In the summer of 1955, Acadians commemorated the bicentenary of the deportation of their ancestors between 1755 and 1762. Throughout the Maritimes the occasion gave rise to a multitude of local events. However, it was large-scale celebrations that attracted the most attention. From Moncton to Grand-Pré, historical pageants, folk concerts, religious celebrations, banquets, and parades followed one after another. All culminated on August 15, Assumption Day, the national holiday. Société Radio-Canada televised these events.

Representatives of important Acadian institutions, such as the Société mutuelle l’Assomption, organized these celebrations. They hoped to encourage popular political involvement and provide new impetus to the Société nationale l’Assomption (SNA), which was to be given a permanent office.

These celebrations blended tradition and modernity. On the one hand, they reiterated the “providential” message that Acadia was saved by its faith. On the other, they demonstrated a resolute focus on Acadia’s recent progress and anticipation of a better, more modern future. No trace of rancour was shown towards the perpetrators of the events commemorated; indeed, the theme of the Moncton parade was “Acadie triomphante ou l’Acadie de 1955” (Triumphing Acadia or Acadia in 1955).

These celebrations had many reverberations. For example, Baig’s of Moncton invited the public to a “bicentennial bomb” to clear out its furniture inventory (L’Évangéline, August 11, 1955). In Quebec, too, the Société Saint-Jean-Baptiste de Montréal gave Acadia pride of place in its June 24 parade (Le Devoir, March 30, 1955). Among French-speaking minority communities, events were covered by newspapers (La Liberté et Le Patriote, August 13, 1955; La Survivance, August 10, 1955).

National holidays are sometimes used to create new traditions. The first tintamarre, a form of popular demonstration in which the crowd is invited to make as much noise as possible, symbolized the continuing presence of Acadians in the territory. The practice has since spread to French-speaking communities across Canada.