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Douglas Street stretch is car-free noon to 6 Sunday

What: Car Free YYJ When: Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. Where: Douglas Street, between Fort and Herald Admission: Free Information: carfreeyyj.
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The New Groovement is one of several acts set to play at Car Free YYJ on Sunday. Stages will be set up where Douglas Street intersects View Street, Pandora Avenue and Herald Street.

What: Car Free YYJ

When: Sunday, noon to 6 p.m.

Where: Douglas Street, between Fort and Herald

Admission: Free

Information: carfreeyyj.ca

 

Both sides of Douglas Street, stretching from the Hudson to the Bay Centre, will be closed to car traffic on Sunday for one big street festival. But the four-lane stretch will still be open for business as Car Free YYJ takes over from noon until 6 p.m.

Car Free YYJ, which is modelled after the Car Free Vancouver events that drew more than 100,000 people to four locations in 2014, will be located on a high-traffic stretch of Douglas Street that would normally be filled with vehicles.

Designed to revitalize the spirit of an area most often associated with cars, the free festival is expected to attract thousands of visitors in its first year of operation. The Downtown Victoria Business Association is presenting the event on a $50,000 budget, in partnership with the City of Victoria and B.C. Transit. Production duties are being handled by Atomique Events.

Everyone involved is keen to see Car Free YYJ succeed, said Ken Kelly, general manager of the Downtown Victoria Business Association. “What we’re trying to do is draw people’s attention back to Victoria’s grand avenue.”

The street, which will be closed Sunday from 9 a.m. until 8 p.m., will feature everything from food trucks to live music, with more than 225 community groups, artists and vendors participating. A craft-beer garden will be located in front of city hall and a skateboard ramp is also part of the event.

“It has been a terrific mobilization of spirit and resources,” Kelly said. “We made a conscious decision to make this a celebration of community.”

Music will be a constant at Car Free YYJ. Stages will be set up where Douglas Street intersects View Street, Pandora Avenue and Herald Street. Eighteen local acts are scheduled to perform beginning at noon, with sets on tap from local favourites Bucan Bucan, Electric Timber Co., Man Made Lake, Righteous Rainbows of Togetherness, Scars & Scarves, Steph Macpherson, the New Groovement, Towers and Trees and Vince Vaccaro, among others.

As for businesses not happy with car traffic being re-routed off Douglas Street for the afternoon, Kelly said his team has done its best to accommodate all parties.

“Every business between Fort Street and Herald Street, we went door-to-door. Some people immediately recognized the fundamental value and profile afforded by this event. Others haven’t quite been as forthcoming, but there is progress.”

Steps are in place to reduce the impact Car Free YYJ has on the surrounding areas. Visitors are asked to arrive on foot or by bike. A free bike valet service will be offered. For those travelling by car, parking at street meters and in nearby city parkades will be free. Yates Street and Johnson Street will remain open to traffic.

B.C. Transit is moving a portion of its Douglas Street schedule to Blanshard Street, Kelly said.

“There is 11 hours where B.C. Transit is diverting its program, so that all buses will remain on time.”

Kelly said the biggest head-turner at Car Free YYJ will undoubtedly be the “green patch” between Johnson Street and Pandora Avenue.

A man-made park more than 7,000 square feet in size, made from sod and grass being trucked in for the event, will give attendees a chance to sit on grass in the middle of Douglas Street, something that has not happened in a century, Kelly joked.

“It’s really going to make a statement,” he said.

Following the event, the park contents will be donated to the Tall Tree Music Festival on June 26-28 in Port Renfrew.

Car free is meant to be carefree, Kelly said, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t think about the big picture. The underlying message is to care for the environment. “We had better stop and think about what we are doing with this fragile planet of ours.”

mdevlin@timescolonist.com

 

To download a PDF of the B.C. Transit detour instructions, go to timescolonist.com/transit.