For six days this September, the cultural map of Thérèse-De Blainville will extend far beyond galleries and theatres. Libraries, parks, community buildings, heritage sites and public spaces across all seven municipalities of the MRC will host free activities designed to make residents more than spectators.
The MRC de Thérèse-De Blainville has announced 28 free activities in 16 locations for the 30th edition of the Journées de la culture. Events will take place from September 22 to 27, with the main program concentrated during the three official celebration days of September 25, 26 and 27.
Blainville, Boisbriand, Bois-des-Filion, Lorraine, Rosemère, Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines and Sainte-Thérèse will all participate.
This year’s anniversary theme, Culture Makes Us Feel Good: Our Motto for 30 Years, presents culture not simply as entertainment, but as a way for people to meet, express themselves, experiment and strengthen their connection to the communities in which they live.
The program covers an unusually broad range of disciplines: technological arts, singing, circus, dance, drawing, writing, history, improvisation, fine crafts, music, painting, photography and theatre. Residents will be able to attend performances and exhibitions, but also participate in workshops, collective creations, guided visits, historical and artistic walks, traditional dancing and family activities.
From circus to colour in Boisbriand and Blainville
In Boisbriand, Productions Cirkaz will present Cirk O’pommes at the Centre de création de Boisbriand. The interactive production combines circus performance, juggling and clowning, inviting the audience into a playful world where the boundary between performers and spectators becomes less rigid.
In Blainville, visual artist Sébastien Gaudette will present Habiter la couleur, or Living in Colour. Rather than displaying a series of conventional framed works, the exhibition creates an immersive theatrical environment in which shadows, light and three-dimensional forms interact.
The installations are created directly in the exhibition space, allowing visitors to move freely through an artwork that appears to change as they explore it. Following the visit, children and adults will be invited to experiment with colour, forms and textures during a creative workshop using drawings on crumpled paper.
Technology becomes an artistic tool in Bois-des-Filion
Young participants in Bois-des-Filion will be introduced to the meeting point between art and technology through a Makey Makey workshop offered by Montreal’s Society for Arts and Technology.
Makey Makey technology allows ordinary objects to function like computer controls when connected to a small electronic circuit. In the context of the workshop, electronics and interactivity will become artistic materials, giving young people an accessible way to experiment with digital creation.
The activity reflects the wider scope of the Journées de la culture, where culture can mean a choir or a painting, but also an electronic experiment that produces sound, movement or interaction.
Lorraine finds its collective voice
In Lorraine, residents will be able to discover choral singing through introductory workshops led by Marie-Eve Varin of the Chorale du Vieux Palais and MEV Musique.
The workshops are intended to make group singing approachable, including for participants who may never have sung in a choir. The emphasis is on discovery and participation rather than previous musical training.
It is an appropriate fit for this year’s theme: singing together requires listening, cooperation and the willingness to add one individual voice to a larger collective sound.
Rosemère turns memories into stories
In Rosemère, storyteller and cultural facilitator Maude Roberge Dumas, known as L’Assembleuse, will lead the conference Mes racines: comment raconter mon histoire — My Roots: How to Tell My Story.
Traditional dance comes alive in Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines
In Sainte-Anne-des-Plaines, residents of different generations will be invited to take part in an evening of traditional dancing.
A caller will guide the dances while musicians provide live accompaniment, making the activity accessible even to participants unfamiliar with the steps. The event is intended to recreate the communal spirit of traditional dance gatherings, where music, movement and social interaction are inseparable.
Rather than presenting folklore as something preserved behind glass, the evening will allow participants to experience it as a living and evolving practice.
A major family celebration in Sainte-Thérèse
In Sainte-Thérèse, Parc Charles-Bosson will host a large family celebration bringing together several artistic and participatory activities.
Creativity and cultural diversity will be central to the event, with programming intended for both children and adults. By using a public park rather than a formal cultural venue, organizers hope to reach residents who might not normally attend an exhibition, workshop or performance.
The location also illustrates one of the guiding principles of the anniversary edition: culture can happen in familiar everyday spaces and does not require a ticket, specialized knowledge or a formal setting.
Moving from spectator to participant
Liza Poulin, prefect of the MRC and mayor of Blainville, said culture contributes directly to the vitality of local communities by creating opportunities for residents to meet, understand one another and share what unites them while Christine Beaudette, mayor of Boisbriand and president of the MRC’s Table action culture et patrimoine, said the strength of the Journées de la culture lies in the opportunity to “move from spectator to participant.”
The MRC’s program serves a territory of close to 168,000 residents across 207 square kilometres. Its seven cities differ in size and character, but the regional program is designed to connect them through a shared celebration rather than concentrate activities in a single cultural centre.
