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Saint Jean Baptiste Day (Feast of Saint John the Baptist) is a day to honor Saint John the Baptist, the man who baptized Jesus Christ in the Jordan River. The holiday is celebrated in the French Canadian provinces with open-air concerts, parades, and fireworks displays. Alternate names include language La Saint-Jean, Fête Nationale du Québec, St. John the Baptist Day, and Quebec's National Holiday.
In Quebec, Saint Jean Baptiste Day is a public holiday, meaning that public offices are closed, and public transportation has a limited schedule.
This day is a paid day off holiday if this date falls on a Sunday for workers who work that day. Like most festivals that fall in the Midsummer, Saint Jean Baptiste Day has its roots in the pre-Christianity times when the summer solstice is celebrated in Europe. When Europe converted to Christianity, pagan elements were incorporated into the celebrations introduced by French colonists in Canada. The first celebration of Saint Jean Baptiste Day occurred on the banks of the Saint Lawrence River with bonfires and munitions salutes using canons and muskets.
Saint Jean Baptiste Day was first officially observed in 1843 after Ludger Duvernay decided to have an event similar to Montreal's St. Patrick's Day. That year, he established the Saint Jean Baptiste Society as the promotional tool for the celebration. With the backing of the Catholic Church, in 1880, the Saint Jean Baptiste Society formed the first Congrès National des Canadians Français during the festival, and the song "O Canada" was first performed.
By 1908, Saint John the Baptist became the patron Saint of Quebec.
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