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Patrick Watson Reveals Details of His FEQ

Carte Blanche Performance

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Québec City, June 25, 2026 – Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) today unveiled the first details of Patrick Watson’s Carte Blanche performance, which will take place on July 14 on the Bell Stage at the Plains of Abraham. For this special event, the Montreal artist will welcome guests including Klô Pelgag, Martha Wainwright, La Force, and Hohnen Ford in a show designed as an immersive, emotional, and unapologetically free experience.

This Carte Blanche will mark a new chapter in the long-standing love story between Patrick Watson and FEQ. Following several memorable appearances at the Festival, including his first Carte Blanche in 2015, the artist will return to the Plains of Abraham with an ambitious concept inspired by a desire to bring audiences directly into the heart of the performance.

Quebec City: A Home for Bold Artistic Proposals

For Patrick Watson, Quebec City is unlike any other stage. Over the years, FEQ audiences have embraced his music with an openness that has played a key role in his career. An English-speaking artist with a deep affinity for francophone culture, he shares a unique connection with Quebec, rooted in a common appreciation for musical worlds that are both complex and expansive.

“ Patrick Watson is one of those artists who has built a remarkably strong relationship with Quebec City. He has always found an audience here that is open, curious, and eager to embrace more adventurous artistic proposals. What is so remarkable about Patrick is his ability to create grand moments without losing the fragility and intimacy of his music. This Carte Blanche perfectly reflects that spirit: a large-scale immersive stage production that is expansive, vibrant, and deeply human. You can feel that there is a genuine love story between Patrick and Quebec City, and that is what makes this event so special. ” said Louis Bellavance, Vice President, Content and Artistic Direction at BLEUFEU.

Inspired by the collective spirit of major music gatherings, this Carte Blanche aims to build a bridge between the intimacy of Patrick Watson’s songs and the vastness of the Plains of Abraham. Screens, lighting, stage design, and audience participation will all play an integral role in the experience. The goal is to make every festivalgoer feel as though they are stepping into the same room, regardless of where they are standing in the crowd.

Guests Who Reflect His Artistic Vision

With Klô Pelgag, Patrick Watson reunites with an artist who embodies many of the qualities he most admires about Quebec’s music scene: boldness, creativity, humor, and the ability to create singular artistic worlds. La Force will bring a sensitive and instinctive presence, in an approach where connection matters more than perfection. Martha Wainwright, a defining figure of Montreal’s music scene, will also join the evening. She shares with Patrick Watson the unique experience of being an English-speaking artist who has been deeply embraced by Quebec audiences.British singer-songwriter Hohnen Ford, who collaborated with Watson on his latest album, will complete the lineup with a presence that is both delicate and unpredictable.

Watch Patrick Watson in conversation with Louis Bellavance here.

FEQ Carte Blanche Performances Through the Years

Since 2012, FEQ has entrusted the Bell Stage on the Plains of Abraham to a Quebec artist, granting them complete creative freedom to design the performance of their choice. This artistic carte blanche has given rise to a series of unique and memorable productions.

Previous Carte Blanche performances have featured Vincent Vallières (2012), Les Trois Accords (2013), Louis-Jean Cormier (2014), Patrick Watson (2015), Coeur de Pirate and Fred Pellerin (2016), Les Cowboys Fringants and Lisa LeBlanc (2017), Patrice Michaud (2018), Éric Lapointe (2019), Charlotte Cardin, Loud and Half Moon Run (2022), Les Cowboys Fringants and Les Trois Accords (2023), Alexandra Stréliski and Karkwa (2024), Salebarbes (2025), and soon Souldia and Patrick Watson (2026).

About the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) 

Festival d’été de Québec, whose 58th edition will take place from July 9 to 19, 2026, is Canada’s largest outdoor music event, drawing more than one million visits over 11 days. With more than 150 shows on six stages in the heart of Québec City—including the iconic Plains of Abraham site—FEQ spotlights internationally renowned artists while also showcasing local, emerging, and Francophone talent, and generates more than $82M in economic benefits for the region every year. A true cultural and economic driver, FEQ contributes to Québec City’s international profile and strengthens its status as a must-visit destination. For more information, visit feq.ca. Festival d’Été de Québec is a BLEUFEU event. 

BLEUFEU thanks its many partners, without whose support Festival d’été de Québec could not take place.

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Festival d’été de Québec, presented by Bell in collaboration with Coors Light, 

will take place from July 9 to 19, 2026.

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Source: 

VÉRONIQUE BOUILLÉ | Publicist, BLEUFEU

+1 418 523 8830 poste 254 | vbouille@bleufeu.com

For more information :

PHILIP VANDEN BRANDE | Executive Publicist, annexe

+1 438 402 7391 | phil@annexe.media