Having brought US crowds to their feet earlier this summer at the Montana Folk Festival and Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival, Quebec’s Le Vent to Nord headed to the UK and are just finishing up a series of sold out festivals and concerts. On Saturday, Aug. 31, the group returns to the US to perform at the historic Opera House in Boothbay Harbor.

The award winning and highly acclaimed band Le Vent du Nord are a leading force in Québec’s exciting and progressive Francophone folk movement. In June of 2024 they headlined the Grand Spectacle de la Fete Nationale in Montreal. The group’s vast repertoire draws from both traditional sources and original compositions, while their highly rhythmic and soulful music, rooted in the Celtic diaspora, is enhanced with a broad range of global influences.

Since first launching in August 2002, Le Vent du Nord have enjoyed meteoric success, performing over 2,200 concerts over 4 continents, releasing 12 albums and accumulating several prestigious awards, including a Songlines Music Awards – Americas (2023) a Grand Prix du Disque Charles Cros, two Junos (Canada’s Grammys), three Félix (Quebec), an OPUS (Quebec), a Canadian Folk Music Award, and “Artist of the Year” at Folk Alliance Annual Gala.

The group collaborate and perform with a diverse range of artists including: Gaelic singer Julie Fowlis, Harry Manx, Väsen, Dervish, The Chieftains, Breton musical pioneer Yann-Fañch Kemener, Québécois roots legend and master storyteller Michel Faubert, the Scottish folk band Breabach, and the trans-Mediterranean ensemble Constantinople. Le Vent du Nord look beyond the standard approaches to tradition in their collaborations and they’ve also created a symphonic concert that, according to Voir Montreal, “puts all traditional folk naysayers to shame.”

On stage these five friends [Nicolas Boulerice, André Brunet, Réjean Brunet, Olivier Demers, and André Gagné create intense, joyful and dynamic live performances that expand the bounds of tradition in striking global directions. This is the modern sound of tradition, a music of the here and now.

Advance discounted tickets are $30 and available directly from the box office at 86 Townsend Ave. or by calling 207-633-5159. The box office is open Wednesday-Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Online tickets are $35 and available at boothbayoperahouse.com. Doors for seating open at 7 p.m. and the music begins at 7:30.