The weather is clearly not kind to festival organizers, who lost their Friday show headliner, The Descendents, to thunderstorms in Denver, Colorado. On Saturday, the World Beer Festival team had to resort to their ingenuity again as rain prevented the Jonquière Championship Wrestling (JCW) wrestling gala from being held outdoors.
Still, the organizers pulled off a feat by moving the entire show to the Chicoutimi Port Zone hangar before the start of hostilities at 6 p.m.
When the time came, 95.7 KYK host Frédéric Gagné wore his Philadelphia Flyers jersey as if to tease the Montreal Canadiens fans who hid in the crowd while he introduced the various wrestlers.
As the first fight, a bitter fight followed. According to the “Battle Royale” formula, 10 warriors competed against each other and received a great reward: 1000 tokens to buy beer during the festival. “The last one standing gets double the usual Fred Gagné package. They’re fighting to earn the paintbrush of a lifetime,” the host exclaimed before the bell rang.
A veritable chaos reigned in the ring and in the ears of those present as the most eager spectators spat their poison at the nastiest wrestler. Almost all fought in pairs, the action was intense as five separate duels took place.
One in particular caught our attention. Markus Blade, a really overbearing and hateful character, didn’t have the audience in his heart. After getting the other nine wrestlers out of harm’s way, he addressed the crowd to celebrate his victory. “What a specimen I am! I won before the crowd of Plebs of Marde,” he said.
Frédéric Gagné did not find this last speech particularly funny. As he prepared to award Markus Blade the win, the host decided to turn the tide of the fight himself. “One thing we didn’t tell you, Markus: I’m part of the gala,” he yelled before delivering a powerful punch followed by a grab that sent Blade out of the ring.
Frédéric Gagné therefore kept the “double Fred Gagné package” to himself, apart from a few chips thrown into the crowd.
Ludacris hands over the puck to roommates
When an international star like Ludacris cancels a show, it’s more than difficult to replace him with such an attractive artist. Luckily for the Beer Festival, the damage caused by this absence has been minimized by something even stronger than the world stars: the regional heroes.
Thus, the organizers already had a show worthy of closing this 14th edition: the group’s tribute to the Colocs Passe-moé La Puck.
Thanks to the words of the late singer Dédé Fortin from Saint-Thomas-Didyme, also linked to the city of Normandy, the musicians created a festive atmosphere that more than bowed a knee in the port area, especially thanks to the opening song, the classic Julie.
They followed up with another success, the High Street, which allowed many to cheer the mall’s appearance on Rue St-Cyrille in Normandy.
Because Passe-moé La Puck’s music is that of the Colocs, few people knew the lyrics. Perhaps the latter was the reason for the constant influx of new viewers. Gradually, people joined the shows as if familiarity with the surrounding sounds had allowed them to put the beer aside to get to the origin of the music.