When lying becomes an art form...

Writing

Marc Larouche, he shares with us his tourist discoveries of his adopted region with passion!

It is said that in Trois-Pistoles, a fisherman once pulled a sturgeon out of the river that was so big he had to call three neighbors and the priest and use a tractor to get it out of the water.

Rumor has it that the beast still swims under the pier, waiting for the next edition of Rendez-vous des Grandes Gueules to listen to a good story before diving back in.

In short, if you’re looking for the true, the false, the larger-than-life invented, and the truer-than-true real-life stories, head to Trois-Pistoles from October 4 to 12, 2025.

For 29 years, the Festival de contes et récits de la francophonie has been bringing autumn to life in the Bas-Saint-Laurent region. And this year, get ready. Fifty storytellers are arriving with their bags full of stories, laughter, and thrills. Nine days of pure narrative bliss, where words become campfires, cabaret, poetry, and great national storytelling.

The heart of the festival beats at La Forge à Bérubé, that legendary place where words strike harder than a hammer on an anvil. Between Francophone gatherings, wild cabarets, intimate solos, and closing ceremonies on the run, you walk in for one evening and walk out feeling like you’ve traveled all the roads in the world.

And as if that weren’t enough, the Rendez-vous joyfully spreads itself from one end of the Bas-Saint-Laurent to the other. From Métis to Saint-Jean-Port-Joli, via Rimouski and Témiscouata, stories roll faster than the autumn wind.

A festival for everyone

Élise Argouarch à Trois-PistolesRobert Majewski

The festival isn’t just for adults. Thanks to the school program, hundreds of young people also immerse themselves in the world of storytelling.

Because there’s no age limit for getting caught up in a good story or learning that sometimes, telling a good lie is an art form.

Not to mention the must-see events: the Grande Veillée du conte (Great Storytelling Vigil), the legendary Concours national de la plus grande menterie (National Contest for the Greatest Lie, where imaginations run wild for seven minutes flat), and the surprises of the MoFF, the famous mysterious “off” event where anything can happen.

Add to that a café where volunteers serve you as much warmth as they do meals, and a storytelling hut to end the evening huddled together around words.