The Village Opens This Weekend - With Queen Victoria's Birthday Celebrations

Birthday cake and lemonade, hand-pumped fire engine trials, 19th century athletic games, military patrols, drills and musters, old-fashioned “Massachusetts”- style baseball, speeches, singing and the celebratory firing of rifles will all mark Queen Victoria’s Birthday during Upper Canada Village’s opening weekend.

At Upper Canada Village, the upcoming holiday weekend marks more than its Opening Day on May 19. On Sunday and Monday, May 20 and 21, the Village is encouraging the public to take a trip back in time and join in its Queen Victoria’s Birthday Celebrations, an event that was already widely recognized as an important national holiday in the 1860s.

Signs of a 19th century celebration will be evident as soon as visitors pass through the gates of the Village during this annual outdoor event, with flags and colourful bunting adorning many of the heritage buildings on site. A number of historical activities scheduled for Sunday and Monday will bring to life the same community excitement that would have been felt in Upper Canada in the year 1866.

The true tribute to the Queen will be when villagers and visitors to the site join in singing “God Save the Queen”, hear patriotic speeches and recitations, and offer three cheers to “Her Majesty”. On Sunday, there will also be a special performance put together by children from the Village, and a Feu-de-Joie (the successive firing of rifles) by special guests the Brockville Infantry Company will complete the ceremony.

The Brockville Infantry Company will be on hand to perform patrols, drills and manoeuvres with military precision. Non-uniformed village men will be recruited and drilled as part of a sedentary militia muster on Sunday afternoon just before 1:00 p.m. It is rumoured that even visiting children and their parents may be sought after to join in the militia drills, where they will be invited to dress in a red coat, and have their skills tested (2:45 p.m.). The Brockville Infantry Company will return for another demonstration of their prowess on Sunday afternoon (3:30 p.m.).

Children and adults alike will be thrilled during the Fire Engine Trials on Sunday and Monday. The “Queen”, a shiny new state-of-the-art engine of the day, will be hand-pulled by the Fire Company and a stream of water shot through the air.

Always a popular part of any 1860s celebration, and sure to be a hit for modern-day guests at Upper Canada Village, are a number of athletic games such as tug-of-war, relay races and sack races, to be held on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m. After the games, children and their families will be invited to have a piece of birthday cake and a drink of lemonade.

A highlight at the same time on Monday afternoon will be a friendly game of baseball that takes advantage of the arrival of spring, where villagers and visitors alike will gather in the fairgrounds to play, adhering to the old-fashioned Massachusetts rules.

“Queen Victoria’s Birthday Celebrations” is the first in a series of events at Upper Canada Village in May, including “Spring on the Farm” (May 22 to June 3), and “Heirloom Plant Sale and Garden Weekend” (May 26 and 27).