Quebec City's 400th birthday party begins Monday night with a major concert and a fireworks display in the city's historic Old Town.

Officials have been planning the 10-month-long party for almost a decade and it will feature some major events such as the world hockey championships and a huge outdoor concert next summer featuring Céline Dion.

It will wrap up with a show by Cirque du Soleil on Oct. 19.

The head of the committee planning the series of events, Pierre Boulanger, said Monday night's concert will feature 400 dancers, singers and musicians.

"It's a concept show that's been developed by Montreal-based artist Denis Bouchard. It's something basically that traces back 400 years of our history here in Quebec City. We've used a lot of Quebec artists and even Quebec City artists," Boulanger said.

Despite the high-profile events linked to the $90 million anniversary celebration, it hasn't exactly triggered a national stir.

A poll conducted this year for the federal government — which has kicked in $40 million for the party — found more than 80 per cent of Canadians didn't even know about the anniversary.

Awareness ranged from 20 per cent in Atlantic Canada to 12 per cent in the Prairies, according to the Harris-Decima poll prepared for the Heritage Department.

Boulanger admits he has work to do to promote the events across Canada.

"What we're celebrating here isn't just Samuel Champlain landing here in 1608. It was also the beginning of Nouvelle France, when Quebec City was the capital of a huge North American empire," Boulanger said recently, noting that explorers starting out from Quebec City discovered 30 of the 50 American states.

But, he added, "we confess we have not been that proactive in terms of publicizing the event in normal publicity manners."