It's the day of the Royal St. John's Regatta, which bills itself as North America's oldest continuous sporting event, and is held every year on Quidi Vidi Lake. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_St._John%27s_Regatta) Oh, and the boats are the old-fashioned wooden kind with fixed seats; originally, I suspect, this was due to lack of money for fibre glass ones, but by now it's Tradition.

The races are on all day, but most people just go down for cotton candy, ice cream, and fair games.

Oh, and there's fireworks at the end.


Most people don't mind too much when we get holidays mid-week... a day off's a day off, and it's kind of fun to confuse the tourists. :-)