Quebec City International Festival of Military Bands

The Quebec City International Festival of Military Bands (FIMMQ) is one of the major cultural events of Quebec City, inspired by Military Tattoos given by Canadian and foreign military bands and display teams. It has taken place annually in August in Quebec City since 1998. The Festival program will be presented on six days in 2011, from August 23 to 28 and offers musical shows in several historical places in the old capital. Since 2001, the president and director-general of the Festival has been Lieutenant-Colonel Yvan Lachance.

Created in 1998, the FIMMQ celebrated its tenth anniversary in 2008, when Quebec was celebrating its 400th anniversary. The Military Bands hosting this event, les Voltigeurs de Québec and the Royal 22e Régiment, welcomed for the occasion the Military Bands of Germany, Australia, Belgium, Chile, South Korea, the United States, France, Norway, the Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom, Russia and Singapore. The festival proposed outdoor prestations for all the family and an indoor one with the popular Red Russian Army Choir and the Quebec City Military Tattoo.

Origin
The festival was created in 1998, by Jacques DuSault, which wanted to offer outdoors music shows to emphasize the Old Quebec City. The Canadian Armed forces were invited to contribute, with the implication of the retired lieutenant-colonel Yvan Lachance, old ordering of the Voltigeurs de Québec, and major Denis Bernier, then directing the Military Band of the Royal 22e Régiment.