Tintamarre is a tradition for people of Acadian descent in Canada to march and make noise, usually on National Acadian Day.
It was started in 1955 during the commemorations of the 200th anniversary of the Expulsion of the Acadians. The Archbishop of Moncton,New Brunswick gave instructions to those attending. He adviced families to kneel in prayer once the church bells began to ring and after that prayer he instructed people to make a lot of noise to show everyone the Acadians are back.
In 1979, for 375th of the anniversary of they founding of Acadia, celebrations in Caraquet, NB, revived the Tintamarre and the slogan was “We’ve come back and we’re here to stay.” The Tintamarre continued every year since in Caraquet and has had up to 40,000 participants. It also continues in several cities across Canada.
The celebrationCaraquet is very fun and very moving.
I read Longfellow’s poem, Evangeline (1847), in high school. Remembered the sad parts but didn’t really pay attention to the whole story. Thanks, Rob.