Queen Victoria,

[stewey]

thank you, Your Highness, for being born on May 24th thus giving your Colonial Subjects, we Canadians, an excuse for a long-weekend: Victoria Day................God bless the Queen!

[wooliej]

Is this just in British Columbia or all over Canada?

[stewey]

It's nationwide, wooliej. I've noticed that you lot don't give your long-weekends a disignation; you just refer to them as bank holidays.

[cazzz1975]

how come we dont have victoria day?

[Old_Geezer]

Some designations seem to have got dropped over the years.
May day, whitsun, etc..

[Old_Geezer]

Yeah let's all have Monday off as Beckham day.

[DrFilth]

the government got the kinks to do us a record instead

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2GHlcwlT1Y

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2GHlcwlT1Y

[stewey]

An interesting feature of this holiday is that there are numerous large fireworks displays all over the place. Sort of like your Nov. 5th.

[Booldawg]

I thought May Day and Whitsun were the 2 Bank Holidays we have in May?

[Old_Geezer]

Yeah but who calis it that any more. It's all "early May bank holiday" and "Spring bank holiday" these days.

The early one changed when they decided we couldn;t have 1st May every year but the nearest Monday. The second one, well by defintion that's really a Sunday.