French-speaking students from across Prince Albert were out a City Hall on Wednesday making plenty of noise for the annual Acadian tradition of Tintamarre.
Students rallied in Memorial Square before marching to Plaza 88 for a concert from French DJ Shawn Jobin.
Carlton Comprehensive Public High School French Immersion student Casey Miller was among the participants. She said it’s a fun event to be a part of, and an important one for promoting the French language.
“I see all these French kids and it just feels good being in this environment with everyone speaking French,” Miller explained. “I come from somewhere very French—Quebec—and it’s just a part of me. (Seeing) everyone else talking in French and doing French things, it just makes me happy.”
Miller said events like Tintamarre give students more opportunities to use their French, and help grow the language’s popularity among younger learners.
French-speaking students from outside Prince Albert were also on hand for Tintamarre festivities. Cody Gareau, a student from École St-Isidore in Bellevue located south of Prince Albert in the RM of St. Louis, said the event a great way to honour his ancestors.
“It makes me feel proud that … our culture is still living,” he said. “My great-great grandparents came from France, so it’s really cool to see something like this come along.
“It’s important to recognize that we are still here and our language is still being spoken, it’s not just overtaken by English,” he added.
Gareau said speaking French has provided a variety of benefits. In December, he travelled to Cuba and was pleasantly surprised to find plenty of people who spoke French as well as Spanish.
“It’s a cool language,” he said. “It’s nice to know two.”
Moose Jaw was the first Saskatchewan community to host a Tintamarre Celebreation, but the event has since spread to other French-speaking areas of the province. Wednesday’s Prince Albert event was organized by the Societe canadienne-francaise de Prince Albert (SCFPA).
“It’s (enjoyable) to see those all those kids show up from different schools (and) seeing they’re not alone,” said Soraya Ellert, the directrice générale for the SCFPA. “It’s just seeing the chemistry that happens between the youth. That’s great.”
@kerr_jas • jason.kerr@paherald.sk.ca
