Nunavut celebrates French language and culture in Nunavut March 8-24

Sagapool, an award-winning, six-member Quebec folk band, performs 8:30 p.m. March 16 at the Association des francophones du Nunavut, with tickets $20 for members, $25 for non-members. (HANDOUT IMAGE)

March 8 marks the beginning of the 15th edition of “Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie,” a 17-day celebration of French language and culture across Canada.

This year’s theme – Joie de vivre, or Joy of Living – celebrates Canada’s francophone communities.

“The Department of Culture and Heritage strongly supports the development and vitality of Nunavut’s francophone community,” said James Arreak, Nunavut’s minister of languages, in a March 8 news release. “Culture and Heritage is proud to contribute towards the programming of Les Rendez-vous de la Francophonie 2013.”

Under the Francophone Cultural and Artistic Productions Program, Arreak’s department awarded $49,958 to the Association des francophones du Nunavut to host, from March 8 to March 24, a series of community artistic events and workshops celebrating French language and culture in Nunavut.

About 9.5 million people speak French in Canada, as a first or second language.

In Nunavut, about 1,205 people speak French, with the majority living in Iqaluit, where they represent about 12 per cent of the city’s population.

As part of the Rendez-vous de la Francophonie, Sagapool, an award-winning, six-member Quebec folk band, will perform 8:30 p.m. March 16 at the Association des francophones du Nunavut, with tickets $20 for members, $25 for non-members.