Hi Opp,
Hopefully, someone will come along w/ a better answer than this one since i haven't even been there once. Every year it's near the top of my wish list. Over the last few years alot of amazing musicians have played there; Fred Frith, Jean Derome, Rene Lussier, Jerry Granelli, Dave Douglas, Thurston Moore, Bill Frisell, Godspeed You Black Emperor, Tony Oxley, Paul Plimley, Mark Dresser, Volapuk, Gerry Hemmingway and Ken Vandermark to name a few. I always kick myself for not finding a way to pull it off. Last year at Nearfest, i ran into some ridiculously well informed music addicts who go every year. From what i hear Victoriaville is a very small town w/ a pretty relaxed atmosphere, and you'll probably be bumping into some of the most brilliant immprovising musicians on the planet while eating breakfast or lunch. In the evenings things pick up and some performances may overlap so you might not be able to catch every group or soloist. I can't think of many festivals that come close to presenting as much challenging new music. Larry Ochs would probably say it's mindblowingly mindblowing.
