The 29th edition of the Francouvertes kicks off March 10, 2025, both at the Lion d’Or in Montréal and online. We now know the 21 Francophone and Indigenous acts that will attempt to charm the public, and the members of the industry jury — each segment with 50% of the vote — in order to move on to the semi-finals, and then the grand finale. The artists hope to win prestigious prizes, including the $15,000 SiriusXM grant, one of three Andréanne-Sasseville grants of $5,000 each, or one of two SODEC prizes, one of $10,000 and one of $5,000. And, of course, SOCAN will once again take part, offering the $1,000 Paroles & Musique grant to semi-finalists and presenting the “J’aime mes ex” performance series.
During the preliminaries, hosted by P&M collaborator Élise Jetté, aficionados of new music discovery will be able to appreciate and judge the performances of:
- Oli Féra, Dogo Suicide, De Mal En Pire (March 10);
- Alex LeBlanc, Mélodie-Jade, Muhoza et sa troupe (March 11);
- Naïma Frank, Delphine, Kat Pereira (March 17);
- Minou, Maude Sonier, Martin Guy (March 18);
- Bayta, Bryan André, Erika Hagen (March 24);
- Idir Gamouri, Neimo, Kamilou (March 25); and
- Florence Breton, Leone Volta, Charlotte Brousseau (March 26).
The spokespeople for Francouvertes 2025. L to R: Alex Burger (photo by Camille Gladu-Drouin), Kanen (photo by Eli-John Joseph).
The semi-finals will take place on April 14, 15 and 16, also at the Lion d’Or. Kanen and Alex Burger are the spokespeople for the 2025 Francouvertes, and will be performing at the grand finale on May 12 at Montréal’s Club Soda.
SOCAN will continue its partnership with Francouvertes by presenting the “J’aime mes ex” series of performances, opening the preliminary and semi-final evenings, in which 10 former participants will be invited to perform a few of their songs, and commit to offering a new one, or a previously unreleased version of one from their repertoire. Starting with CRABE (March 10), Benoit Paradis (March 11), Lydia Képinski (March 17), Stéphanie Boulay (March 18), Gawbé (March 24), Calamine (March 25), Allô Fantôme (March 26), Xela Edna (April 14), Tamara Weber (April 15) and Rau_Ze (April 16).
For the second consecutive year, all competing artists and bands will receive a token sum of $500 to help cover some of the expenses of participating in the contest, courtesy of Sirius XM. Also, in order to offer maximum exposure to participants, and greater reach to the general public, it will now be possible to watch every evening of the event live, free of charge, on the Francouvertes YouTube channel. Those wishing to vote will be able to purchase a ballot on the lepointdevente.com website to take part in selecting the winners.
This year, the Francouvertes are inviting the public to donate. For nearly 30 years, the event has provided an exceptional showcase for emerging artists creating original content. To continue their mission and promote local talent, the Francouvertes need the support of anyone keen on discovering new music and artists. You can donate here.
To access the full program and all the details of the 29th edition, please visit francouvertes.com.