Storytelling at the Distillery

Storytelling at the distillery—because the vapors make for a fun atmosphere in which to hear a tale. The Cap-aux-Péchés Distillery welcomes you right in front of the still.
François Lavallée and Dani Tardif are the storytellers.
Who are they?
François Lavallée
Deeply rooted in his origins, François Lavallée is convinced that our lives on the surface are anchored far more deeply than we realize. Beneath his gentle gaze, steady voice, and reassuring tone lies a darker world—one irrevocably marked by loss: the loss of childhood, of roots, or of memory. He traces the current back to the source, finds emotion in the quest, and uses words to craft images that take the form of stories—at once tender and cruel. He elevates reality into something sublime.
François Lavallée has been an author, storyteller, speaker, and trainer since 1996. His work has taken him along asphalt and gravel roads across Quebec and Canada, and on over a hundred trips to France, Switzerland, and Belgium. He has traveled to the white wilderness of Nunavik and the Tuareg deserts of Niger, visited Indigenous communities near the volcanoes of Ecuador, and journeyed to Réunion Island, Romania, Djibouti, and the suburbs of Paris. He represented Canada and won the gold medal in the “Tales and Storytellers” competition at the 5th Francophone Games (2005) in Niamey, Niger, with his story *Le recycleur de talents* (The Talent Recycler). In the autumn of 2017, he received the Jocelyn Bérubé Prize from the Trois-Pistoles Storytelling Festival, and in 2024, he was awarded the *Prix Rayonnement* (Outreach Award) for his exceptional contribution to the cultural vitality of the Haut-Richelieu region in Montérégie, where he grew up. Dani Tardif, a queer artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, sings and tells stories in various forms. Their brother used to say that they made stories larger than life. It is in this spirit that Dani now seeks to share—through storytelling—the wonders hidden between shadow and light, magic and the political. A being of nuance and hybridity, they explore vulnerability, grief, desire, and the mystery that emerges in the space between the individual and the collective.