Okay, so I’m a little bit behind the ball here since Victoria Day started about 19 hours ago (my time) and ends in about 5 hours, but I still felt it important to convey best wishes on a holiday that is important to Canadians, although not necessarily celebrated in earnest by any other country in the world.  While there are other countries such as Scotland that do celebrate Victoria Day in some areas, all of Canada celebrates it and that makes it an important topic for The Toronto Traveler.

Speaking Victoria Day like a Torontonian

While Victoria Day is most definitely the official title of the holiday in Toronto, you’ll also hear it referred to on a frequent basis as the May Long Weekend, because it happens to be a federal statutory holiday in nine provinces and three territories, with Quebec also celebrating a provincial holiday at the same time.  Other more colloquial ways to refer to Victoria Day are May Long, May Run and The May Two-Four, in honour of the term we use for a case of 24 bottles of beer!

The History of Victoria Day

May 24th is the birth date of Queen Victoria, the first sovereign of Canada after confederation in 1867.  Before that however there was already a tradition of celebrating Victoria’s birthday as in 1854 on May 24th over 5000 residents of what was then known as Upper Canada gathered to celebrate the Queen’s birthday.

In 1901, May 24th was declared Empire Day throughout the British Empire, although because each new sovereign had a different birthday, chaos tended to ensue with people not being exactly sure when each successive yearly celebration of Empire Day would take place.  Eventually, Empire Day became Victoria Day and was settled as being on the Monday on or before May 24th, Queen Victoria’s birthday.

This way the day would be known well in advance every year and there would be less confusion on when to celebrate it.  Incidentally enough, Victoria Day as a holiday often coincides with Memorial Day in the United States, although this year the two dates will be missing each other by a week.

Celebrating Victoria Day

The best way to celebrate Victoria Day in any part of the city is fireworks!  And indeed, there are many public places within Toronto that have fireworks on this day as well as many individuals that go out to open areas and light fireworks of their own.  If you keep your eyes peeled to the sky once twilight and night hit the city, you should definitely be able to see one sweet show.

There are also parades in many cities on Victoria Day, the most famous of which takes place in Victoria, British Columbia.  That city was named after the monarch, so it seems only fitting that the largest parade happen there each and every year.

So once again, The Toronto Traveller wishes you all a very happy Victoria Day!

Photo Credits: Flickr, Flickr

Post from: The Toronto Traveler

- Torontonians frequently substitute the word Chesterfield in for the word couch

- Torontonians and most other Canadians use the proper term Inuit instead of the term Eskimo

- When Torontonians say the word ‘film’, it usually comes a lot closer to sounding like ‘fillum’

- When we say the word hockey, it means ice hockey, because that’s obviously the best kind. Don’t cross us on this one

- Most Torontonians will substitute the phrase ‘icing sugar’ for the phrase ‘powdered sugar’

- If you hear a Torontonian say ‘The Rock’, they might just as likely be talking about Newfoundland as they are about the wrestler

- Rubbers means rubber boots, get your mind out of the gutter people!

- A case of beer that has 24 bottles in it is known as a two-four

- It’s pronounced ‘zed’, not ‘zee’

- Some Torontonians (mostly of the older generations) say “that’ll learn ya” as slang for “that will teach you”. I actually shouldn’t say of the older generations, because I probably do this myself relatively often

This is by no means an exhaustive list and I’ll probably do more at a later date, but for now this should get you started on your quest to sound like a Torontonian!

Post from: The Toronto Traveler