Franco-American Holiday House Party with Josée Vachon

The Franco-American Collection at the University of Southern Maine invites you to join us at the University of Southern Maine’s Lewiston campus at 51 Westminster St., Room 170, on Wednesday, December 3, 2025 at 1:00 p.m. for a holiday house party singalong with Josée Vachon. The event is free and open to the public, thanks to our generous sponsors: Hilton Garden Inn Auburn Riverwatch, Schooner Estates, TV5MONDE, and the Quebec Delegation in Boston. (In the event of inclement weather, the event will be rescheduled for December 10 at 1:00 pm.)

At this unique, participatory event, Josée will perform a mixture of holiday, humor and old favorites, while leading the crowd in call and response and singalong portions. Lyric sheets will be provided, and refreshments will be served.

Josée Vachon debuted her singing career in 1980 with support from the Franco-American Center while a student editor at Le FAROG Forum newspaper at the University of Maine, quickly winning over audiences across New England.  Born in Lac-Mégantic, Québec and raised in central Maine from an early age, Josée shares traditional and popular French-Canadian folk songs as well as originals she composed to share her devotion to her language and heritage.  She has 12 solo recordings, plus two more with the female trio, Chanterelle, which she co-founded in 1993 with fiddler, Donna Hébert, and singer-guitarist, Liza Constable.

For 11 years (1987–1998) she hosted over 500 episodes of “Bonjour!”, the most widely seen French-language television program produced in the U.S., which was taped weekly in Manchester, NH, and aired on Maine Public Television as well as various cable stations across the U.S. East Coast, Louisiana, and Canada, and reaching over 3 million households.  She has performed at Constitution Hall in D.C., in Canada as a musical ambassadrice for Franco-Americans, as well as in Martinique (Congrès Mondial de CIEF), Germany (l’Institut français), and France (festivals & schools). She has also appeared on France television Le grand echiquier (with Yves Duteil & Gilles Vigneault), Espace francophone, Les demons du midi, and Coup d’oeil on Radio-Canada, as well as TV Ontario documentaries.

The event will be recorded, and those unable to join us in-person can do so via Zoom. Interested in joining on Zoom? Email Anna for more information!

For more information or to register for this event, contact the FAC archivist, Anna Faherty at anna.faherty@maine.edu or by phone (207) 753-6545. If you have questions about disability access or need to request disability accommodations (e.g. sign language interpreters, materials in electronic format, etc.), please contact Anna. Requests should be made as soon as possible to allow sufficient time for the accommodation process.