in Latin and French and well-known favorites in English.

For more details visit the Einerlei Web site and the online brochure.