Happy Victoria Day!
Monday, May 21 is a public holiday in Canada and the last day of a 3-day weekend! It’s Victoria Day, and we call the entire weekend the ‘Victoria Day Long Weekend.’
May 24 is Queen Victoria’s birthday. I can hear you asking, ‘who?’ She was the Queen of the British Empire from 1837–1901. She is the longest-serving British monarch in history, and the longest-serving female monarch in the world. When she became queen, the land that is now the country of Canada was part of the British Empire. During her reign, the British Empire greatly expanded, and became the dominant world power. Also during her reign, Canada officially became a country, although we were still part of the British Empire.
The Victoria Day Long Weekend is also considered the unofficial start of summer! It’s the weekend when people open up their cottages and start planting their gardens. Winter is long gone, so there is no longer a threat of snow or frost!
Some people celebrate Victoria Day by attending a parade or setting off fireworks. Some people spend the day relaxing, or having picnics or barbecues with friends. What goes better with a barbecue on a beautiful summer day than beer?! For beer companies, this is one of their biggest selling weekends! It helps that in Canada, one way to buy beer is in a case of 24 bottles, which in Canadian slang is called ‘a two-four.’ Amongst young people this weekend is also known as ‘the May two-four weekend.’
Strangely, we’re the only country that celebrates Queen Victoria’s birthday with a public holiday. It’s rumoured that she never actually visited Canada! Furthermore, it’s a moveable holiday, so Victoria Day doesn’t always fall on her actual May 24 birthday. To ensure that Victoria Day would always fall on a Monday, thereby making it a long weekend, it is always on the last Monday before May 25th.
Some people think that celebrating a dead British queen is antiquated, but I think it’s an important part of our history. Canada is still part of the British Commonwealth, and the current queen, Elizabeth II, is still our head of state. Queen Elizabeth II is on one side of all our coins she’s on our $20 bill! For a lot of people in Canada, Victoria Day is just as important to our country as Canada Day [July 1] is!
*If this post seems familiar, it was previously a podcast put out in 2010.
