What do the quebecois celebrate on june 24

In the fifth century, Christianity spread through France, and the focus of the celebrations turned to honouring John the Baptist on June 24 — his feast day. Traditionally, bonfires would be lit on the eve of June 24 in order to honour the saint. A: The festivities made their way to North America thanks to French colonists. The first celebration in Lower Canada can be traced back to , when a cannon was fired by the banks of the St. Lawrence River. During the Quiet Revolution, the event took a political turn, with many riots and protests taking place.

June 24 is a paid statutory holiday in the province, covered under the Act Respecting Labour Standards. The parade is set to take place Wednesday on St-Denis Street at 1 p.

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Contact Feedback. Canadian statutory holidays. Midsummer festivals, such as those linked with the June solstice, were held in Europe for thousands of years. When people converted to Christianity, elements of these festivals were combined with feast days for Christian saints. In France, the celebrations around the feast day of Saint John the Baptist were widely enjoyed and French colonists introduced these traditions to North America.

The patriotic tone of the Saint Jean Baptiste Day celebrations began in In that year Ludger Duvernay, an influential journalist, visited the St Patrick's Day celebrations in Montreal, and was inspired to create a similar event for French Canadians.

This organization was supported by the Catholic Church, which saw it as a way to promote social and moral progress. After a period in the s, when the structure of society in Quebec changed greatly, this holiday became very political.

However, in Saint Jean Baptiste Day was recognized as the 'national' holiday of Quebec and the mood of the celebrations gradually moved towards that of the secular celebrations in modern times. The fleurs-de-lis represents the flower of an iris or a lily. The fleurs-de-lis is also associated with the Virgin Mary and her purity. It was a symbol of French speaking people and their kings after King Clovis I converted to Christianity in the year It was taken from the papal seal or coat-of-arms when the king converted, to symbolize the strength and significance of the French nation in its union with the Papal state.