Moose Jaw’s francophone community is going to be loud and proud when they hit the streets on March 19 for their annual Tintamarre.
The event allows French and French immersion students to colourfully celebrate francophone culture and bilingualism in the city. The event is hosted by the Association communautaire fransaskoise de Moose Jaw (ACF Moose Jaw).
“It was amazing. We had over 500 people last year,” said Chantal Amstad, director of the ACF Moose Jaw. “It is great because it shows the participants that they are not alone in their reality as French speakers.”
The event is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. at the Crescent Park amphitheatre. Participants will gather there and then march down Main Street and turn down Fairford Street for the conclusion of the event in front of police station.
“That’s where we’re going to have the ceremonial raising of the Fransaskoise flag. There will also be two people who will be there to talk to the students,” Amstad said. “This year everything is going to be happening outside so we are really hoping for great weather.”
The Tintamarre will primarily draw students from the city’s French immersion schools and students from École Ducharme School but is open to anyone in the community who wants to come down, wear bright colours or costumes and make some noise.
While it is a chance to show the city that there is a vibrant francophone community present, Amstad said it is also really valuable for the students to feel a part of that larger community.
“Thinking of kids that go to French immersion schools or even kids who go to French schools who do not have parents who speak French, they can see that they’re not the only ones who put daily effort in to learn ‘la langue de Molière’ as we would say,” Amstad said.
“For them, it’s really awesome to see that there are a lot of people in the same situation as them. They’re in the same shoes. It is also something really different and out of the box that they will probably never get the chance to experience, to be part of such a big parade, to be on Main Street and see people waving at them. It’s a different kind of event that helps them be proud of who they are and being part of that French community.”
A Tintamarre is an Acadian tradition of marching through one's community making noise with improvised instruments and other noisemakers. The term Tintamarre originates from the Acadian French word meaning "clangour" or "din".
