The Festival d'été, or Summer Festival (full French name: Festival d'été de Québec, full English name: Quebec City Summer Festival), has been taking place annually since 1968. It is organized by groups of businesspersons and artists of Quebec City

Quebec City

Quebec , also Québec, Quebec City or Québec City is the capital of the Canadian province of Quebec and is located within the Capitale-Nationale region. It is the second most populous city in Quebec after Montreal, which is about to the southwest...

 in order to show the artistic, economic, and tourist potential of the region

Quebec

Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....

. The Festival lasts 11 days and takes place over the first week of July.

Total attendance for the 2007 edition is estimated at over one million festival-goers, making it Canada's largest outdoor performance.

The Festival presents hundreds of musical shows in various indoor and outdoor venues throughout the city. During the 1970s and 1980s, the festival specialized in musicians from the Francophonie and world music. Since 2000, the Festival has included artists from genres across the board, including rock music

Rock music

Rock music is a genre of popular music that developed during and after the 1960s, particularly in the United Kingdom and the United States. It has its roots in 1940s and 1950s rock and roll, itself heavily influenced by rhythm and blues and country music...

, punk

Punk rock

Punk rock is a rock music genre that developed between 1974 and 1976 in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. Rooted in garage rock and other forms of what is now known as protopunk music, punk rock bands eschewed perceived excesses of mainstream 1970s rock...

, hip-hop, classical music

Classical music

Classical music is the art music produced in, or rooted in, the traditions of Western liturgical and secular music, encompassing a broad period from roughly the 11th century to present times...

, francophone music, and world music

World music

World music is a term with widely varying definitions, often encompassing music which is primarily identified as another genre. This is evidenced by world music definitions such as "all of the music in the world" or "somebody else's local music"...

.

The three main outdoor arenas of the Festival are the Plains of Abraham

Plains of Abraham

The Plains of Abraham is a historic area within The Battlefields Park in Quebec City, Quebec, that was originally grazing land, but became famous as the site of the Battle of the Plains of Abraham, which took place on 13 September 1759. Though written into the history books, housing and minor...

, with the most important shows, due to its high capacity, the Parc de la francophonie, and the Place d'Youville. The primary indoor venues are l'Imperial and le Grand Théâtre de Québec

Grand Théâtre de Québec

The Grand Théâtre de Québec is an arts complex in Quebec City, Canada. It was conceived to commemorate the Canadian Centennial of 1967 and the Quebec Conference, 1864, one of the key meetings leading to the Canadian Confederation of 1867....

, presenting classical music. Bars and nightclubs throughout the city complement the selection by offering jazz, world, and electronic music. There are several "arts de la rue", or street performers throughout. Finally, a site called the "Place de la famille" hosts animation and events for children.

The 2008 Festival included the celebration of the 400th anniversary of the founding of the City.