Beaujolais Day party tonight at Sofitel rooftop

French Singer Frederick (left) is pictured with AF’s director Xavier Garnier

 A Beaujolais Day party will be held on the rooftop of Sofitel hotel at Ponte 16 from 7:30 p.m. tonight, where guests will have the chance to taste the first wine of the season from the French region of Beaujolais, north of Lyon.

Held annually on the third Thursday of November, the wine is fermented for just a few weeks before being released – unusual for France, where “Beaujolais nouveau” has a reputation for being of low quality.

The day has nevertheless been transformed into a cultural event through its annual commemoration since the Second World War.

Brought to Macau by the Alliance Française of Macao (AF) – as in previous years – the Beaujolais Day party invites guests “to sample the wine, enjoy good food and listen to live music,” in the words of the AF director Xavier Garnier.

The live music tonight will be provided by Dalian-based band FD5 (or Chinese name Fu Lei De Yue Dui), composed of five members from France, Russia and Turkey.

Having achieved some popularity in China after adapting a cross-cultural approach to their composition, the band covers Cantonese songs, and writes in Mandarin and French. FD5 shot up the rankings of Baidu foreign bands after the video for their hit single, “A force de t’aimer”, was watched more than 12 million times within China alone.

Although the set list had not been finalized yesterday when the Times interviewed FD5, band members indicated that they will perform in multiple languages, including Mandarin, Cantonese, French, Spanish and Italian. Some joked that they might sing in their native language of Russian if they have consumed enough wine.

Speaking to the Times yesterday the five band members were in agreement that, despite the fact that none of them are Chinese, performing in Mandarin made their music far more accessible to the local market and had helped drive their success.

“If I made just what I want, nobody would [consume] it… it wouldn’t sell,” said front man Frederick. “Some bands will tell you that they are only making the music they want but it follows [the same pop structure] that sells.”

“We are just being honest,” he added.

AF director Garnier affirmed that the celebration is not only a chance for the local French community to get together, but also an opportunity to propagate French culture in the MSAR, as per the principal mission of his organization.

Around 300 people are expected to attend, according to Garnier who adds that it is “one of the most popular events in our calendar.”

Tickets can be purchased at the door for MOP300. DB