VICTORIA DAY A visitor to Canada might sometimes think they are in Britain.

Canadians celebrate many of the same holidays. There are English pubs, Irish folks, Scottish highland games, and customs such as the opening of Parliament and the Trooping of the colour. Many place names are the same: Glasgow, Liverpool, Oxford, Windsor, Caledonia. For six months of the year, the Stratford Shakespeare festival in Ontario puts on plays by William Shakespeare, Englands most famous writer. Victoria Day first became a special holiday in Canada in 1845. It originally celebrated Queen Victorias birthday on May 24th. She was queen from 1837 to 1901. Canadians celebrate Victoria Day on a Monday every year, on or before May 25th. They have fireworks, picnics, sports events, boat trips and parties with their families and friends. Canadian also use this day to honour Queen Elizabeth. Many Canadians love the monarchy and they love to welcome Queen Elizabeth when she visits them. Victoria Day Is also a holiday in the French-speaking parts of Canada, but the French Canadians in Quebec celebrate the Journe Nationale des Patriotes in honour of French Canadian patriots in a rebellion in Lower Canada in 1837.