National Acadian Day


The National Acadian Day is observed in parts of Canada each year on August 15, to celebrate Acadian culture. It was during the first National Convention of the Acadians held at Memramcook, New Brunswick, 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 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 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:
The arguments put forth by those who favoured August 15 were:
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 ratified the choice of the Acadian convention many years later in a proclamation issued on January 19, 1938.
The Parliament of Canada made National Acadian Day an official Canadian holiday on June 19, 2003.