Music, lights, and fireworks filled the air Tuesday evening as thousands of Winnipeggers watched Queen Elizabeth re-dedicate the Manitoba Legislature's Golden Boy statue.

The gilded statue that rests atop the Legislative Building was taken down earlier this year, more than 70 years after it was first erected. After being re-gilded from his torch to his toes in 24-carat gold leaf, the statue that has become the province's unofficial icon was replaced on its perch.

The Queen welcomed him home with a flick of a switch that illuminated a spotlight on Golden Boy and triggered dozens of fireworks.

The dedication ceremony was preceded by song and celebrations from Manitoba's finest musicians. Her Majesty and Prince Philip watched performances by the Royal Winnipeg Ballet, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra, and Loreena McKennitt, among others.

They then left to join 300 guests, mostly young people, for dinner at the Legislative Building, hosted by Manitoba Premier Gary Doer. Bison, pickerel terrine, Manitoba-grown baby vegetables, and blueberry cakes were on the menu, prepared by more than 100 culinary students from schools across Manitoba.

A dessert of baked pears was reportedly rejected because the Queen doesn't much care for the fruit.

Despite near-freezing temperatures, thousands of Winnipeggers turned out to offer the Royal couple a warm welcome as they arrived Tuesday afternoon for the busy schedule of events in the Manitoba capital. Seven corgis, the Queen's favourite breed of dog, and their lucky owners were given a prime location along the Queen's path as she walked about and greeted the crowd.

Premier Gary Doer greeted the monarch, saying, "We are delighted at the number of people that have shown their respect and turned up here today."

"In celebrating your 50 years as our Queen, we are paying tribute to our future. Many of the people that are here today are the young people.

On Monday, at a Vancouver luncheon hosted by Prime Minister Jean Chretien, Her Majesty praised Canada's multiculturalism and spoke of her "bond with Canadians everywhere." She said it had been a privilege to serve the country as Queen of Canada and thanked Canadians for their support and affection.

Chretien, in response, paid tribute to the Queen's Golden Jubilee and to her devotion to Canada.

"Over the past 50 years of your reign our country has undergone extraordinary change," he said, as the Queen sat beside him at the head table. "But no single document has so fundamentally confirmed our capacity for change than the Charter."

Highlights of the Queen's 12-day Canadian tour still to come will include watching a CBC retrospective in Toronto, visits to Fredericton and Moncton, and a moment of silence at the national war memorial in Ottawa.

The Queen will leave for Toronto on Wednesday. Then, it's off to New Brunswick, Ottawa and Gatineau, Que., before leaving Canada on Oct. 15.

The Queen has made 22 royal visits to Canada since 1951. Her last trip was in 1997.