Pinic Day Northern Territory : First Monday in August

 Picnic Day is a local public holiday in the Northern Territory in Australia. The holiday is observed annually on the first Monday in August.

 

The origin of the Northern Territory Picnic Day is not completely clear. According to one source on Picnic Day the freeing of approximately 3000 Chinese Coolie workers is commemorated. The Chinese Coolies (they were actually slaves) provided the cheap labour for the construction of the North Australian Railway, a track that connected the cities of Darwin and Larrimah. After completion in 1889 the workers were given the right to stay in Australia as free citizens and received sufficient money for a passage by steamboat to Hong Kong. However the Chinese went to the Adelaide River for a picnic instead.

                                                                                                                         

Another source relates Picnic Day as well with the North Australian Railway. It mentions that the day was originally installed for the hard working rail workers to enjoy a picnic on the Adelaide River.

 

A last source states that Picnic Day has originated from a race meeting in 1947. The event was such a success that it became an annual tradition now known as the Harts Range annual races. An application was presented to the Northern Territory administration for a public holiday coinciding with the future dates of the Harts Range races. The administration agreed to it and baptized the day as the Northern Territory Picnic Day.

 

Nowadays Picnic Day in the Northern Territory above all, is a long weekend to relax or enjoy a short trip. However both the railway picnic and the Hart Range races remain popular activities during Picnic Day and the weekend before Picnic Day.