George LeBlanc's passion for the instrument led to the festival he organized in Memramcook finding its way to Moncton

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You have to hear the accordion to love it, or so George Leblanc believes. George is one of the main forces behind George Leblanc's Accordion Festival, to be held in Moncton from July 17 to 20.

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Accordian music comes to Moncton this weekend with the George LeBlanc Accordion Festival.

This desire to get the accordion heard by a more broad Maritime audience was one of the main reasons why he first held the festival last summer in Memramcook. By this measure, the first festival could be deemed a huge success.

The festival was so popular in its first year that a move to a larger locale was necessary. This year, the City of Moncton has given George the opportunity to expand the accordion's exposure even further.

"If you want the festival to grow," says George, "You gotta have a place like Moncton."

The support from the City of Moncton and the surrounding community has been amazing, says George. From media outlets to store owners to regular festival-goers, it seems as though the whole community of Moncton has gotten behind the festival.

The festival's inspiration was the roughly 58 accordion festivals that are held annually in the province of Quebec. While he loved the exposure that the accordion received there, George was disappointed with the number of chances that people in the Maritimes have to experience accordion music.

However, George hopes that his festival, by bringing accordion music to Moncton to allow festival-goers to experience the instrument first-hand, he will be able to make the instrument more popular throughout the Maritimes.

"Accordion lovers are going to start coming to the Maritimes," says George. "I hope it's going to be a big thing. It's going to be very big for Moncton and surroundings. It's going to bring people from everywhere downtown."

He hopes that by bringing some of the best accordionists from the region together in one place, he'll allow festival-goers to hear the different styles of accordion-playing on offer in the different regions. He is expecting accordionists from Quebec, Ontario, Newfoundland, and all over the Maritimes.

No one knows the importance of hearing the instrument live for gaining a better appreciation for it than George. When he was young, he heard one of his parents' friends performing with the instrument and fell in love with the accordion. He's now been involved in music for 48 years.

He hopes that his festival will give the same opportunity to young people in the Moncton area that he was afforded when he was younger. That's why he brought in 12-year-old accordionist Nicolas Noreau from Quebec.

"Young people are going to see Noreau play accordion and say "wow, he's 12 years old, and he's that good? I'm going to learn the accordion.'," he says. "So I hope even kids are going to have a good time."

If the success of the initial festival and the scale of this year's festival is any indication, it shouldn't be too long before the accordion is popular in the Maritimes.

"You've got to hear accordion to like it," says George. "You can't appreciate an instrument if you haven't heard it."