[PHOTOS] Day 2 of FEQ: Thousands of festival-goers flocked, keen to get back in touch with Imagine Dragons

The excitement was palpable on Friday afternoon on the second night of FEQ at the entrance to the Plains, when thousands of festival-goers had already crowded in, waiting to make contact again with Imagine Dragons, who will attempt to put on a full show on the first night three times.

• Also read: [VIDÉO] Festival d’été de Québec: (Re)live the performance of Billy Talent in pictures

• Also read: Pop-Up FEQ: a first success despite the rain

• Also read: Festival d’été de Québec: Christine and the Queens concert canceled

At their first festival visit in 2019, the American formation had to end the concert after a few songs due to a violent storm, the troupe had promised to come back to the FEQ stage soon.

DIDIER DEBUSSCISSORS/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

As promised, Dan Reynolds and his band headlined the festival again the following year, 2020, before the show was canceled due to the pandemic.

Many have therefore made sure to arrive very early on Friday to be in the front row at this show, which is undoubtedly one of the most awaited of this 55th edition.

“It’s the third take, there was no chance we’d miss it,” said Guillaume Vallière, who arrived at 8:30 this morning to make sure he was at the front of the stage.

“I got goosebumps when I saw her name on the lineup. After four years of waiting it’s going to be a crazy show, I think people are really excited,” adds Sophie Castonguay, impatient at the prospect of finally seeing her favorite group.

There was still some fear among festival-goers as violent thunderstorms continued to plague the city late Friday afternoon.

“Right now we’re running away from it, but we’re starting to quietly stress ourselves out. “I’m sure I’ll cry if the show is canceled anyway,” confessed one teenager who had been waiting for a few hours.

DIDIER DEBUSSCISSORS/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

Endless wait

The day before, when the festival started, festival-goers had to be patient: some waited more than an hour before entering the site when the temperature felt like 40 degrees.

DIDIER DEBUSSCISSORS/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

“It was ridiculous, I made an effort to get in line a little earlier, but we kept getting passed and we never got any further,” says Jessie Morin.

“It was really painful to have to wait so long in the blazing sun to finally miss the start of the show. I hope it won’t be like that throughout the festival because it will be very ordinary,” added another festival-goer.

DIDIER DEBUSSCISSORS/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

The Festival d’été de Québec organization, contacted by Le Journal early Friday afternoon, confirmed that they had put themselves into solution mode that same evening to resolve this issue quickly.

DIDIER DEBUSSCISSORS/JOURNAL DE QUEBEC

“It was the first day for everyone. The important thing is that we didn’t wait and corrected the situation quickly. “We are confident that everything will be fine tonight and for the rest of the festival,” says the FEQ.

Unfortunately, if waiting times have been improved, this will not be the case at the water stations, although the organization says they have already done their utmost to facilitate on-site hydration.

“We’ve added around thirty additional water fountains compared to last year, so we really have reached our full capacity at this level,” the organization concluded.