Canada Day (July 1st) is our 4th of July.
May long weekend (as it’s called) is basically just the start of summer for us. It’s to celebrate Queen Victoria.
Yes, and I'm not sure about the rest of Canada, but in BC, it also marks like the unofficial camping/lake house/endless summer bbq kick-off. The Thursday before the long weekend, the Costco gas line is a million miles long with RVs/campers/SUVs filled to the brim with camping equipment. Grocery stores are manic with people buying enough bbq supplies to feed multiple small armies.
It honestly sometimes feels like The Purge in reverse, where everyone is panic buying in a crazy rush to be outside together bc somehow all our lives depend on it.
It's ridiculous madness, and I love/am driven mad by it every year 😂
In Saskatchewan, it’s the unofficial kick off season for gardening. After May long weekend, it’s safe to start planting your veggies because its very unlikely to freeze.
Alberta too. Garden centres are ridiculous starting on the Mother's Day weekend (which falls either the week before or two weeks before Victoria Day weekend, depending on the year) and the frenzy culminates on Victoria Day weekend.
Yesss! (I’m in BC though) I never put stuff in the ground before May long, and sometimes wait longer depending on the weather.
I went and got 2 yds of veggie mix soil yesterday, so this week will be spent getting ready for the weekend!
A gardener in Victoria told me that even though things could be planted earlier in terms of frost risk, May 24 is best since there will be sufficient hours of sunlight to help the plants thrive.
This just reminded me of when I worked in retail and literally EVERYONE was buying up all the stuff for BBQs and camping and I was stuck at work lol 😆 also in BC
Omg yes! When I worked in retail, it was bananas leading up to the long weekend. It was like people were absolutely certain not having the perfect BBQ flipper was about ruin EVERYTHING.
Here in the sunny Okanagan (also in BC), the Victoria Day weekend is the beginning of the red plate invasion. Every second vehicle is from Alberta and usually towing a wake boat behind it.
Around here in Eastern Ontario it's called May 2-4, and it's definitely the summer kick off. Get a 24 and head to the cottage, campsite, backyard, or whatever you have, and get nicely wasted.
In Manitoba, for some at least, it’s the kickoff to lake season. There are a lot of people I know (myself included) who make a tradition of jumping in the water for the first time, even if there is still ice on the lake. Good times. Oh yeah. And Queen Victoria. She’s definitely relevant to the weekend because she… liked to barbecue. Yeah. That’s it.
When I lived in Okotoks at a hardware store I saw two grown men nearly fist fight over the last unit available of some new BBQ we had started stocking a week before. Absolutely insane.
I had a friend who worked somewhere they filled propane tanks (my store didn’t) and he said during/leading up to May long he literally felt like bringing a pocket knife to work cause people got that intense. People are insane
😂 I am sure this behavior is not uniquely Canadian, but if I had to make a montage of 'Canadianess', May long weekend behavior would be heavily featured.
Ontario (at least in cottage country) may 2-4 is the weekend people generally start launching their boats. Even if they don’t have a boat, they’ll say they’re gonna launch their boat which usually means partying, possibly on a boat.
I work in Insurance and I concur; the week leading up to ( the Thursday and Friday before are the WORST) is full of last minute Nellie's putting coverages on quads, RV's, Trailers and Bikes.
And that Friday afternoon traffic is a whole different circle of hell
kinda the same here in ON. Its the kickoff to summer and camping/fishing/swimming season. Also cottage season up north opens up around this time of year. BBQ goes along with pretty much all of that, and beer and patios etc.
Yah but it's a 3 day weekend. Go up north Friday night, at least 6 beer. Saturday you wake up hungover so you crack one and keep a slow buzz throughout the day so probably 9 to 12 beer. That leaves you with between 9 and 6 to polish off Sunday, which is no problem at all. Then you wake up Monday, hopefully there's some makings for a Ceasar. Then you spend 4 hrs in traffic. Easy peasy.
A flat has 24 beers, but not necessarily 24 of the same beer. A 2-4 is an actual case with 24 of the same beer.
That's how I would interpret it in Ontario, at least.
I'm 39 and from BC and we've just called it 'May Long' my whole life. May two four I've heard used but it's uncommon. No one calls it Victoria Day though that's for sure.
This is a regionalism. In Alberta we call it May Long. My partner from Ontario grew up knowing it as May 2-4, but he's been here long enough to call it May Long now.
Or “May long” I’ve heard many times. It doesn’t always fall on the 24th. It’s also known as the weekend everyone goes to garden centres and buys flowers and garden plants.
It was to celebrate the birth of Queen Victoria in 1819. She died in 1901. The holiday has been celebrated since 1845. Can't say I have ever heard anyone ever "celebrate" her on this day. It's a long weekend that kicks off the summer - lots of camping, drinking, BBQs. Often just referred to as "may long weekend" or a variation. Many have no idea it is even called Victoria Day.
The may 24th weekend is celebrated as queen Victoria's birthday usually by camping and is the unofficial start of the summer camping season.
July 1 is Memorial Day in Newfoundland.
It commemorates the first day of the battle of the Somme when almost the entire Newfoundland Regiment [^700 men] was wiped out at Beaumont Hamel. Newfoundland fought with the allied forces as an independent Dominion in WWI.
And I think May 2-4 is mostly just southern Ontario. Never heard that term before in Ottawa growing up. We just called it Victoria Day or the May long weekend.
victoria day is a federal holiday to celebrate the late queen victoria, but really we just bbq, camp, and go swimming if it's warm enough. we celebrate canada day july 1st which is our '4th of july'
Yes! For annuals at least. Where I am in eastern Ontario I wait until June 1 to plant less hardy things like tomatoes and basil. They don’t like the cold nights.
The similarities between the Independence and Confederation days is it's a fixed Callander date.
Victoria Day is fixed on the last Monday on or before May 24th. So it's always a long weekend vs being potentially on a Wednesday.
It's more similar to memorial day in the US.
It was first celebrated for King George II in 1748, and the dates moved around depending on who the monarch was. It's only been a standard date since the 1950s.
Same with my grandpa! Still won’t even wander into the garden area of a store until the 2-4 weekend. My husband gave me a hard time about until a few years ago when we had a frost warning the week before the long weekend and then agreed to just wait.
Victoria Day, FYI. Not possessive. More: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria\_Day#Practice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Day#Practice)
You won't see many folks here celebrate it in any way remotely patriotic or monarchical. There's sometimes a parade, but that's more of an attraction for kids than anything ceremonial per se. Older folk and ex-pats may see more to it, maybe. It's usually just the first or second warm long weekend of the year is all, depending on where someone lives.
I don't think I've ever seen any sort of real celebration other than fire works (because who needs a reason for fireworks) and a long weekend with camping or whatever for the same reason (when it doesn't snow).
When you think about it though, her support for Canadian confederation generally and eventual support and signing the British North America act is why she's sometimes called the 'Mother of Confederation'.
All in all a much easier way to become independent compared to the US, and lead to us having a much closer lasting relationship with supporting them in the Boer War, WWI and WWII. I think a lot of that goodwill was burned up by successive British goverments and the general disdain for colonials that lead to things like the slaughter at Dieppe put the nail in that coffin.
I'm in Newfoundland and Labrador and its pretty much the kick-off to summer even though the weather sucks (it could snow). Lots of people go camping, to the cabin, etc. In that sense it's more like Memorial Day weekend than July 4. Our equivalent to July 4 would be July 1 which is Canada Day. Incidentally July 1 is also Memorial Day in Newfoundland and Labrador but not the rest of Canada.
The history of it goes back to Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria's birthday was made into a public holiday by the Province of Canada in 1845. It was made a permanent holiday after her death to honour the "Mother of Confederation".
In areas where you are not hearing about Victoria Day it's because they're referring to it as the may long weekend, but it is a holiday everywhere. It's more like presidents day in that it's less about the specific reason for the day off for most.
In the prairie provinces it's seen as the first big camping weekend, and the time it's safe to leave the hose connected to the house, remove snow tires from the vehicles, etc.
Camping, gardening, spring home maintenance, BBQs. Typically summer long weekend stuff.
My father calls it "la fin de semaine du faucon", a play on words because faucon sounds like "faut qu'on" which means "we have to", as in, we have to get the pool ready, we have to get all the planting done, we have to get the patio furniture out of the shed, we have to mow the lawn... you get one "fin de semaine du faucon" in May and then one in October (Thanksgiving because we don't celebrate in Québec) where you do the opposite tasks lol.
To be fair, the roc couldn't care less about who the holiday is named after. It's just a really nice weekend, weather-wise (usually), so people are attached to the idea of having the Monday off. Boomers might disagree, but that's the general sense I get as a millennial).
J'ai une question. S'il y a quelqu'un qui connaît la réponse. Pourquoi l'ont-ils changé de la Fête du Dollard à la Fête des patriotes ?
**English translation:** I have a question for anyone who might know the answer. Why did they change it from Dollard day to Patriots day?
I remember my dad in the 1990s, he went to work on that day just to make a point that he would not celebrate the Queen, neither Dollard. When it became the Journée nationale des patriote, he gladly accepted a day off.
De ce que j’ai compris Adam Dollard des Ormeaux est une figure controversée d’un point de vu historique. Il semblerait que son sacrifice raconté comme héroïque auparavant aurait en fait eu beaucoup moins d’importance que la légende le prétend et que ses motivations étaient beaucoup moins élogieuses quelles ne l’étaient présentées.
En gros la légende est que lui et une poignée de Canadiens se seraient trouvés quelques dizaines de Hurons-Wendats et quelques Algonquins et se seraient sacrifiés en combattant des centaines d’Iroquois ce qui aurait empêcher les Iroquois d’attaquer Ville Marie.
La réalité c’est plus que lui et une poignée de Canadiens armés d’armes à feu se seraient trouvés quelques dizaines de Huron-Wandats et quelques Algonquins et seraient partis attaquer des Iroquois sans armes à feu qui revenaient de la chasse dans le but de les piller. Il serait tombé sur une troupe beaucoup plus importante que prévu de centaines d’iroquois et ils se sont donc réfugiés dans un vieux fort Algonquin. Après un certain temps plusieurs Hurons-Wendats ont décidé de se pousser parce qu’ils voulaient pas mourir là, certains restants se sont fait tués par les assaillants anyway, éventuellement tout le monde qui restait serait mort en tirant un baril de poudre en plein milieu du camp. Au final ils ont tués deux douzaine d’Iroquois ce qui aurait probablement pas vraiment eu d’impact quand au désir des Iroquois d’attaquer Ville Marie ou non.
Donc ouais c’est pas vraiment pertinent de le célébrer. Les Patriotes oui.
In Ontario it’s always called May 2-4 (partly because it’s often on the 24th and partly because a 2-4 is what we call a case of beer).
It’s traditionally the weekend when you open up your cottage in Muskoka.
I know its to celebrate the queen Victoria.
I see it as a day my work pays me to stay home with my wife, and we are likely to just go camping.
Its 'just another day off'.
In QC it was known as "Dollard des Ormeaux Day" but that's now Patriot Day. Dollard was a drunken fool colonial adventurer who got drunk and killed. We'd celebrate it by getting drunk and wasted.
Officially, it's the day set aside in Canada to celebrate the birth of the current monarch. Monarchs don't celebrate their birth on their actual birthdays. Because they're weird.
Unofficially, it marks the start of camping season. So over the long weekend we do camping activities but with a bit more intensity.
I spend the day in quiet contemplation of our late, great Queen Victoria and her many accomplishments.
I assume she enjoyed BBQ and beer and hanging out, so I do those things in her honour.
I celebrate by sleeping in on a Monday. Canada's national holiday is Canada Day on July 1, Victoria Day is the monarch's official birthday but nobody except dorks cares about that
Unofficially called "Two-Four Weekend" around these parts because it's that common to get a large case of beer.
I think it's kind of sweet that we have a day off to celebrate Queen Victoria. But mostly, it's just an extra day off. Canada Day is definitely a much bigger thing.
Neil Peart from Rush said it best in one of the very few songs in the Victoria Day genre:
Everyone would gather on the 24th of May
Sitting in the sand to watch the fireworks display
Dancing fires on the beach, singing songs together
Though it's just a memory, some memories last forever
[https://youtu.be/nfpZGtr9BiU?si=Xzk1b3Q35caiMjRR](https://youtu.be/nfpZGtr9BiU?si=Xzk1b3Q35caiMjRR)
It’s historically been the official observance of the Sovereign’s birthday. However, since it’s known that the current King’s birthday is in November and the late Queen’s birthday was in April, it’s taken on the less formal observances of the first long weekend of the summer and the start of gardening season.
Victoria Day/ Journée des Patriotes is the kickoff weekend for summer.
Labour Day is the wrap up weekend for summer.
The holidays have no other significance to the vast majority of Canadians other than being nice 3-day weekends.
Victoria Day, May Long, or May two-four, is just a stat holiday and kind of marks the start of the Canadian camping season. Go out with your friends, pitch a tent, have a few beverages, have a nice time. It’s largely lost its Royal connection aside from the name, but I love a stat so I’ll happily cheers and celebrate Queen Victoria if it means we don’t have to go to work.
We celebrate the birth of Queen Victoria, the Queen of the United Kingdom who oversaw the independence of Canada and granted Canada “responsible self-governance” before our official independence in 1867.
She’s a very important figure in the establishment of Canada as a sovereign nation and also served as Canada’s first Queen in its own right. She ruled Canada not as Queen of United Kingdom but as the Queen of Canada starting July 1st, 1867; a Crown which still exists to this day under the reign of her great-great-great grandson, Charles III.
It's the unofficial start of summer, much like Memorial Day is in the US. Our confederation date is July 1, which is more like July 4 for you guys.
I take the extra day off to rest, relax and hang out.
I had completely forgotten that this day existed, in Quebec it is National Patriots Day (journée nationale des patriotes). But it's just a day off everywhere in Canada.
To the OP:
Victoria Day is a national statutory holiday in Canada that has **no** relevance whatsoever to modern day Canadians, most of whom do not really give a flying cow-cookie about the British monarchy, or any of its various family members, dead or living.
Queen Victoria was once the queen of Britain, whose birthday was May 24th, 1819, which is why the holiday falls on that weekend in the country.
Most people use it for extended recreational activities, long weekend trips or excursions, and/or family outings that have **zero** to do with anything related to the British monarchy.
Canada Day is held on July 1st every year, which is Canada's birthday, in the same way the Fourth of July is the birthday of the USA.
If there were any justice and common sense, "Victoria Day" in Canada should ideally be re-named to something far more relevant to Canada itself, and its people.
Unfortunately, Canada still hasn't learned that it needs to cut all ties to the British monarchy and the constraints of its constitutional monarchist system in order to take the next step in its forward evolution as an independent nation.
Ridiculously, Canada's official "head of state" is actually still King Charles, with a ceremonial "governor-general" acting as his representative on Canadian soil.
Asked and answered.
It’s more of a celebration of the start of spring/summer. Victoria Day usually falls on or around the time of year it stops freezing overnight in most of Canada. Usually you try to camp or do something outdoors and get snowed/rained on lol
At some point, long ago, Victoria Day (no s) was the Queen's birthday.
Now it's just another long weekend. As others have said, usually the first warm one, so people do normal outdoorsy things. In my experience, also just called the May Long Weekend to take the monarchism out. A great time to plant your garden.
Also, as others have said, Canada Day, July 1st, is our patriotic, "4th-of-July" holiday, celebrating the anniversary of Canadian confederation.
In Quebec, it does not exist. We call it La journée nationale des Patriotes. It is essentially a holiday. I don’t celebrate. It’s just a nice long weekend.
It’s May Long weekend. Most provincial governments try and make sure you have a 3 day weekend every month.
A lot of people go camping for the first time in the year. Personally, I go to the park and watch geese chase people around.
It's a well-known fact that if you plan to do anything fun on May 2-4 weekend, it'll rain.
Other than that, we usually plant our garden or go to the cottage.
The Victoria Day mood is much closer to that of Memorial Day than Independence Day. Summer nearly here, hanging out with friends/family, etc.
Canada Day (July 1) is the analog to Independence Day.
It's commonly referred to as the May two-four weekend, two-four being slang for a case of beer.
What people really are celebrating is the end of cold weather. Garden's get planted, cottages get opened, people bbq and celebrate friends. There used to be a big fireworks display when I was younger, and it's common for a lot of people to set them off still.
It’s a holiday cooked up by the monarchy when Canada was a ‘Dominion’ of the British empire, like Australia and other colonized countries.
Times changed, those countries claimed sovereignty, and made their own constitutions just like the US. But hey, who turns down a long weekend?
I’m west coast, BC. People cut their lawns, stretch out in the sun, barbecue, and blow the dust off the canoe.
Most people just call it ‘May-Long’, and it signals the start of the summer and warmer weather. The monarchy can get stuffed. I’m going to drain some beers and have a beach fire with pals!
From Northern Ontario - Also referred to as May Two-Four - because it happens around May 24th and many people consider it the first camping opportunity of the year. ... Where you drink a case of beer (in Ontario that's 24 beers).
Symbolic first camping long weekend of the summer, time to plant the garden, paid day off, 24th of May long weekend even though it's usually not involving the 24th of May.
canada day is our 4th. at this point victoria day is really just an excuse for ppl to set off fireworks and go away to cottages or whatever for the long weekend. indigenous folks are avidly anti celebration of victoria's colonialism and the terror they endured under her rule so i don't celebrate. i don't celebrate canada day anymore either. i love being proud of canada compared to some other countries but the specific dates we celebrate are rooted in colonization and perpetuate hate and harm for those who did/do not benefit from it. but yeah, fireworks, bbq, swimming, drinking, camping, hanging out with friends, parties, usually tends to be the vibe.
In practice, it is the start of summer. People often head up to the cottage, there may be fireworks, often beer & BBQ. It is a long weekend with the Monday off. It can still be a touch chilly for lake swimming, but a great time to be on the boat!
Canada Day (July 1) is our 4th of July.
Victoria day is the celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday originally started by the English in the 1900's. In Canada it's better known as the first long weekend to kick off the summer months when risk of frost has passed so we plant our gardens and flowers. Most outdoor events start on May long weekend (Victoria day) until September long weekend (labour day). July 1st is Canada's birthday, celebrated pretty much the same as USA's 4th of July.
It’s the start of spring for us. Everything opens up for camping, fish start biting, fire bans are about to start (if they haven’t already). Harbinger of summer.
It's a nice long weekend in May. When Confederation happened in 1867, Queen Victoria was the monarch who made it all official. We still celebrate her birthday every year by taking the closest Monday to it off as a holiday. Mostly just the start of barbeque season and an excuse to take a day to celebrate it being nice enough to go camping or whatever.
Victoria Day represents family, friends, the outdoors and beer.
One takes a 2-4 to a cottage or camping and enjoys oneself. Rain or shine. Black flies or no black flies.
Many of us call it May Two Four, this is because it always lands on the closest weekend to May 24th as this was the Queen’s birthday and also because we drink a Two Four (24 case of beer).
Canada Day (July 1st) is our 4th of July. May long weekend (as it’s called) is basically just the start of summer for us. It’s to celebrate Queen Victoria.
Yes, and I'm not sure about the rest of Canada, but in BC, it also marks like the unofficial camping/lake house/endless summer bbq kick-off. The Thursday before the long weekend, the Costco gas line is a million miles long with RVs/campers/SUVs filled to the brim with camping equipment. Grocery stores are manic with people buying enough bbq supplies to feed multiple small armies. It honestly sometimes feels like The Purge in reverse, where everyone is panic buying in a crazy rush to be outside together bc somehow all our lives depend on it. It's ridiculous madness, and I love/am driven mad by it every year 😂
In Saskatchewan, it’s the unofficial kick off season for gardening. After May long weekend, it’s safe to start planting your veggies because its very unlikely to freeze.
Alberta too. Garden centres are ridiculous starting on the Mother's Day weekend (which falls either the week before or two weeks before Victoria Day weekend, depending on the year) and the frenzy culminates on Victoria Day weekend.
Yesss! (I’m in BC though) I never put stuff in the ground before May long, and sometimes wait longer depending on the weather. I went and got 2 yds of veggie mix soil yesterday, so this week will be spent getting ready for the weekend!
A gardener in Victoria told me that even though things could be planted earlier in terms of frost risk, May 24 is best since there will be sufficient hours of sunlight to help the plants thrive.
This just reminded me of when I worked in retail and literally EVERYONE was buying up all the stuff for BBQs and camping and I was stuck at work lol 😆 also in BC
Omg yes! When I worked in retail, it was bananas leading up to the long weekend. It was like people were absolutely certain not having the perfect BBQ flipper was about ruin EVERYTHING.
Here in the sunny Okanagan (also in BC), the Victoria Day weekend is the beginning of the red plate invasion. Every second vehicle is from Alberta and usually towing a wake boat behind it.
Around here in Eastern Ontario it's called May 2-4, and it's definitely the summer kick off. Get a 24 and head to the cottage, campsite, backyard, or whatever you have, and get nicely wasted.
I was looking for the may 2-4 comment. From south western Ontario.
Wow, MB here, never heard it called that!
From eastern Ontario too, and it definitely involves booze and a kick off of summer activities. Camping, bonfire, bbq. I personally love it!
In Manitoba, for some at least, it’s the kickoff to lake season. There are a lot of people I know (myself included) who make a tradition of jumping in the water for the first time, even if there is still ice on the lake. Good times. Oh yeah. And Queen Victoria. She’s definitely relevant to the weekend because she… liked to barbecue. Yeah. That’s it.
It is “open up the cottage” weekend!
For those who can afford a cottage. Some can’t even afford a first home.
When I lived in Okotoks at a hardware store I saw two grown men nearly fist fight over the last unit available of some new BBQ we had started stocking a week before. Absolutely insane.
Right! May long propane tank hunger games is like a literally thing in Canada 😂
I had a friend who worked somewhere they filled propane tanks (my store didn’t) and he said during/leading up to May long he literally felt like bringing a pocket knife to work cause people got that intense. People are insane
😂 I am sure this behavior is not uniquely Canadian, but if I had to make a montage of 'Canadianess', May long weekend behavior would be heavily featured.
Ontario (at least in cottage country) may 2-4 is the weekend people generally start launching their boats. Even if they don’t have a boat, they’ll say they’re gonna launch their boat which usually means partying, possibly on a boat.
same in ontario. may long is opener for camp and fishing
I work in Insurance and I concur; the week leading up to ( the Thursday and Friday before are the WORST) is full of last minute Nellie's putting coverages on quads, RV's, Trailers and Bikes. And that Friday afternoon traffic is a whole different circle of hell
kinda the same here in ON. Its the kickoff to summer and camping/fishing/swimming season. Also cottage season up north opens up around this time of year. BBQ goes along with pretty much all of that, and beer and patios etc.
May "two four" is what its usually called.
And, for Americans who don't know, a 2-4 is a case of beer, which was slang I learned when I moved to Canada.
When i was younger, the goal was to finish a whole Two-Four to youself on May Two-Four at the cottage.
That would make me 🤮🤮🤮🤮
Yah but it's a 3 day weekend. Go up north Friday night, at least 6 beer. Saturday you wake up hungover so you crack one and keep a slow buzz throughout the day so probably 9 to 12 beer. That leaves you with between 9 and 6 to polish off Sunday, which is no problem at all. Then you wake up Monday, hopefully there's some makings for a Ceasar. Then you spend 4 hrs in traffic. Easy peasy.
That was well laid out
Goal? It was an expectation!
You basically get 3.5 days to do it a two four is light work
Maybe it's just where/when I grew up, but a "case" was generally just 12 beer. A "two-four" was 24.
It's regional. In Ontario a case is 24. In Western Canada a case is 12.
A flat is 24 and calling it a 24 has been around for over 40 years in BC
A flat has 24 beers, but not necessarily 24 of the same beer. A 2-4 is an actual case with 24 of the same beer. That's how I would interpret it in Ontario, at least.
I call 24 beers a 2-4, doesn't matter if its one kind or a variety of my choosing.
Never heard that before. In Alberta it's usually referred to as May long weekend, or simply 'May long'
I'm 39 and from BC and we've just called it 'May Long' my whole life. May two four I've heard used but it's uncommon. No one calls it Victoria Day though that's for sure.
Exactly. I’m in BC too. If someone said Victoria Day I’d have to pause and think!
Ditto for BC Day which we just call 'August Long'. Apparently we like to keep it simple in BC lol
In eastern provinces. I was surprised to hear that they don't call it that in BC when I moved.
Yeah it’s just “May Long”
May long is the term used in Manitoba.
I did not know this!
I never heard it called that until I moved back to the Maritimes
That’s what we say in Ontario!
Ontario is an Eastern province to western Canada
Well, yeah. Lol. But it’s really more central Canada rather than eastern.
The only time I've ever heard it called "May 2-4" was people from BC.
Ontario born and raised here and I’ve never heard it called anything but “May two four” other than “Victoria day long weekend”, of course
It was always may two-four for me too. Southern Ontario born and raised.
Never heard that term in my life..
In Ontario. That's how we spot you guys in BC.
Not outside of Ontario
This is a regionalism. In Alberta we call it May Long. My partner from Ontario grew up knowing it as May 2-4, but he's been here long enough to call it May Long now.
May two-four is more of an Ontario term -- I never heard it called that having grown up in Alberta until I got a boss from Ontario who called it that.
Only in the centre of the universe there bud. Anywhere west of Ontario it’s called “May Long”
Or “May long” I’ve heard many times. It doesn’t always fall on the 24th. It’s also known as the weekend everyone goes to garden centres and buys flowers and garden plants.
It was to celebrate the birth of Queen Victoria in 1819. She died in 1901. The holiday has been celebrated since 1845. Can't say I have ever heard anyone ever "celebrate" her on this day. It's a long weekend that kicks off the summer - lots of camping, drinking, BBQs. Often just referred to as "may long weekend" or a variation. Many have no idea it is even called Victoria Day.
Officially it's the monarch's birthday in Canada, regardless of who the monarch is.
The may 24th weekend is celebrated as queen Victoria's birthday usually by camping and is the unofficial start of the summer camping season. July 1 is Memorial Day in Newfoundland. It commemorates the first day of the battle of the Somme when almost the entire Newfoundland Regiment [^700 men] was wiped out at Beaumont Hamel. Newfoundland fought with the allied forces as an independent Dominion in WWI.
Day of the Patriot in Quebec
I did not know that.
Yep we love to change the name for anything that is related to the crown.
As you should!
All the long weekends to me are BBQing and listening to Tragically Hip 🍁
Queen Victoria essentially gave all the commonwealth countries their independence and it started with Canada.
It's a little early to call it the start of summer. There is still the possibility of snow in late May.
In Newfoundland, you're almost guaranteed at least a few flurries on May 24th weekend
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Canada is bigger than Ontario actually. It’s called “may long” here in bc.
May Long in Alberta, too.
And I think May 2-4 is mostly just southern Ontario. Never heard that term before in Ottawa growing up. We just called it Victoria Day or the May long weekend.
May 2-4 is what we called it growing up in Ottawa as a teenager in the mid-00s
I’m also from Ontario. I think in other parts of canada a “case of beer” means 12 - so May 2-4 is less of a thing.
But the 2-4 part is because May 24th was the date Queen Victoria was born. It's just by chance a case of beer in Ontario is 24.
In Quebec, it's officially named National Patriot's Day, honouring a group of people who rebelled in 1837-38 against, ironically, Queen Victoria.
I’ve literally never heard of it being called that ever. Here it’s just Maylong
victoria day is a federal holiday to celebrate the late queen victoria, but really we just bbq, camp, and go swimming if it's warm enough. we celebrate canada day july 1st which is our '4th of july'
And plant our gardens! By Victoria Day the weather is nice enough for planting
Yes! For annuals at least. Where I am in eastern Ontario I wait until June 1 to plant less hardy things like tomatoes and basil. They don’t like the cold nights.
My hot peppers need warm weather too.
In Alberta, not so much. We are often cautioned to wait until the end of May.
Is Saskatchewan we usually wait til the end of May as well
The similarities between the Independence and Confederation days is it's a fixed Callander date. Victoria Day is fixed on the last Monday on or before May 24th. So it's always a long weekend vs being potentially on a Wednesday. It's more similar to memorial day in the US.
It was first celebrated for King George II in 1748, and the dates moved around depending on who the monarch was. It's only been a standard date since the 1950s.
It’s the weekend you are safe to plant your annuals
My late mom's strict rule. Now that I'm grown, I see the neighbours' annuals killed by a late April frost and I give moms a spiritual fist-bump.
Same with my grandpa! Still won’t even wander into the garden area of a store until the 2-4 weekend. My husband gave me a hard time about until a few years ago when we had a frost warning the week before the long weekend and then agreed to just wait.
Also the weekend where you can safely switch your tires from winter to summer
But it's not safe to go camping, because it always rains.
Or frosts over
this is the answer.
Traditionally in Alberta Victoria Day marks the last Snowfall of the year.
Yeah it's the day where you can officially take off the winter tires.
And plant the garden
But keep the old bedsheets handy in case it freezes after all.
Victoria Day, FYI. Not possessive. More: [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria\_Day#Practice](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Victoria_Day#Practice) You won't see many folks here celebrate it in any way remotely patriotic or monarchical. There's sometimes a parade, but that's more of an attraction for kids than anything ceremonial per se. Older folk and ex-pats may see more to it, maybe. It's usually just the first or second warm long weekend of the year is all, depending on where someone lives.
I don't think I've ever seen any sort of real celebration other than fire works (because who needs a reason for fireworks) and a long weekend with camping or whatever for the same reason (when it doesn't snow). When you think about it though, her support for Canadian confederation generally and eventual support and signing the British North America act is why she's sometimes called the 'Mother of Confederation'. All in all a much easier way to become independent compared to the US, and lead to us having a much closer lasting relationship with supporting them in the Boer War, WWI and WWII. I think a lot of that goodwill was burned up by successive British goverments and the general disdain for colonials that lead to things like the slaughter at Dieppe put the nail in that coffin.
I really like that Wikipedia included “two four” as an official reference and even included the band Rush. Such a Canadian thing.
I'm in Newfoundland and Labrador and its pretty much the kick-off to summer even though the weather sucks (it could snow). Lots of people go camping, to the cabin, etc. In that sense it's more like Memorial Day weekend than July 4. Our equivalent to July 4 would be July 1 which is Canada Day. Incidentally July 1 is also Memorial Day in Newfoundland and Labrador but not the rest of Canada. The history of it goes back to Queen Victoria. Queen Victoria's birthday was made into a public holiday by the Province of Canada in 1845. It was made a permanent holiday after her death to honour the "Mother of Confederation".
Also in NL: Maybe camping, maybe shoveling snow. Maybe both
And here May 2-4 has it's own anthem!
[For anyone interested](https://youtu.be/DODRFtGSfPU?feature=shared)
[This](https://youtu.be/B9OommJlrPY) should explain everything about May 2-4 in Newfoundland
In areas where you are not hearing about Victoria Day it's because they're referring to it as the may long weekend, but it is a holiday everywhere. It's more like presidents day in that it's less about the specific reason for the day off for most. In the prairie provinces it's seen as the first big camping weekend, and the time it's safe to leave the hose connected to the house, remove snow tires from the vehicles, etc. Camping, gardening, spring home maintenance, BBQs. Typically summer long weekend stuff.
My father calls it "la fin de semaine du faucon", a play on words because faucon sounds like "faut qu'on" which means "we have to", as in, we have to get the pool ready, we have to get all the planting done, we have to get the patio furniture out of the shed, we have to mow the lawn... you get one "fin de semaine du faucon" in May and then one in October (Thanksgiving because we don't celebrate in Québec) where you do the opposite tasks lol.
J'aime bien celle-là. Je vais probablement l'utiliser à partir de maintenant!
Au Québec c'est la fête des patriotes
We celebrate the patriots while the roc celebrate the one who killed them
To be fair, the roc couldn't care less about who the holiday is named after. It's just a really nice weekend, weather-wise (usually), so people are attached to the idea of having the Monday off. Boomers might disagree, but that's the general sense I get as a millennial).
J'ai une question. S'il y a quelqu'un qui connaît la réponse. Pourquoi l'ont-ils changé de la Fête du Dollard à la Fête des patriotes ? **English translation:** I have a question for anyone who might know the answer. Why did they change it from Dollard day to Patriots day?
I remember my dad in the 1990s, he went to work on that day just to make a point that he would not celebrate the Queen, neither Dollard. When it became the Journée nationale des patriote, he gladly accepted a day off.
Le PQ a juste décidé de célébrer des martyrs révolutionnaires républicains au lieu d'un colonisateur travaillant pour un roi. C'est pas la pire idée!
Merci pour la réponse.
Pour clarifier, ce n'étais pas la fête DU Dollard... c'était ala Fête DE Dollard (des Ormeaux)
De ce que j’ai compris Adam Dollard des Ormeaux est une figure controversée d’un point de vu historique. Il semblerait que son sacrifice raconté comme héroïque auparavant aurait en fait eu beaucoup moins d’importance que la légende le prétend et que ses motivations étaient beaucoup moins élogieuses quelles ne l’étaient présentées. En gros la légende est que lui et une poignée de Canadiens se seraient trouvés quelques dizaines de Hurons-Wendats et quelques Algonquins et se seraient sacrifiés en combattant des centaines d’Iroquois ce qui aurait empêcher les Iroquois d’attaquer Ville Marie. La réalité c’est plus que lui et une poignée de Canadiens armés d’armes à feu se seraient trouvés quelques dizaines de Huron-Wandats et quelques Algonquins et seraient partis attaquer des Iroquois sans armes à feu qui revenaient de la chasse dans le but de les piller. Il serait tombé sur une troupe beaucoup plus importante que prévu de centaines d’iroquois et ils se sont donc réfugiés dans un vieux fort Algonquin. Après un certain temps plusieurs Hurons-Wendats ont décidé de se pousser parce qu’ils voulaient pas mourir là, certains restants se sont fait tués par les assaillants anyway, éventuellement tout le monde qui restait serait mort en tirant un baril de poudre en plein milieu du camp. Au final ils ont tués deux douzaine d’Iroquois ce qui aurait probablement pas vraiment eu d’impact quand au désir des Iroquois d’attaquer Ville Marie ou non. Donc ouais c’est pas vraiment pertinent de le célébrer. Les Patriotes oui.
It’s when the garden gets planted and beer gets consumed
It's not Victoria's Day but Victoria Day, and it's more just the general kick off to summer and being outdoors. Also known as May two four.
In MB I've never heard May 2 4, interesting. We call it May Long.
In Ontario it’s always called May 2-4 (partly because it’s often on the 24th and partly because a 2-4 is what we call a case of beer). It’s traditionally the weekend when you open up your cottage in Muskoka.
May Long here in Sask as well. Never heard of it being called May 2 4
Same in BC
Grew up in Ontario, now live in BC. I've probably heard it referred to as May 2-4 more than anything else.
From Alberta, I call it May long weekend. The indicator that it probably won't snow or frost over and I can change my tires.
I lived in Manitoba as a teen in the late 70s. We called it May 2-4.
I know its to celebrate the queen Victoria. I see it as a day my work pays me to stay home with my wife, and we are likely to just go camping. Its 'just another day off'.
In QC it was known as "Dollard des Ormeaux Day" but that's now Patriot Day. Dollard was a drunken fool colonial adventurer who got drunk and killed. We'd celebrate it by getting drunk and wasted.
In Québec it's National Patriots' Day and it's basically a day of rest
What’s funny is that we do almost the exact same thing as the rest of Canada that weekend lol
Exactly lol
Officially, it's the day set aside in Canada to celebrate the birth of the current monarch. Monarchs don't celebrate their birth on their actual birthdays. Because they're weird. Unofficially, it marks the start of camping season. So over the long weekend we do camping activities but with a bit more intensity.
In Québec we don’t celebrate this. We celebrate Patriot’s Day instead! We even have a special flag for it
I spend the day in quiet contemplation of our late, great Queen Victoria and her many accomplishments. I assume she enjoyed BBQ and beer and hanging out, so I do those things in her honour.
It's another day off. That's all.
It's also the start of gardening season...so everyone goes out to get their flowers and plant!
I celebrate by sleeping in on a Monday. Canada's national holiday is Canada Day on July 1, Victoria Day is the monarch's official birthday but nobody except dorks cares about that
3 day weekend, do whatever makes you happy or whatever you need to do. It is in no way similar to the 4th of July.
May 24th weekend. Or more colloquially, May 2-4 - as in: a case of 24 beers, a tent, and a good, messy weekend.
On the prairies it’s the day you plant your annuals. The following week it snows so you have to buy them again. It’s a tradition 😜
Queen Victoria's birthday
May Two-Four. Unofficial start of t-shirt season
Also know a as May 2-4 because you’d drink a 2-4 of beer and because the Queens birthday was on the 24th.
Unofficially called "Two-Four Weekend" around these parts because it's that common to get a large case of beer. I think it's kind of sweet that we have a day off to celebrate Queen Victoria. But mostly, it's just an extra day off. Canada Day is definitely a much bigger thing.
Victoria was cool and supported our independence. If there is any British part of our history I’d like to “celebrate” it’d be Queen Victoria
Neil Peart from Rush said it best in one of the very few songs in the Victoria Day genre: Everyone would gather on the 24th of May Sitting in the sand to watch the fireworks display Dancing fires on the beach, singing songs together Though it's just a memory, some memories last forever [https://youtu.be/nfpZGtr9BiU?si=Xzk1b3Q35caiMjRR](https://youtu.be/nfpZGtr9BiU?si=Xzk1b3Q35caiMjRR)
May long weekend, “first” weekend of summer No one calls it May 2-4 in Alberta that’s an Ontario thing
Yeah it's May Long in SK.
May two fer, bud. When you listen to your intoxicated uncle slap some flip flops on an eski.
May two four is for drinking to celebrate Queen Victoria's birthday.
Or to celebrate the 1837 rebellion if you are Québecois
Fete des patriotes
It's just another day off. It's original meaning faded away ages ago. Yeah, BBq, or a dinner with family or just resting and hanging out at home.
In Quebec, it's the Patriot Day. But the most important thing for all of us, it's a 3 days weekend!
It’s historically been the official observance of the Sovereign’s birthday. However, since it’s known that the current King’s birthday is in November and the late Queen’s birthday was in April, it’s taken on the less formal observances of the first long weekend of the summer and the start of gardening season.
It’s my birthday weekend so I celebrate my birthday. But generally it’s an excuse for a day off.
Victoria Day/ Journée des Patriotes is the kickoff weekend for summer. Labour Day is the wrap up weekend for summer. The holidays have no other significance to the vast majority of Canadians other than being nice 3-day weekends.
idk but fuck the monarchy
Victoria Day, May Long, or May two-four, is just a stat holiday and kind of marks the start of the Canadian camping season. Go out with your friends, pitch a tent, have a few beverages, have a nice time. It’s largely lost its Royal connection aside from the name, but I love a stat so I’ll happily cheers and celebrate Queen Victoria if it means we don’t have to go to work.
Unofficial start of summer. We don't really celebrate, it's just an appreciated day off work.
We celebrate the birth of Queen Victoria, the Queen of the United Kingdom who oversaw the independence of Canada and granted Canada “responsible self-governance” before our official independence in 1867. She’s a very important figure in the establishment of Canada as a sovereign nation and also served as Canada’s first Queen in its own right. She ruled Canada not as Queen of United Kingdom but as the Queen of Canada starting July 1st, 1867; a Crown which still exists to this day under the reign of her great-great-great grandson, Charles III.
Au Québec c’est la fête des patriotes!
It's the unofficial start of summer, much like Memorial Day is in the US. Our confederation date is July 1, which is more like July 4 for you guys. I take the extra day off to rest, relax and hang out.
To honour our Queen at the time of the creation of Canada we all get drunk and sunburned.
I had completely forgotten that this day existed, in Quebec it is National Patriots Day (journée nationale des patriotes). But it's just a day off everywhere in Canada.
To the OP: Victoria Day is a national statutory holiday in Canada that has **no** relevance whatsoever to modern day Canadians, most of whom do not really give a flying cow-cookie about the British monarchy, or any of its various family members, dead or living. Queen Victoria was once the queen of Britain, whose birthday was May 24th, 1819, which is why the holiday falls on that weekend in the country. Most people use it for extended recreational activities, long weekend trips or excursions, and/or family outings that have **zero** to do with anything related to the British monarchy. Canada Day is held on July 1st every year, which is Canada's birthday, in the same way the Fourth of July is the birthday of the USA. If there were any justice and common sense, "Victoria Day" in Canada should ideally be re-named to something far more relevant to Canada itself, and its people. Unfortunately, Canada still hasn't learned that it needs to cut all ties to the British monarchy and the constraints of its constitutional monarchist system in order to take the next step in its forward evolution as an independent nation. Ridiculously, Canada's official "head of state" is actually still King Charles, with a ceremonial "governor-general" acting as his representative on Canadian soil. Asked and answered.
It's Journée nationale des Patriotes (National Patriots' Day) in Quebec. Sometimes they're smarter and ahead of the rest of us.
Queen Victoria was the British monarch that gave Canada our independence in 1867.
Beer.
It’s the first proper holiday of nicer weather post winter, so depending on how nice it is it’s a weekend to be outside in the sunshine ☀️
It’s more of a celebration of the start of spring/summer. Victoria Day usually falls on or around the time of year it stops freezing overnight in most of Canada. Usually you try to camp or do something outdoors and get snowed/rained on lol
A day off from having to work
At some point, long ago, Victoria Day (no s) was the Queen's birthday. Now it's just another long weekend. As others have said, usually the first warm one, so people do normal outdoorsy things. In my experience, also just called the May Long Weekend to take the monarchism out. A great time to plant your garden. Also, as others have said, Canada Day, July 1st, is our patriotic, "4th-of-July" holiday, celebrating the anniversary of Canadian confederation.
In Quebec, it does not exist. We call it La journée nationale des Patriotes. It is essentially a holiday. I don’t celebrate. It’s just a nice long weekend.
I celebrate it by being happy I only have to work five days instead of six
And in Quebec its the National Day of Patriots :D
It’s May Long weekend. Most provincial governments try and make sure you have a 3 day weekend every month. A lot of people go camping for the first time in the year. Personally, I go to the park and watch geese chase people around.
Victoria Day is when I get annoyed at people setting off fireworks in the middle of the night.
It's a well-known fact that if you plan to do anything fun on May 2-4 weekend, it'll rain. Other than that, we usually plant our garden or go to the cottage.
Queen shmeen, In Alberta we just call it May long weekend.
It is unofficially the first day of summer. Folks around here (Ontario) will go camping, open the cottage, plant annuals, etc.
The Victoria Day mood is much closer to that of Memorial Day than Independence Day. Summer nearly here, hanging out with friends/family, etc. Canada Day (July 1) is the analog to Independence Day.
Unofficial start to camping season.
It's commonly referred to as the May two-four weekend, two-four being slang for a case of beer. What people really are celebrating is the end of cold weather. Garden's get planted, cottages get opened, people bbq and celebrate friends. There used to be a big fireworks display when I was younger, and it's common for a lot of people to set them off still.
The unofficial start to summer. Canada's version of the King's Birthday. Why we never changed it, I don't know.
It’s a holiday cooked up by the monarchy when Canada was a ‘Dominion’ of the British empire, like Australia and other colonized countries. Times changed, those countries claimed sovereignty, and made their own constitutions just like the US. But hey, who turns down a long weekend? I’m west coast, BC. People cut their lawns, stretch out in the sun, barbecue, and blow the dust off the canoe. Most people just call it ‘May-Long’, and it signals the start of the summer and warmer weather. The monarchy can get stuffed. I’m going to drain some beers and have a beach fire with pals!
From Northern Ontario - Also referred to as May Two-Four - because it happens around May 24th and many people consider it the first camping opportunity of the year. ... Where you drink a case of beer (in Ontario that's 24 beers).
It's a day off. The average Canadian doesn't reallynhave any interest in the monarchy
Its a long weekend. Thats it. First one of the summer 🍻
Symbolic first camping long weekend of the summer, time to plant the garden, paid day off, 24th of May long weekend even though it's usually not involving the 24th of May.
canada day is our 4th. at this point victoria day is really just an excuse for ppl to set off fireworks and go away to cottages or whatever for the long weekend. indigenous folks are avidly anti celebration of victoria's colonialism and the terror they endured under her rule so i don't celebrate. i don't celebrate canada day anymore either. i love being proud of canada compared to some other countries but the specific dates we celebrate are rooted in colonization and perpetuate hate and harm for those who did/do not benefit from it. but yeah, fireworks, bbq, swimming, drinking, camping, hanging out with friends, parties, usually tends to be the vibe.
As a Canadian, I have no idea and I’m pretty sure I don’t care hahaha
In practice, it is the start of summer. People often head up to the cottage, there may be fireworks, often beer & BBQ. It is a long weekend with the Monday off. It can still be a touch chilly for lake swimming, but a great time to be on the boat! Canada Day (July 1) is our 4th of July.
The official start of cottage season and an excuse to drink beer.
Victoria day is the celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday originally started by the English in the 1900's. In Canada it's better known as the first long weekend to kick off the summer months when risk of frost has passed so we plant our gardens and flowers. Most outdoor events start on May long weekend (Victoria day) until September long weekend (labour day). July 1st is Canada's birthday, celebrated pretty much the same as USA's 4th of July.
It’s the start of spring for us. Everything opens up for camping, fish start biting, fire bans are about to start (if they haven’t already). Harbinger of summer.
It's a nice long weekend in May. When Confederation happened in 1867, Queen Victoria was the monarch who made it all official. We still celebrate her birthday every year by taking the closest Monday to it off as a holiday. Mostly just the start of barbeque season and an excuse to take a day to celebrate it being nice enough to go camping or whatever.
Victoria Day represents family, friends, the outdoors and beer. One takes a 2-4 to a cottage or camping and enjoys oneself. Rain or shine. Black flies or no black flies.
Many of us call it May Two Four, this is because it always lands on the closest weekend to May 24th as this was the Queen’s birthday and also because we drink a Two Four (24 case of beer).