Government has announced an extra day's holiday this year as Bermuda transitions from a day off on the Queen's Birthday to a day off in October to mark National Heroes Day.

This year's event will honour Dame Lois Browne Evans who was the first female Opposition leader in the Commonwealth as well as Bermuda's first female barrister and first black women MP.

The Queen's Birthday Parade will take place on Saturday June 14 with a day off on Monday June 16 while the first national heroes day will be on Monday October 13, which is also the first day of the PGA Grand Slam of Golf at the Mid Ocean Club.

However in 2009 the Queen's birthday Saturday parade will continue but there will be no public holiday associated with it while the National Heroes Day will fall on October 12.

Government backed down from a plan to turn Bermuda Day (May 24) into National Heroes Day in the face of strong opposition earlier this year.

Announcing the new holiday yesterday Culture and Social Rehabilitation Minister Dale Butler said Government believed it essential that citizens had strong ties to local heroes and that young people grew up knowing intimately those who have paved the way for them.

He said Dame Lois had been selected as "a paragon of civic duty and leading advocate of change who embodied hope, who never gave up, never surrendered, and never threw in the towel.

"She was a valiant warrior who always fought the good fight and Bermuda is better off as a result of her efforts."

"Dame Lois long believed there was a need to instill national pride in our people. The Government shares that belief and we are extremely proud that we can do this for her because she did so much for all of Bermuda."

Mr. Butler said he had already started the process of developing a set of criteria to determine how other national heroes will be designated for commemoration in the future, with the measures to be approved by Cabinet.

Mr. Butler stressed: "This will not become the national sports awards – those are for outstanding people.

"With National Heroes they are only named all around the world maybe every three years or every ten years. We don't know how often it will be named.

"The committee and Government will determine at what stage we will name a new hero. Sometimes overseas it's upon the death of someone significant. This is new for us so we are not going to race into it."

He said a national hero would have outstanding qualities above and beyond what ordinary citizens do.

"How did one's life impact on the lives of ordinary citizens – not just one's family but the whole country as a whole in a positive way?"

He said a national committee which had already been established for the naming of buildings, would make the recommendations to Government.

Premier Ewart Brown said: "This is not an easy list to make. National heroes are special and they are above and beyond simply outstanding contributors. I know in the case of Jamaica there's no obligation to name a national hero every year.

"Heroes don't occur in that kind of sequence. It will be special and you can bet it will be Bermudians whose work and teachings have had an impact beyond their actual title."

Mr. Butler said an amendment to the Public Holiday's Act 1947 would be made by the House of Assembly in May to pave the way for the change of holiday.

"I want to stress to the public this year you get a holiday in June but there is no holiday next year in June."

He said the day had been chosen after feedback from bodies including the Bermuda Chamber of Commerce, the Bermuda Industrial Union, the Bermuda Union of Teachers, the Bermuda Public Services Union and the United Bermuda Party.

Last night Government House confirmed it had been consulted about the change in public holidays.

A spokesperson said: "HM The Queen's Birthday will continue to be marked and celebrated, as before, by the ceremonial parade on Front Street and The Queen's Birthday Party reception at Government House. There is no public holiday for the Queen's Birthday in the United Kingdom."

Kim Swan, United Bermuda Party leader, welcomed the decision to hold a National Heroes Day.

He said: "We first proposed the concept of a National Heroes Day in a submission to the Ministry of Community and Cultural Affairs last August and were disappointed, as were many people across the community, when the Government decided to use the May 24 Bermuda Day holiday to celebrate National Heroes Day.

"We note that the Government's decision to fix the Queen's Birthday celebration on a Saturday each year is consistent with the practice in Great Britain.

"The pomp and pageantry of ceremonial parades are popular in Bermuda for locals and tourists alike and we hope that the new date will prove successful."