400 Years Later - Yannis Dessureault PHOTOGRAPHE(R)

400 Years Later

In 1608, French explorer Samuel de Champlain founded Québec city. More than a hundred years later, in 1759, Quebec passed into British hands after a historic battle on the Plains of Abraham. Three years later, France ceded all of its North American possessions to England. But still today French is spoken by more than 80% of Québec's population.

In 2008, recognized as the oldest city in North America, Québec is celebrating its 400th anniversary. A festive cultural program is created, multiple artistic installations are set up all over the city and every other event is dubbed «400th anniversary special edition».

The publicity made for the anniversary was so successful, with a majority of events taking place during the summertime, that it drained tourism from all the other regions across the province.

The two most awaited shows were those of British rock star Paul McCartney and Quebec's icon singer Céline Dion (who is now living in the US) on the Plains of Abraham. Because of the site's history, many citizens considered the coming of the Ex-Beatles as a political confrontation; to what the organizers replied that it was a time for celebration, not politics.

So all summer was filled with excitement. A never-before-seen crowd of tourists was wandering through the embellished little streets of the so-called Old City district, finding more stimuli at every corner.
400 years later, the place was again assaulted, this time for entertainment's sake...