Everything about Victoria Day totally explained
Victoria Day (
French:
Fête de la Reine) is a
Canadian statutory holiday celebrated on the last Monday before or on
May 24 in honour of both Queen
Victoria's birthday and the current reigning
Canadian sovereign's
birthday.
While Victoria Day is often thought of as a purely Canadian event, it's also celebrated in some parts of Scotland, particularly in
Edinburgh and
Dundee, as well as in the
Cayman Islands, where it's also a public holiday.
History
The birthday of the monarch was a day for celebration in Canada long before
confederation. On
May 24,
1854, 5,000 residents of the
Canada West gathered in front of
Government House (near present day
King and Simcoe Streets, in
Toronto) to "give cheers to their queen."
Since 1901, the date of
May 24 was known throughout the
British Empire as
Empire Day. An amendment to the Statutes of Canada in 1952 moved the holiday to the Monday before
May 25. However, over the decades the official date of the reigning sovereign's birthday changed through various royal proclamations. For
Edward VII, it continued on May 24, but was June 3 for
George V, June 23 for
Edward VIII (their actual birthdays), and various days between
May 20 and
June 14 through
George VI's reign as King of Canada. From 1953, Empire Day was made the date of Queen Elizabeth II's official birthday in Canada by annual
vice-regal proclamation, the link being made permanent in 1957. In 1958 Empire Day was renamed
Commonwealth Day.
In 1977 Commonwealth Day was moved to the second Monday in March, but Canadians continued to celebrate Victoria Day in May.
The reigning Canadian monarch has been in Canada for his or her official birthday twice: the first time being on
May 20,
1939, when King
George VI was on a coast-to-coast tour of Canada and his official birthday was celebrated with a
Trooping the Colour ceremony on Parliament Hill. The second time was when Queen
Elizabeth II was in Canada from
May 17 to
May 25,
2005, to mark the centennials of the entries of
Saskatchewan and
Alberta into
Confederation; no events were organized to acknowledge this fact.
In the neighbouring United States,
Memorial Day is observed on the last Monday of May, so it never coincides with Victoria Day. When May 24 is a Monday, Memorial Day is May 31. When May 24 is a Sunday, Memorial Day is the next day, but Victoria Day is placed on May 18.
Celebrations
Several Canadian cities hold a
parade in honour of the holiday, with the most famous being in the monarch's namesake city of
Victoria, British Columbia. This holiday is also often celebrated with
fireworks shows.
Victoria Day is regarded as the beginning of the unofficial
summer season in Canada, and is thus the weekend when many businesses, parks, etc., that operate during warm weather months, will open. This long weekend also often signifies the beginning of spring to
gardeners in much of the country, as it falls around the time when they can be fairly certain
frost won't return until the next autumn or winter. For much the same reason, because colder parts of the country winterise their recreational cabins and turn off water pumps, this weekend can also mark the beginning of the cottage season with cottagers making their first visits to check and clean their properties.
In some parts of Canada, the holiday is colloquially known as
May Two-Four. This phrase has two meanings: the holiday always falls near the date of May 24, and a
two-four is
Canadian slang for a case of 24 bottles of
beer, a common packaging of
the drink in Canada (and a common purchase of those planning to celebrate the weekend).
The rock band
Rush referred to Victoria Day celebrations in their song "Lakeside Park" when they sang of gathering at Lakeside Park (
Port Dalhousie) and watching a fireworks display.
Provincially
In many parts of Canada, the Victoria Day long weekend is known as the
May Long Weekend. In Ontario, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, and some other parts of Canada, this holiday weekend is also known as
May Long,
May Run (mainly in
Timmins, Ontario, and some other regional communities of Northeastern Ontario), or
May Two-Four, as per above.
Though, as a federal holiday, it's still an official holiday in
Quebec, the
Quebec National Assembly has dedicated the same day as a provincial holiday:
National Patriotes Day (
Journée nationale des patriotes), which commemorates the English-Canadian and French-Canadian
Patriotes of the
Lower Canada Rebellion of 1837. Before 2003 the holiday in Québec was referred to by some as the
Fête de Dollard, after
Adam Dollard des Ormeaux.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Victoria Day'.
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