The National Acadian Day () is observed in parts of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

each year on August 15, to celebrate

Acadian The Acadians (; , ) are an ethnic group descended from the French who settled in the New France colony of Acadia during the 17th and 18th centuries. Today, most descendants of Acadians live in either the Northern American region of Acadia, ...

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

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, 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 Catholic Mariology#Dogmatic teachings, Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it on 1 November 1950 in his apostolic constitution as follows: It leaves open the question of w ...

. 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 Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day (), also known in English as ''St John the Baptist Day'', is a holiday celebrated on June 24 in the Canadian province of Quebec. It was brought to Canada by French settlers celebrating the traditional feast day of the Na ...

, and National Day of

French Canadians French Canadians, referred to as Canadiens mainly before the nineteenth century, are an ethnic group descended from French colonists first arriving in France's colony of Canada in 1608. The vast majority of French Canadians live in the provi ...

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 The Francophonie or Francophone world is the whole body of people and organisations around the world who use the French language regularly for private or public purposes. The term was coined by Onésime Reclus in 1880 and became important a ...

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

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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 () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

made National Acadian Day an official Canadian holiday on June 19, 2003. Acadian Day is an officially recognised in Nova Scotia under the ''Provincial Acadian Day Act''. National Acadian Day is often dubbed by Acadians in Chiac as "Quinze zou des fous" (Quinze-Août des Fous) or simply "Quinze zou".

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