Quebec’s provincial and cultural holiday weekend begins with St-Jean-Baptise Day on the 24th of June. It’s a way of celebrating the arrival of summer, and the occasion to highlight and celebrate French Canadian culture.
Apparently inspired by Montreal’s St. Patrick’s Day celebration on the 17th of March, an influential journalist at the time, thought French Canadians should have their own patriotic event and decided to organize St-Jean celebrations, according to CBC News.
Now the end of the school year for children in the province, the day was first celebrated in 1834 at a banquet. The revellers sang their interpretations of patriotic songs, including George-Étienne Cartier who sang ‘Ô Canada! mon pays! mes amours!”
“Fête nationale du Québec”
Declared a provincial holiday in 1925, it was not much celebrated at the time. But in the 1960’s, with the rise of Quebec separatism, the holiday took on new meaning and spectacle.
In 1977, then separatist-premier René Lévesque of the Parti Québécois, declared the day the “Fête nationale du Québec”.
The ultimate origin, however, dates back to the pagan custom of celebrating the summer solstice by lighting bonfires on the longest day of the year. Historians say the pagan celebration was co-opted by Catholics in the 4th century, and in France today, many still light a bonfire to celebrate.
Parades and parties, and gatherings of all manner are taking place across Quebec, and many will culminate in a bonfire tonight.
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