The 2024 edition of Festival des Rameurs will take place from July 7-14. This will be their 55th edition!
Tickets are now on sale at Dépanneur D.R. and Épicerie Frenette. For people from outside, you can send a private message to the Festival's Facebook page to find out how to get tickets.
Please note that this year, the shows will take place under the Grand Chapiteau, behind Le Tournesol school.
The full schedule will be announced soon.
About the Festival des Rameurs:
In 1967, on the occasion of the Centenary of the Confederation, the parish had a plan to organise the crossing of the «Baie des Chaleurs» by rowing boat. This event was such a success as came the desire to see it renewing yearly. In the reception given in favour of rowers, Mgr. Arthur Gallien, priest at that time, had assured us that we would have our Festival and that it would be called «Festival des Rameurs». The next year, in 1968, our Festival is born under the presidency of mister Edmond Boudreau with the help of Mgr. Gallien.
Every year, good or bad weather, the competition brings thousands of persons in the site of arrival called «Place des Rameurs» to welcome these audacious rowers.
Here are some points which marked the crossing. During one of the first crossings, a time of 3 hours and 27 minutes had been recorded what, in this epoch was a remarkable time. But with years and new technologies, record is now of 2 hours and 36 minutes and 07 seconds. This record was established in 1996 and is kept by The «Intermarché». It’s only since 1994 that the women participate in the race and the record is held by Roy’s Trucking with a time of 3 hours, 0 minute and 24 seconds.
Our festival is an annual sport and cultural event held for a five days surrounding the second Saturday of July, when we have our main activity of crossing the «Baie des Chaleurs», a distance about 35 kms (22 miles), from Bonaventure, Quebec to Petit-Rocher, N.-B.
In the course of the years, it was necessary to put back crossing sometimes because of the bad weather, but no major incident arrived during these tests.
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