by Susan Keeping

Created on: June 18, 2008   Last Updated: March 28, 2011

With all the discussion and controversy about Quebec wanting to separate from Canada, most people assume that Canada Day is not celebrated in Quebec, and especially in Montreal. However, this is not true at all. While some Montreal citizens may hold anti-Canada Day demonstrations, most citizens of Montreal are proud Canadians who love to celebrate the birthday of their country. The governments of Canada and Quebec try to ensure that there will be lots of celebrations for those who live in and around the great city of Montreal.

Celebrating Canada Day in Montreal means lots of family friendly activities. This year, 2008, there will be hundreds of free activities held on the Quays of the Old Port of Montreal.

The Canada Day festivities will kick off at 8am with the HBC Run which raises money for young athletes. This run is held every Canada Day in fourteen cities throughout the country and is sponsored by the Hudson's Bay Company. Two hundred bursaries of $5,000 each are given to promising athletes.

The official Canada Day ceremonies will begin at 11:30am and will feature a citizenship ceremony in which hundreds of people sign an oath of citizenship to become Canadian citizens, a military parade, and a large birthday cake big enough for 2,000 people to share.

For the rest of the day there are a variety of events planned including a children's village which will feature face painting, street entertainers, mini-car racing and ten inflatables for children to play in. Other events will feature various sports activities such as a children's soccer clinic, a soccer tournament, and demonstrations of extreme acrobatic sports which includes BMX biking, inline skating and skateboarding. The extreme acrobatics sports demonstration will feature twelve top athletes from Quebec and Canada.

In the early to late afternoon there will be line dancing for all to participate in featuring a number of local bands and a multicultural food fair featuring food from various countries.

The evening's entertainment will get started around 8pm with Salsa dancing with the group Salsa Folie and then will end with a gala concert called "Dansons sur les quais" which will be hosted by Genevive Borne. The concert will feature musical guest such as Kain and Jonas, sports guests and, according to the website Celafete, "special effects never seen before in Montreal."

Sources:
Celafete: http://www.celafete.ca/montreal/index.php?lang=en

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