The Carnaval kisses the Plaines goodbye

Twenty years after centralizing its activities on the Plains of Abraham, the Carnaval de Québec is now leaving and will instead be held at several parks in the upper part of town.

The Carnaval 2.0 transformations continue this winter, as the organization is expected to announce the end of the Plains of Abraham reign. The Carnaval wants to attract different age groups, mainly the 18-25 crowd.

The activities will remain concentrated in the Upper Town but will be dispersed in several places, including some smaller parks where predetermined concepts will satisfy several generations of carnival attendees.

This decision seems to please the Carnival’s partners, even if they had activities on the Plains. “I see that in a positive way,” said Simon Mainguy, general manager of Calèche Québec. “There won’t be any activity on the Plains, but we will try to make that into an opportunity. We are already present in Old Québec. There are still some things left to consider, but we remain optimistic.”

Changes soon to be announced

The Carnaval did not want to confirm the information on Friday afternoon, but still assured that changes would soon be announced for the 2017 edition which will begin at the end of January.

Back in 1996, the Carnival decided to focus all its activities on two major sites: the esplanade of the Hôtel du Parlement and the Plains of Abraham. A year later, in order to make the festivities more family-oriented, the duchies, duchesses and Queen were no more. Instead, they were replaced by knuks, “little beings from the North”.

Ironically, the reason for these changes was the same one we face today: the desire to see citizens of Québec and tourists participate in the festival again after many years of popular decline.

Re-brand

Yet the opposite has happened. So much so that for its 60th anniversary, the Carnaval brought the Duchesses back to the forefront. Then, in 2015, Mayor Régis Labeaume criticized the disastrous management of the former administration after years of budget deficits, promising to “restart” the “machine” that is this winter festival. A new Carnaval organization is trying to improve the event’s image.