La Fête Nationale du Quebec (Previously known as Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day) is a holiday celebrated on June 24 in the province of Quebec, Canada and by French Canadians across Canada. It was brought to Canada by French settlers celebrating the traditional feast day of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist.
In Quebec, La Fête Nationale du Quebec June 24 (Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day) is officially a paid statutory public holiday covered under the Act Respecting Labour Standards. In 1977, on the advice of René Lévesque, a Quebecois nationalist icon and leader, June 24 was declared the national holiday of Quebec.
The tradition landed in Canada with the first French colonists. The first mention of celebrations of Saint-Jean-Baptiste in North America dates back to 1606, when settlers en route to the future Acadia rested on the coast of Newfoundland, June 23.
