2016年CRI 21st Francophonie Festival to Launch in China

The 21st Francophonie Festival is focusing on sharing values and cultural diversity exchanges, of French language but also of multilingualism.

Robert Lacomne, Cultural Counselor 1 at the Embassy of France introduces the activities.

"The main activities of the Francophonie Festival will be around the cinema, because we will be introducing a lot of movies from all around the Franco world, from Africa, and of course, from Canada Quebec and from Europe, from France, from Poland, from Wallonia. But also, we will have a lot of music, a lot of groups on tour in various musical styles such as hip-pop, electronic music, and chanson. "

There will be more than 30 concerts in 14 cities around China including Beijing, Shanghai and Chengdu, with performance by four singers and francophone bands.

Plus, there will be the 16th edition of the francophone Song Competition. Young Chinese people are invited to display their singing talents by performing French songs.

Also, the language would be celebrated 2 in a modern and fun way. Francophone karaoke will be launched in more than 35 hundred KTVs all around China.

Robert Lacomne says there are more ways for people to be involved.

"And we will have dictation game which will be organized all around China, first on WeChat, and then live at Swiss Embassy, which will allow the best Chinese French speakers to win a trip to France and Switzerland."

The WeChat game is inspired by the Pivot 3 Dictation, centered on Francophone expressions and French spelling.

Guy St-Jacques, Ambassador of Canada to China says, La Francophonie is a unique link between 80countries whose diverse cultures cross over, blend together and enrich one another in regard to their respective identities.

"The French culture represents many parts of the world. Of course, France is very well-known for it. But apart from the France, the French culture is driving in North America, especially in Canada Quebec and New Brunswick, but also in many African countries and many European countries, French used to be the language of diplomacy 4. It still plays an important role in international relations. It's a language with a lot of history. It's a very precise language."

He explains, the French is spoken by almost 300 million people. It is a tool for competitiveness and innovation as well as a vector for communication and culture.

"I think people when they will learn and get addressed in French, will discover a very vibrant 5 culture that has been developing very rapidly, and has produced beautiful books, beautiful movies and great art. So I hope many Chinese people will get more interest in the French culture. "

This year's Francophonie Festival will last over 20 days from March 10th to 30th. Tens of thousands of people will gather in the hundreds of events in all domains 6, including music, art, cinema, sport, literature, gastronomy 7 and performing arts in more than 200 cities throughout China.

For CRI, I am Chi Huiguang.