All-night DeFrost Festival an attempt to make Moncton a mini-Montreal
Organizers of the DeFrost Festival in Dieppe hope the all-night, all-ages affair puts greater Moncton on the map as a mini-Montreal.
The festival features 30 DJs playing electronic music from 2 p.m. on Saturday until 7 a.m. Sunday. Franco Mosqueais, an organizer, sees the festival as more than just a party.
"We want to create a vibrant city," he said. "We want to bring a vibrant culture to millennials and young people."
Mosqueais said he wants to stop young people from leaving New Brunswick in search of something he thinks they can find here.
Showing off the Moncton area
"Moncton could be the mini-Montreal, that's what I say to people. We have the infrastructure, it's cheap to live here, we have the French and then the English."
For Megan Hannington, another organizer, electronic music is the perfect way to show people how vibrant greater Moncton can be.
"We have little bits and parts of different communities in the city that do their own thing and part of what we're trying to do is bring those little groups of people together."
The DeFrost festival will take place at the Dieppe Cultural Centre and is open to all ages.
A festival families can enjoy
"People can bring their kids," Hannington told Information Morning Moncton. "It's family friendly, that's what we wanted to encourage."
But, she added, kids under 16 years old might enjoy the festival more during the day.
Aside from the music, there will be artists painting at the centre, and according to Hannington, much more.
"A live glass blower that is going to be there, as well as fire performances and prop-spinners like hula hoopers, jugglers, things like that."
Not a boring city
For Mosqueais, the festival is part of an effort to make creative people choose the Maritimes.
"We do things because we want our creative class back, and we want new creative classes to come to the Maritimes."
Mosqueais has been promoting electronic music for about 15 years, and he does it because it represents something important to him.
"Electronic music brings a future and it brings togetherness because it was made by minorities and by people that were into something.
"With electronic music there's always a future and it's a bright future, so you're always coming to see what's next."
"It was always welcoming to people that weren't welcome in other places."
According to Mosqueais, festival goers can expect three stages, one outside, each one playing music with a different sound.
"I consider myself an evangelist — I promote the gospel that is electronic music," he said with a laugh.
He's doing it for the love of music and "to get our city out there, to prove it's not boring in the winter."
Tickets are on sale on the East Coast Groove Facebook page and at the door.
