Colin and Justin: Docks, drinks and the great escape
In Canada, the May long weekend just feels like the start of summer. The season doesn't begin with a date on the calendar but when cottage country bursts into life across the long Victoria Day weekend. Suddenly, highways become rivers of roof-racked SUVs, beer coolers, and gardeners hauling flats of petunias toward lakes and family cabins. Docks are wrestled back into chilly water, barbecues roar, and the scent of pine needles, sunscreen, and charcoal hits like a national perfume.
Glorious, chaotic and utterly Canadian
This hallowed weekend remains the country's true seasonal reset. Known variously as Victoria Day weekend, May Long, or simply "May Two-Four," the annual holiday marks the moment cottage country emerges from its winter hibernation. Urban streets empty as highways heading north clog with kayak-crowned trucks. In Ontario, convoys snake toward Muskoka, Haliburton, Prince Edward County, and the Kawarthas. In Nova Scotia, families head for oceanfront 'bungalows' and weathered retreats. Quebecers decamp to their lakeside chalets. The instinct is universal: escape the city and reopen that shuttered retreat.
Labours of love
And "reopen" is the operative word. Unlike summer homes in warmer climates, Canadian cottages endure months of snow and sub-zero temperatures, which means that first long weekend of the warm season is typically spent not with cocktails on the dock, but with practical labour. Water systems are restarted. Outdoor furniture emerges from the shed. Fallen branches are dragged into piles. Windows are flung open to air out months of mustiness, and someone inevitably discovers that Mickey Mouse and his cohorts have been partying hard in the pantry.
Still, there's romance in the ritual. That first spring coffee on the deck tastes somehow better. Lake water sparkles with possibility, even if it's still too cold for swimming. Neighbours reappear after months away and reunite over fences and fire pits. Children tear around barefoot despite temperatures hovering stubbornly near ten degrees. It's simply part of the fun.
The food and the 'two-four'
The May long weekend is gloriously unfussy. Nobody expects restaurant refinement. Instead, menus revolve around burgers, hot dogs, pasta salads, and ripple chips poured into giant bowls. Breakfast means bacon sizzling in a cast-iron pan whilst someone battles with a reliably stubborn propane tank. By evening, marshmallows are blackening over bonfires, whilst guitars emerge and stories grow taller with every drink. The nickname "May Two-Four" references both the calendar and the traditional Canadian case of two dozen beers. Beer stores become madhouses before the holiday, with dockside fridges loaded in anticipation of sunny afternoons and long, laughter-filled nights.
Modern cottage culture
For all the tradition, modern cottage culture has systematically evolved. Many of today's retreats feature high-speed Wi-Fi, outdoor saunas, designer kitchens, and floating paddleboard docks worthy of boutique resorts. Instagram has glamorized lakeside living, transforming rustic cabins into aspirational lifestyle content. Yet despite the upgrades, the emotional pull remains reassuringly unchanged. At its core, the May 24 weekend is about reconnection. It reintroduces Canadians to nature after endless winter months spent indoors beneath grey skies. It reconnects families around campfires and card tables. It reconnects exhausted city dwellers with slower rhythms – loon calls at dusk, coffee beside misty water, or the hypnotic crackle of burning cedar.
Democratic and enduring
There's something uniquely democratic about cottage culture in Canada. Not every property is a sprawling architectural edifice. Some are tiny bunkies with lino floors and ancient screen doors that slam shut like cannon fire. Others are hand-built family compounds passed through generations. What matters isn't perfection, rather presence. Naturally, the May 24 weekend carries a few predictable hazards. Blackflies descend with military precision. Rainstorms routinely appear just as burgers hit the grill. Traffic returning to the city can stretch into a soul-destroying six-hour crawl. Yet, year after year, millions embrace the madness. And we love every minute of the adventure, because between that first campfire, the scent of pine needles warming in the sunshine, and leaf blowers clearing the way, the May 24 weekend delivers something increasingly rare: permission to slow down. And, for so many Canadians, that feeling – however muddy, mosquito-bitten, or hangover-fuelled – signals the true beginning of summer.
Watch 'Small Town Escapes with Colin and Justin' on HGTV on Wednesday nights. Discover the 'Colin+Justin Home Collection' in Homesense and Winners. Follow them at instagram/colinandjustin and facebook/colinandjustin.
