Fête nationale du Québec
The
Fête nationale du Québec ("Quebec national holiday") is the official day of
Quebec, a province of
Canada. The festivities occur on
June 23 and
June 24 and are organized by the
Comité organisateur de la fête nationale ("national holiday organizing committee"). Originally, June 24 was a holiday honouring the
patron saint of
French Canada,
St. John the Baptist. The day still is in fact very often called
la Saint-Jean or
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day by the population of Quebec.
Origins
\nThe origins of the traditional festivities are more than 2000 years old. Among several European peoples, the summer solstice was the object of pagan celebrations. Fires were lit during the night in this period of the year when the days are longest. With the arrival of Christianity, the celebration of the event remained; however, it took a new spiritual significance. The celebration of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste was a very popular event in the France of the Ancien régime, and it is celebrated as a religious feast day in several countries, like Denmark.
The tradition landed in North America with the first French colonists. The first celebrations of this Christian day in New France took place around 1638.
Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day
\nIn Lower Canada the celebration of Saint-Jean-Baptiste day took a patriotic tone in 1834 on the initiative of one of the founders of the newspaper La Minerve, Ludger Duvernay, who would later become the first president of the Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society.
It was in 1834 that George-Étienne Cartier's "Ô Canada! mon pays, mes amours" was first sung during a grand patriotic banquet gathering about sixty Francophones and Anglophones of Montreal in the gardens of lawyer John McDonnell, near the old Windsor station. The Canada of the song is of course French Canada (Lower Canada), today Quebec. Following the defeat of the Patriotes Rebellion and the military repressions which followed, the day was no longer celebrated for several years.
When it reappeared, it took the form of a primarily religious celebration. Fires were still lit at night, but also the first Saint-Jean-Baptiste parades were organized. They became an important tradition over time. The procession of allegorical floats was introduced in 1874. From 1914 to 1923 the processions were not held.
On June 24, 1880, Quebecers (of Quebec City) were the first ones to hear "Ô Canada" at the Congrès national des Canadiens français. It quickly became popular and was selected as the official anthem of French Canada by the St-Jean-Baptiste Society. (An English translation later achieved popularity in the rest of the country, and in 1980 the song became the official national anthem of Canada. At the same time, the British God Save the Queen became the Royal Anthem of Canada. Prior to this date, there was no official anthem specific to the Dominion of Canada.)
In 1908 Pope Pius X designated John the Baptist as the patron saint of the French-Canadian nation.
After the Quiet Revolution, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day became very political. The religious symbolism associated with the celebrations was rejected.
In 1968, an incident occurred during the traditional St-Jean-Baptiste parade. With the new Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau in attendance on the eve of a general election, a riot broke out, and 290 people were arrested. Trudeau was seen refusing to take cover or leave the grandstand when the rioters pelted it with rocks and bottles containing paint and acid. The scene was broadcast on Radio-Canada and made the evening news. Many saw it as an open act of courage, and it impressed the electorate. This courage is partially credited with his Liberal Party winning a significant majority the next day.
The Fête nationale
\nIn 1977 a ministerial decree of the government of René Lévesque made June 24 the national holiday of Quebec. The following year, the Comité organisateur de la fête nationale was created. The committee initially entrusted the organization of the events to the St-Jean-Baptiste Society. In 1984, the organization was entrusted to the Mouvement national des Québécoises et des Québécois.
Saint-Jean-Baptiste day thus became the day of all Quebecers rather than only those of French-Canadian origins (74 per cent of Quebecers). Mainly by the actions of the St-Jean-Baptiste Society and the Mouvement national des Québécoises et des Québécois, the festival was gradually secularized and the celebrations of June 23 and 24 became what they are now.
Today the Fête nationale is a popular cultural festival celebrating the achievements and diversity of Quebecers. It is still a tradition to light fires at night.
External link
\n*Official Website of the Fête nationale
