A colonial army camp and organized family activities on the Plains of Abraham at the event Battlefields, September 10 and 11

Quebec City, Quebec, September 6, 2022 – An army camp from colonial times will be set up on the Plains of Abraham on September 10 and 11 for the event Battlefields. The event will be held in and around Martello Tower 1 on the theme of Drinking, eating and sleeping at the time of the Conquest. Admission will be free. The whole family will have a chance to discover the daily life of the mid-18th century through encounters with over one hundred and thirty re-enactors and history buffs who will offer interactive activities and demonstrate rifle and cannon firing. 

During the site’s opening hours, the army camp will be open to the public and have over sixty tents in which re-enactors will represent different regiments. Visitors will travel back in time and see how soldiers and their families lived, with everything recreated in authentic detail. The entire weekend will feature a continuous lineup of historical presentations on such subjects as cabinetmaking, distilling, ironworking, Abenaki life in 1759—with anthropologist, speaker, and storyteller Nicole O'Bomsawin, and women in the army during the 18th century. Special activities will also be offered on each of the two days. On Saturday, Aly Ndiaye, alias Webster, will talk with visitors about the presence of Black people in 18th-century Quebec City and in both armies. Visitors can also try out period dances under the guidance of Pierre Chartrand, who is not only a dancer but also a professor, historian, and ethnologist of dance. On Sunday, the head cook Lysanne O’Bomsawin will offer a sampling of Indigenous cuisine while explaining the diet of the Abenaki nation at the time of the siege of Quebec. 

Battlefields will replace and improve upon the Historical Day that was previously held each autumn on the Plains of Abraham. It’s fully in line with the mission of the National Battlefields Commission to preserve and develop Quebec City’s great historic battlefields.