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Discovering the Fêtes, by Sylvain H. Boileau

A photograph, edited to look like a comic strip, of Sylvain H. Boileau leaning on a low wall to look at a brochure. On the lower left corner are the words: “Discovering the Fêtes”.

Image: Photographer unknown (graphic design by Audrey Fauteux-Robillard), 1977.
City of Saint-Eustache. Archives. Fonds Boileau.

Audio excerpt: Interview with Sylvain H. Boileau, photographer for local newspapers in the Saint-Eustache region, by Sandrine Contant-Joannin, ethnologist, 2023.
Excerpt length: 1 minute, 2 seconds. Patrimoine culturel Vieux-Saint-Eustache collection.

Sylvain H. Boileau was a photographer for local newspapers in the Saint-Eustache region in the 1970s and 1980s.He covered a number of the Fêtes du Vieux Saint-Eustache. In this excerpt from an interview, he describes the first things that struck him at the celebrations. The excerpt is transcribed below :

Sylvain H. Boileau (SHB): After that, what impressed me was… how many people had come. It was, it was really… It wasn’t just Saint-Eustache. It was really – back then it was the County of Deux-Montagnes and there were a lot of people from outside the area.

We were pretty popular in, the party, in La Presse, the Journal de Montréal, you know, there were a lot of activities, I mean a lot of activities: exhibitors, craftspeople, a lot of shows, foot races, bike races, corn roasts … The Knights of Columbus made gargouille…

Sandrine Contant-Joannin (SCJ): Gargotte…

SHB: Gargotte!

SCJ: Yeah.

SHB: Thanks! Uh…. Disgusting… (laughs) They made gargotte, not far from here. Every venue where you could get a crowd of people together was used – you don’t see that in Saint-Eustache anymore, or even at other festivals…