L'AgorASaint-Fortunat, Quebec · 2010–2014 · techno-bohemian campground

Before L'AgorA

Le Donjon, grandeur nature!

"From the intimate donjon of the 5505… to the donjon, life-size!" The private club of artists and musicians that preceded L'AgorA, from Montreal to Saint-Fortunat, 2009–2011.

A private club of 400 members

The ledonjon.ca website, put online in November 2010 "after several months of inactivity and the establishment's move to the country", presented the Donjon this way: a private club, counting to date more than 400 members, "where one must ask the administrators for a new membership". To become a member, all you had to do was show up at an event, pay the admission and ask to join. "There are several types of members, probationary, regular and privileged. It goes without saying that your participation will define your status within this organization where art is alive."

A private space in nature… where everything is placed at the disposal of the subject, so that they may make of themselves the subject of the work in becoming.

Home page of ledonjon.ca, December 2010

On the Donjon's Facebook group, the description said the same thing differently: "A space of free and avant-garde creativity… Organized and improvised parties, happenings and workshops."

In February 2011, the site is rebuilt: "welcome to our new site". The Donjon is "now in the middle of nature, located on a 100-acre land in St-Fortunat", "2 h 15 from Montreal, 1 h 15 from Quebec City", and "offers outdoor and indoor camping spaces in the summer season as well as in winter. Furnished spaces for your events are available by reservation." The Contacts page introduces the two administrators. Christian "has been producing events for more than 10 years", "expert computer technician and Apple product repairman, expert in stage technique", who "offers solutions adapted to your specific needs: he is an expert in finding new marginal solutions". Amandine "has been promoting artists for more than 10 years; she creates events where visual and musical arts combine and harmonize for the pure pleasure of the senses; she is also a decorator, all for the pleasure of perfecting your environment". Hers, the camping and site reservations; his, the technical side, "management of your event from A to Z".

The website, from 2010 to 2019

The ledonjon.ca website had several lives, which the Wayback Machine kept in pieces. On March 7, 2010, before the move even, a single page, "Le Donjon, espace créatif", promises: "Coming soon on the web!! Stay tuned!" In November 2010, the complete site, preserved on the hard drive. In February 2011, the redesign, with the Contacts page, the Sundari programme, the shuttle. On September 28, 2012, one last update changes everything, down to the name:

L'agora, de St-Fortunat (formerly le Donjon grandeur nature!) — "Techno-bohemian campground". Multidisciplinary artistic collective, multi-purpose space. Four-season camping: outdoor camping spaces (fields, woods) and indoor ones (community hall called the "bunker", barn, yurt, treehouse).

Home page of ledonjon.ca, September 2012

In February 2013, a "Water Snake" page; from June 4, 2013 on, the address leads straight to the Tatanka festival's page, the only one whose pictures survived. From 2016 to 2019, the domain shows nothing but the host's default page. In 2026, ledonjon.ca is free. The recovered pages are in the archives.

The Lune Noire

"Every month… always around the new moons… a gathering of artists, visual at first, creativity workshops, painting, crafts, thrift… then musical, jam sessions. Open to all, artists and creators!" The concept of the Lune Noire nights began in 2002 in a loft in Old Montreal, "where every month artist and musician friends met to jam and dance". You came with your instruments, "your voices, your legs, your hips and your good mood", and something to eat for the potluck. "For a quality jam, let's listen to one another."

The member artists

The site's "The artists" page thanked those who had come to play at the 5505 and "for the friends of the donjon": Xnorophis, from Edinburgh, "big thanks for your support throughout the donjon's evolution"; DJ Zen, from Inverness, founder of Altar Records, who came to launch his CD Earth on March 12, 2010; D♪ane LOngstOcking, "who knows very well where to take us at the right moment"; Psyberth, "a pearl with a contagious smile"; Cosmic Orgasm, who came "with all their gear to practise in front of the friends of the donjon"; LutinDesBois, from Paris, "we assure you, this guy is an angel"; DJ Pranapapa, from Quebec City, "for the psychill-techno-world". And the decorators: Arte Mis, hlystän Lùnä and her geodesic domes, Waking-Dream.

The New Year's Eve Party 2011 lined up "our favourite DJs": Alakazoo, Bendala, Geetee, Jawstyle, NeuroVyrus, PranaPapa, SabiNonStop, View-zik, Xnorophis live, Zen, Zven.

The loft at the 5505, Montreal, 2009–2010

The Donjon of the 5505, in Montreal: red drapes, sofas, string lights. "The intimate donjon."
The Donjon of the 5505, in Montreal: red drapes, sofas, string lights. "The intimate donjon."
The loft's stage, between the hammocks and the lamps.
The loft's stage, between the hammocks and the lamps.
A red lodge, a candle, a bed: the Donjon of the beginnings.
A red lodge, a candle, a bed: the Donjon of the beginnings.
At the decks, one of the Donjon's "favourite DJs".
At the decks, one of the Donjon's "favourite DJs".
The loft's living room: computer, Buddha, fabrics.
The loft's living room: computer, Buddha, fabrics.
The Buddha and the lanterns, at the back of the big room.
The Buddha and the lanterns, at the back of the big room.
A painter at work, on a Lune Noire night.
A painter at work, on a Lune Noire night.
The loft's studio, with its canvases and lamps.
The loft's studio, with its canvases and lamps.
The Donjon's bed corner, under the purple lamp.
The Donjon's bed corner, under the purple lamp.
The sofas and psychedelic canvases of the 5505.
The sofas and psychedelic canvases of the 5505.
A play mat, fabric vines, hammocks: the main room.
A play mat, fabric vines, hammocks: the main room.
A portrait on the wall, an orange sofa, red light.
A portrait on the wall, an orange sofa, red light.
The Donjon's programme calendar, January–February 2010: parties, painting workshops, Lune Noire, "we're painting the floor".
The Donjon's programme calendar, January–February 2010: parties, painting workshops, Lune Noire, "we're painting the floor".
The Donjon's logo, "Donjon Love", January 2010.
The Donjon's logo, "Donjon Love", January 2010.

The campground as an energy centre

In Saint-Fortunat, the Donjon invents the "energy campground": "The concept is simple… but requires all your attention, and your participation! The idea came from the lodges in the indoor camping hall, formerly meant to house pigs; these lodges form open or closed compartments, excellent during events. Of the eleven lodges, seven were dedicated to the seven energy centres, the seven chakras. The choice and arrangement of each of the chosen elements form a universe conducive to an intimate encounter with each of your chakras. Thus, a healing power emerges."

"The only condition being to take part in the energy created: bring with you materials and scents linked to the chosen chakra. There is always room to expand the energy network too…" The lodges were reserved for $50 or $60 for the whole duration of an event. Next door, the Art Gallery, a "multidisciplinary hall", with sound and lighting systems permanently installed, where "decorators, hosts, musicians and dancers can at any time give themselves over wholeheartedly to the production of their art".

Three founding events

New Year's Eve Party 2011, from December 31 to January 2: "An invitation to come and celebrate the new year on the land in Saint-Fortunat, in the Donjon, at the top of the mountain, where we can host for the whole weekend about 125 people, very comfortably, with sleeping indoors on one side, and on the other a big dance hall, and more people if some like to stay in a tipi or winter camping… There will be a big bonfire, a community kitchen to cook together." $30 at the door, "this money will go specifically to paying the artists, ensuring excellent sound throughout the place, and renting chemical toilets for everyone's comfort". And the final piece of advice: "Don't forget your essentials for a comfortable weekend… especially your slippers!"

Main d'œuvre ! Dans l'bois ! (Labour! Into the woods!), from February 5, 2011, "in the woods, on the water's edge", the winter worksite.

Sundari Festival 2011, June 3, 4 and 5, "a celebration of universal love" with the Dreamtree Project, "the Indian dub fusion project of Juno nominee Adham Shaikh and Uwe Neumann": "Beyond notions of east meets west, Dreamtree conjures a fertile space for all who long to be seduced by the ritual power of music… hold on tight to the magic carpet!" Booths, workshops, activities in nature, and a caravan between Montreal and Saint-Fortunat. "For universal love… which will allow real change."

Saint-Fortunat, 2010–2011

Summer 2010: with the jackhammer in the former pig barn.
Summer 2010: with the jackhammer in the former pig barn.
The concrete of the pig pens, piece by piece.
The concrete of the pig pens, piece by piece.
The hall before the clearing: tons of blocks.
The hall before the clearing: tons of blocks.
The same floor, a few weeks later.
The same floor, a few weeks later.
The first stage in the forest, under its lights, summer 2010.
The first stage in the forest, under its lights, summer 2010.
String lights between the spruces, tents on the ground.
String lights between the spruces, tents on the ground.
The stage seen from the campground, one night in August 2010.
The stage seen from the campground, one night in August 2010.
The lights reflected in the pond.
The lights reflected in the pond.
The New Year's Eve Party 2011 in the bunker, "at the top of the mountain".
The New Year's Eve Party 2011 in the bunker, "at the top of the mountain".
The Dreamtree Project (Adham Shaikh and Uwe Neumann) and their musicians, headliners of the Sundari Festival 2011. Photo from the event's page.
The Dreamtree Project (Adham Shaikh and Uwe Neumann) and their musicians, headliners of the Sundari Festival 2011. Photo from the event's page.
The Dreamtree Project's musicians taking a bow. Photo from the Sundari 2011 event page.
The Dreamtree Project's musicians taking a bow. Photo from the Sundari 2011 event page.
Sitar and electronics: the Dreamtree Project in concert. Photo from the Sundari 2011 event page.
Sitar and electronics: the Dreamtree Project in concert. Photo from the Sundari 2011 event page.
The ledonjon.ca website of December 2010, made with iWeb, is preserved in full (in French) in the archives, including its pages on the artists, the Lune Noire, the energy campground and the members' journal. The 2011–2013 pages, recovered from the Wayback Machine, are right next to it.