A Mighty Festival from a Little Acorn

Drawn in black on a yellow background, the map shows the streets and illustrates the most important heritage buildings in the Old Saint-Eustache neighbourhood. Among these, we see the Catholic church, the Globensky manor, and the Légaré mill.

A 1977 map of the Fêtes du Vieux Saint-Eustache

Back home, you pick up the phone in the kitchen to make sure your sister isn’t hogging the line. Not this time. You grab the paper and dial the number for the Fêtes du Vieux Saint-Eustache organization: 472-1837. The music you hear tells you you’ve been put on hold.

Viens-t’en fêter à ma manière (Come and Celebrate as One of Us): the theme song of the Fêtes. Listen to the audio excerpt in French, the written transcription is available in English.

This is the office of the Fêtes du Vieux Saint-Eustache. How may I help you?

Oh uh, I’d like to know a little more about your program…

A drawing of a figure walking toward the left. His head is a green acorn, and he has a human-shaped body which is blue. His feet are red. In his hand, he holds a green oak leaf, which he waves above his head.

An early sketch of Tête-de-Noix, the official logo of the Fêtes du Vieux Saint-Eustache, 1974

A black and white photograph of Glandinot. He has an acorn-shaped head and a happy look on his face. His hands and body are made of oak leaves, as are his shoes.

Glandinot, mascot of the Fêtes du Vieux Saint-Eustache, 1980

Well, there are hundreds of hours of activities, so I can’t very well list them all for you… City of Saint-Eustache employees, artists and volunteers have spent months organizing our “local Woodstock”. We don’t have a mascot yet – that’s coming soon – but we’ve designed a logo for the Fêtes. He’s called Tête-de-Noix. He’s a little acorn character who introduces people to the history of Saint-Eustache.

A black and white portrait of a man with short hair and thick eyebrows. There is a hint of a smile on his face.

Fernand Houle, 1977

We have all kinds of festival products at the Fêtes general store, including licence plates that are super popular! Our phone number comes from the years of the Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837-1838, a key event in our local and national history. And this year, we have a brand-new theme song! Did you like it? It’s the music you heard when you were on hold. I have to say, I think the singer, Fernand Houle, has an incredible voice !

The person still doesn’t let you get a word in edgewise, but carries right on:

For a whole week, rue Saint-Eustache from the little church to rue Saint-Louis is a hive of activity. We also have a few events outside the neighbourhood, like the messes de rang (rural church services). That allows us to reach people from every neighbourhood and all generations. Come to the site on August 7 and we’ll give you a nice, printed program.

Getting Ready for the Big Event! August 1978, Saint-Eustache