LEWISTON — Celebrated French-Canadian folk artist Benoit Bourque will bring his distinctive joie de vivre to the Franco-American Heritage Center on Friday, July 30. Headlining an old-time soiree, he will be joined by a dozen or more other performers from Quebec as well as Maine’s Franco-American community.

A member of the Quebecois band La Bottine Souriante (a multiple winner of the Juno Award, Canada’s version of the Emmy), Bourque has plied his skills as a singer, instrumentalist and step dancer with many other popular Quebecois ensembles over the past 30-plus years, most recently with Le Vent du Nord and Matapat.

Bourque, lauded for his contagious energy, charisma and versatility, switches effortlessly from accordion to guitar to bones, regaling audiences with songs derived from Quebec’s rich archive of traditional ballads.

He punctuates his performances with spirited bouts of jigging, demonstrating a remarkable light-footedness that belies his imposing 6-foot, 5-inch frame.

Bourque spent several years as a master artist with the Maine Arts Commission’s Traditional Arts Apprenticeship Program, during which he gained many fans and friends among the local folk music and dance community. Several will join him on stage for the soiree, including former dance apprentice Cindy Larock of Lewiston and veteran fiddler Greg Boardman of Auburn.

Both Larock and Boardman recently joined the MAC Traditional Arts Program as master artists and they, in turn, will be joined in the soiree by their former apprentices, dancer Gabriel Jacques, 12, and fiddler Hannah Rodrigue, 18, both of Lewiston.

Several other guests are on deck for the program featuring a multigenerational cast of dancers responding to a boisterous mix of jigs, reels and other dance tunes played by Bourque and his homegrown folk “orchestra.” Besides several singalongs, audience members will have an opportunity to join in some of the dancing.

Tickets to the soiree, from 7 to 9 p.m., are $10, $5 for youth 12 and younger. They may be purchased by calling 689-2000, visiting www.francoamericanheritage.org. or at the Franco center’s box office at 46 Cedar St. weekdays 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The family event is put on by New England Celtic Arts and DownEast Friends of the Folk Arts with Lewiston’s Chapter 52 of the Association Canado-Americaine as a collaborating partner. It is funded in part by a Maine Arts Commission grant.

It is one of several activities led by Bourque as part of a three-day community residency supported by the Maine Arts Commission. Other events include a French-Canadian folk dance workshop for students age 12 and older, from 5:30 to 7 p.m. Thursday, July 29, in Callahan Hall at the Lewiston Public Library; and a French song session from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Friday, July 30, in Room 170 at Lewiston-Auburn College, 51 Westminster St. Admission is free.

For more information, contact Larock at 782-0386 or [email protected].