The National Acadian Day (french: Fête nationale de l'Acadie) is observed in parts of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...

each year on August 15, to celebrate

Acadian The Acadians (french: Acadiens , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Most Acadians live in the region of Acadia, as it is the region where the desc ...

culture. It was during the first National Convention of the Acadians held at

Memramcook Memramcook, sometimes also spelled Memramcouke or Memramkouke, is a village in Westmorland County, New Brunswick, Canada. Located in south-eastern New Brunswick, the community is predominantly people of Acadian descent who speak the Chiac der ...

New Brunswick New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...

, in 1881 that the Acadian leaders received the mandate to set the date of this celebration, which is also the feast of the

Assumption of Mary The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution '' Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows: We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by ...

. The choice of the date was the object of a debate at the convention between those wishing for Acadians to celebrate June 24, Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day, and National Day of

French Canadians French Canadians (referred to as Canadiens mainly before the twentieth century; french: Canadiens français, ; feminine form: , ), or Franco-Canadians (french: Franco-Canadiens), refers to either an ethnic group who trace their ancestry to Fren ...

since 1834 and National Holiday of Quebec since 1977, and others wishing the celebration to occur on August 15. The arguments put forth by those who favoured June 24 were: * Acadians must unite with the other

francophone French became an international language in the Middle Ages, when the power of the Kingdom of France made it the second international language, alongside Latin. This status continued to grow into the 18th century, by which time French was the l ...

Canadians in common objectives before the anglophone majority of Canada.When is National Acadian Day celebrated?
, in the site of the ''Acadian Museum of Prince Edward Island'', retrieved on February 10, 2008 * August 15 occurs during harvest, so it would be difficult for all to be free for the celebration. The arguments put forth by those who favoured August 15 were: * The Acadians constitute a distinct nationality/ethnicity and must adopt their own national day. * The adoption of a national day distinct from that of French Canadians will not prevent unity between the two peoples. * June 24 occurs during seeds, so it would be equally difficult for all to be free for the celebration. * August 15 is Assumption Day, Catholic celebration of Virgin Mary, patron saint of the Acadians. During this period of time, a good number of people among the Acadian leaders were traditionalists wishing for the conservation of the values and customs of pre-revolutionary France. This did not however prevent the Acadians from adopting a tricolor flag three years later at the Miscouche convention. Abbot Marcel-François Richard, who favoured August 15, is believed to have had an influence on the decision with the speech he gave at the convention. He said: In the end, the members present at the convention decided on August 15. The

Vatican Vatican may refer to: Vatican City, the city-state ruled by the pope in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica, Sistine Chapel, Vatican Museum The Holy See * The Holy See, the governing body of the Catholic Church and sovereign entity recognized ...

ratified the choice of the Acadian convention many years later in a proclamation issued on January 19, 1938. The

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada (french: Parlement du Canada) is the federal legislature of Canada, seated at Parliament Hill in Ottawa, and is composed of three parts: the King, the Senate, and the House of Commons. By constitutional convention, ...

made National Acadian Day an official Canadian holiday on June 19, 2003.National Acadian Day Act
, on the Justice Canada website, retrieved on August 5, 2017 National Acadian Day is often dubbed by Acadians in

Chiac Chiac (or ''Chiak'', ''Chi’aq''), is a Creole variety of Acadian French spoken mostly in southeastern New Brunswick, Canada. Chiac is often characterized and distinguished from other forms of Acadian French by its borrowings from English, ...

as "Quinze zou des fous" (Quinze-Août des Fous) or simply "Quinze zou".

Notes

See also