Victoria Day (in French: Fête de la Reine), colloquially known as May Two-four, May Long, or May Run, is a federal Canadian statutory holiday celebrated on the last Monday before or on 24 May, in honour of both Queen Victoria's birthday and the current reigning Canadian sovereign's official birthday, and is also considered an informal mark of the beginning of the summer season. It has been observed since before Canada was formed, originally falling on the sovereign's actual birthday, and continues to be celebrated in various fashions across the country on the fixed date of the first Monday on or before 24 May. However, since the Quiet Revolution in Quebec, the same day was unofficially known in the province as Fête de Dollard until 2003, when provincial legislation officially named the same date as Victoria Day the National Patriots' Day.
Contents [hide]
1 History
2 Practice
3 See also
4 References
5 External links
[edit] History
King George VI in Ottawa, Ontario, on his official birthday, Victoria Day 1939.
Queen Elizabeth II in Edmonton, Alberta, on her official birthday, Victoria Day 2005.The birthday of the monarch was a day for celebration in Canada long before Confederation, with the first legislation regarding the event being in 1834 passed by the parliament of the Province of Canada to officially recognize 24 May as the Queen's birthday.[1] It was noted that on that date in 1854 – the 35th birthday of Queen Victoria – some 5,000 residents of Canada West gathered in front of Government House (near present day King and Simcoe Streets in Toronto) to "give cheers to their queen,"[2] and on Victoria Day 1866, the town of Omemee, also in Canada West, mounted a day-long fête to mark the occasion, including a gun salute at midnight, pre-dawn serenades, picnics, athletic competitions, a display of illuminations, and a torch-light procession.[3]
Following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, 24 May was by imperial decree made Empire Day throughout the British Empire, while, over the ensuing decades, the official date in Canada of the reigning sovereign's birthday changed through various royal proclamations: for Edward VII it continued by yearly proclamation to be observed on 24 May, but was 3 June for George V, 23 June for Edward VIII (their actual birthdays), and various days between 20 May and 14 June through George VI's reign as king of Canada. The first official birthday of Elizabeth II, who's actual birthday is 21 April,[4] was the last to be celebrated in June; the haphazard format was abandoned in 1952, when the Governor-General-in-Council moved Empire Day to the Monday before 25 May, and Elizabeth's official birthday in Canada was by regular vice-regal proclamations made to fall on this same date every year between 1953 and 1957, when the link was made permanent.[1] The following year, Empire Day was renamed Commonwealth Day, and in 1977 it was moved to the second Monday in March, leaving the Monday before 24 May solely as Victoria Day.
The reigning Canadian monarch has been in Canada for his or her official birthday twice: the first time being on 20 May 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.[5] The second time was when Queen Elizabeth II was in Canada from 17 May to 25 May 2005, to mark the centennial of the entries of Saskatchewan and Alberta into Confederation; no events were organized to acknowledge this fact.
Victoria Day celebrations were marred by tragedy in 1881, when a passenger ferry named Victoria overturned in the Thames River, near London, Ontario. The boat departed in the evening with 600 to 800 people on board – three times the allowable passenger capacity – and capsized part way across the river, drowning some 182 individuals, including a large number of children who had been with their families for Victoria Day picnics at Springbank Park. The event came to be known as the Victoria Day disaster.[6]
. My wife and I had a walk in the park and we saw people with their barbeques everywhere. It smelled great. 
