The final concert in the Nicola Valley Community Arts Council’s 2013-14 series takes place next Friday.

Blowing into town is French-Canadian folk quartet Le Vent Du Nord (their name translates to “the north wind”). The band formed in 2002 and has earned two Juno awards and one from France for its traditional music.

The band’s four multi-instrumentalists will bring their unrivalled stage presence with them, which is a testament to the richness of Celtic-influenced Quebecois music and tradition in their blood.

The hurdy-gurdy is one of the instruments that lends the band’s music its distinct French folk flavour. The player cranks a wheel on the hurdy-gurdy, which rubs against the strings and produces a sound almost like a violin, but with a constant pitch that accompanies the melody almost like bagpipes do.

Though they perform their fair share of traditional songs, Le Vent Du Nord’s original tunes are a blend of contemporary and traditional, merging the genre’s roots with more contemporary topics including hockey (La soiree du hockey is a song in three parts, intended to reflect the three periods of a hockey game) and fracking (Le diable et le fermier, which translates to “the devil and the farmer”).

The show will be set up cabaret-style with tables of eight. The curtain rises on the final concert of the season at 7:30 p.m. at the Civic Centre on March 14 Tickets are available at Black’s Pharmacy, Baillie House and Mandolin’s.