DCHP-2

St. Jean Baptiste Day Saint Jean Baptiste Day, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, St. Jean Baptiste day DCHP-2 (October 2016)

• n. — Quebec, Social customs

  the former name of the Fête Nationale of Quebec, which is held on June 24th, the feast day of St. John the Baptist.

  Type: 4. Culturally Significant — The first recorded celebration of a St. Jean Baptiste Day in Canada occurred as early as 1636 and was reported in the Journal des Jésuites. The Jesuits report that a fire was lit in honour of Saint John on June 24th. Saint John the Baptist would later become the patron saint of Quebec (see Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. "St-Jean-Baptiste celebrations"). The Fête de la Saint-Jean-Baptiste was founded in 1834, and journalists began encouraging its celebration. In 1977, the celebration was made an official statutory holiday (see Canadian Encyclopedia, s.v. "La Fête Nationale Du Québec [Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day]"). The holiday is an important and unifying national celebration in Quebec. St. Jean Baptiste Day is a lexical transfer from Quebec French; in English it is not translated to "Saint John the Baptist Day", but has retained its French spelling, said usually with the French pronunciation followed by the English word day. The term is most prevalent in Canada (see Chart 1), and within Canada it is most frequent in Quebec (see Chart 2).
  See also COD-2, s.v. "Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day", and Gage-5, s.v. "St. Jean Baptiste Day", which are marked "Cdn".

  See also: Fête Nationale  Bonfire Night