What's old, what's new, and what's a tradition at P.E.I. levees this year

Holding a levee on New Year's Day is a distinctively Canadian tradition, and it is one that is particularly strong on Prince Edward Island.

The receptions were originally formal court receptions held by the sovereign and were for men only. On P.E.I. they have been expanding in recent years. All levels of government hold them, community centres and some businesses too.

And these days everyone is welcome. Peter Rukavina, who has been publishing a list of P.E.I. levees for 15 years, waited a decade after moving to the Island before attending for the first time.

"I'd never really known that I was eligible to go to levees. I thought it was only for high society," said Rukavina.

"It turns out that anyone can go to a levee and so once I discovered that I thought, you know, because I'm a data scientist at heart I thought, well we should have a way of better organizing this."

A day-long ramble

Rukavina's list contains 44 levees across the Island for 2020. He said there are not usually a lot of changes from year to year, with most levees going at the same time and place, but he checks in with everyone to confirm before putting them on the list.

New to the list this year is the Town of Three Rivers and the P.E.I. Billiards Association. Off the list is Canoe Cove.

Levees are scattered throughout the day, usually only an hour or two long, with the idea that you can attend a number of them.

Traditionally the first levee is at the lieutenant-governor's at 10 a.m., but there are two scheduled before that if you are really looking to get an early start.

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