I am stepping away from the Tulip Festival for one day. On Victoria Day, a 21 gun salute to Queen Victoria is fired off on the east side of Centre Block on Parliament Hill. It is very loud, hearing these field guns go off, but it brings out the crowds beforehand. This year with the work being done on various buildings, the scaffolding makes for a different backdrop.
A few minutes before noon, the crowds are sent back a short distance to watch, and advised that the sound will be loud. Note the Union Jack flying on the flagpole at the right- another Victoria Day tradition on the Hill.
And at noon, the guns start firing. The statues of the Famous Five just have to put up with the noise.
All right! I'll bet that was loud.
ReplyDeleteIt even looks loud.
ReplyDeleteThese events with cannons always make me think of Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture!
ReplyDeleteJanis
GDP
Sounds great. It is nice to see things which you which i can't see it real...
ReplyDeleteIt's good to celebrate things so you do not forget!
ReplyDeleteTomás.
I hope you brought ear protection!
ReplyDeleteThat must be quite a noise, Victoria Day,still celebrating the old Queen with gunfires? That is a long tribute.
ReplyDeleteI've heard guns like these being used during performances of the 1812 Overture.
ReplyDeleteIn my imagination I'm hearing the guns go off! ;)
ReplyDeleteA celebration is a celebration!
ReplyDeleteOh wow! From the photos, I can imagine it was really loud!
ReplyDeletegreat shots! looks like a fun event!
ReplyDeleteWonderfull shots, I bet it was loud
ReplyDeleteHmmm....looks like a battlefield what with all that smoke. I hope the queen was pleased! Boom!
ReplyDeleteWonderful shots of a nice tradition.
ReplyDeletei'd not enjoy that.
ReplyDeleteLots of smoke and noise. I guess it's a tradition to let the big guns go off for a celebration. I will have to check on the origins.
ReplyDelete@Linda: it was!
ReplyDelete@Whisk: definitely.
@Janis: in the later summer, there's an event on the Hill that incorporates the 1812 Overture.
@Weekend: that's what these blogs are for!
@Tomas: definitely.
@Halcyon: I didn't, but I know the sound well enough that it doesn't bother me. Lots of kids were holding their hands over their ears.
@Marianne: she was the Queen when Confederation was begun in 1867, so that's one of the reasons we have a holiday in her honour.
@Revrunner: and they use them here for the 1812 Overture as well, along with a military brass band and the bells of the Peace Tower.
@EG: it's quite a sound.
@Luis: it certainly is.
@Tamago: very much so.
@Tanya: it was!
@Bill: very loud!
@Lowell: a lot of smoke, fortunately safe fire.
@Jan: it is a good tradition.
@Tex: the noise can be bothersome.
@Red: a traditional salute to the monarch often involves this sort of thing.
That must have been fun to watch even if it was a bit loud!
ReplyDeleteGreat captures of the event!
ReplyDeleteToo funny with the Famous Five having tea there.
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures, I would really like to see (and hear) this!
ReplyDeleteIt got a bit smokey around there!
ReplyDeleteScary sounds to many!
ReplyDeleteLotta smoke those big guns make. Not to mention the noise too.
ReplyDeleteMB
@Sharon: it was enjoyable.
ReplyDelete@Linda: thanks!
@Jackie: one of them even looks like she's plugging her ears.
@VP: it's a tradition I like to take in every year!
@Judy: it certainly did.
@RedPat: there were some babies around, you could hear them crying.
@MB: a lot of smoke indeed!
So that's what they mean when they say, "Pulling out the big guns!"
ReplyDeleteStirring and fitting, Wm!
ReplyDelete( '>
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ALOHA from Honolulu,
ComfortSpiral
=^..^=
OMG Those poor women! :-)
ReplyDeleteThat does it! I'm absolutely going to have to come up there for the tulip festival around Victoria Day! I love big guns going off!
ReplyDeleteImpressive! Did you bring ear plugs?!
ReplyDeleteYou should have done it as a video. Then you could have included the sound, too!
ReplyDeleteJust wonderful and of course very loud.
ReplyDeletecheers, parsnip
nice to see.
ReplyDeleteI can almost hear them :) enjoyed the photos.
ReplyDeleteGreat tradition, well done...
ReplyDelete@Virginia: in this case, it's an apt description!
ReplyDelete@Cloudia: thanks!
@Jennifer: yes, all that noise!
@Cheryl: they use them for Remembrance Day too, but then the effect is very different.
@Ciel: I did not, but the distance does help in that respect.
@Norma: I didn't think of that! My camera does allow for videos.
@Parsnip: very loud indeed!
@Gill: thanks!
@Denise: thank you.
@Geoff: it's a wonderful tradition to have.
I do hope they had earplugs for any children.
ReplyDeleteHere's a song to celebrate her day. "Victoria" by the Kinks.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdGqJpTvp2c
Quite the display.
ReplyDeleteIt's interesting how some traditions live on.
ReplyDeleteThe Famous Five :) one of my favourite series of books by Enid Blyton when I was a youngster! Quite an impressive sight when the cannons are fired William.
ReplyDeleteLooks like fun.
ReplyDeleteBoom!
ReplyDelete@Mari: they do warn parents in advance.
ReplyDelete@Birdman: different!
@Randy: indeed.
@Hamilton: it is, yes.
@Grace: the Famous Five are currently out of sight, and may be inaccessible for some time to come.
@Shelly: it is.
@Peter: boom indeed.