The International Balloon Festival of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu announces a first headliner for its 2024 edition: Canadian singer Avril Lavigne, who set the pace for the 2000s with her pop-rock hits Complicated, Sk8er Boi and Girlfriend .

Avril Lavigne will be performing on Saturday, August 17, and tickets are on sale Monday, December 11 at 9 a.m.

“We are committed to offering dynamic and varied programming, and the arrival of Avril Lavigne is the perfect illustration of this. His stage energy and immense musical talent will ensure an exceptional and memorable evening for our festival-goers,” declared Julie Brault, general director of the festival, in a press release.

This announcement comes in a difficult financial context for the famous festival. In November, La Presse revealed that the City of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu had to incur the event’s deficit almost every year, faced with the “explosion of production and labor costs.” At the end of November, the City granted it an emergency grant of $2 million to pay its overdue accounts with local suppliers, reported Le Canada français, according to which an independent firm specializing in the preparation of business models in the events sector will be involved.

For the Avril Lavigne show, it is possible to obtain a 20% discount for the first 48 hours by subscribing to the newsletter.