The Canadian province that observes Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day as a public holiday on June 24 is Quebec.
The holiday honors John the Baptist and grew from the French Catholic feast of his Nativity. French settlers brought the tradition to North America, and celebrations gradually developed a distinctly French-Canadian identity, featuring parades, bonfires, concerts, fireworks, flags, and public speeches.
The Saint-Jean-Baptiste Society helped establish June 24 as an important French-Canadian patriotic occasion. In 1925, the date became a legal provincial holiday in Quebec. In 1977, the Quebec government formally designated June 24 as the province’s National Holiday, commonly called the Fête nationale du Québec.
The date is close to the June solstice, which helps explain why midsummer customs such as bonfires are often associated with the celebration. A frequent misunderstanding is that Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day is a nationwide Canadian statutory holiday. Its official public-holiday status belongs to Quebec, although French-Canadian communities elsewhere may also celebrate it culturally.