Acadian tradition of La Chandeleur celebrates community in winter's darkness
The Feb. 2 holiday brings people together to help others
February 2, exactly 40 days after Christmas, is known across most of North America as Groundhog Day.
But for Acadians, the historically French-speaking people of the Atlantic region, it's also La Chandeleur — a day to welcome back the sun and celebrate with food and parties.
"It was a special day of the year, which is really mid-winter," said Georges Arsenault, a historian and folklorist in Prince Edward Island.
"So there's all kinds of beliefs and practices, you know, linked to that part of the season."
La Chandeleur was originally a Christian Feast Day, Candlemas in English, when candles would be blessed by the church.
But in Acadie it was also a traditional holiday, a chance to come together for a mid-winter party and help those in need.
On dark, cold mornings in Acadian communities across P.E.I., men from the village would gather to run the Chandeleur, or courir la Chandeleur.
"They would have at least one horse, maybe two, to have a sleigh to put what they would collect. And when they went to a house, they would knock at the door and say, 'Would you let the Chandeleur in?'" said Arsenault.
"The captain would come in first and the others would follow and they'd make kind of a round dance in the kitchen. And the captain — the chef of the Chandeleur — would carry a pole with a rooster on top."
I think it's important to not forget about your roots.- Susan Shive, teacher at École Saint-Augustin
The rooster perplexed Arsenault at first, he said, but he thinks it may have been a holdover from France and the cock-fighting that was popular during Mardi Gras. Over the years, the traditions may have become mixed.
At each house the men visited, Arsenault said, people would donate whatever they could: pork, potatoes, flour, etc. The donations would be given to a family in need in the village or contributed to a communal supper.
La Chandeleur was one of the first subjects Arsenault researched, back during his master's degree.
"I had to do a special research and I decided to do it on La Chandeleur. So when I came home for Christmas I went around, interviewed quite a few people who had stories or remembered the tradition," said Arsenault.
The Chandeleur tradition on P.E.I. existed during the 1800s but died out in many communities early in the 20th century, he said.
"But it became quite popular in the Evangeline area during the Great Depression," he said.
"There was no work … so the villages are full of young men who are looking for something to do and there were, you know, people who had a hard time raising their family."
Arsenault ended up publishing his research as a book in 1982. Much later, he did more research throughout the Maritimes and wrote another book about La Chandeleur, translated into English in 2011 with the title Acadian Traditions on Candlemas Day.
'A whole new world' of culture
Susan Shive first discovered Acadian traditions, including La Chandeleur, while living in the Magdalen Islands.
"It was really fascinating to me that almost everyone played music or could make amazing meals and traditional recipes," said Shive.
"I just kind of embraced it and thought it was so interesting. It was just a whole new world to me."
When Shive moved to Rustico and began teaching at École Saint-Augustin, she learned more about La Chandeleur from other teachers and began teaching the students in her class about it.
"I think it's important to not forget about your roots," said Shive.
"Even the history of the French schools in Prince Edward Island … and generations of, basically, assimilation, when French schools were closed. So it's just trying to keep that tradition alive."
That story of assimilation is one of many Island Acadian families, forced to send their children to English schools after the small French village schools closed throughout the mid-20th century.
In the early 1980s, a French school opened in Charlottetown, and in 1990, the French school board was established. By the early 2000s, other French schools, including one in Rustico, were opening across P.E.I.
Schools have 'double mission'
"We basically have a double mission," said Shive. "Not only just to teach in the French language, math and literacy … to teach them about the Francophone and Acadian culture as well."
She began teaching her students about La Chandeleur, taking them from class to class with a trolley to mirror what used to be done in Acadian villages.
"So each classroom was a home and we sang our little Chandeleur song and collected food for food banks," said Shive.
"This was Grade 1-2 combined, so they're quite small. But just to even go into different classes and be the class that took … the lead in this project. They were quite proud to do it and quite proud to contribute."
Holiday ended with party
Traditionally, after the collection was over, everyone in the village would gather at someone's house for a party and a meal, said Arsenault.
"That was a good way of spending the long winter days when there was not much going on," he said.
This year, for the first time since the COVID-19 pandemic began, the Conseil Acadien de Rustico, the French community centre attached to the school, will hold a free pancake supper to celebrate La Chandeleur.
There is also a chance to courir la Chandeleur in Wellington at the Place du Village starting at 3 p.m. Thursday with a pancake supper from 4 to 6 p.m.
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