Pride Week in Victoria concludes with a parade and festival on Sunday expected to draw over 15,000 people.
The festival, in its 12th year, has evolved from an annual picnic to a week-long celebration for members of the gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, two-spirited and intersex communities as well as their friends and allies.
“We take a lot of pride in hosting a grass roots pride event,” said Laurissa Chapple, media and communications co-ordinator of the Victoria Pride Society, which hosts the event.
“Unlike other pride events, the majority of ours is local, with over 90 per cent of the 150 vendors at the fair on Sunday local businesses.”
She said there has been a marked increase in the number of attendees, from just under 10,000 people three years ago, when they first started to track numbers, to more than 15,000 last year.
Apart from the parade and festival, which draws the most people, Chapple said the next most-popular hosted event is the Pride in the Word program on Saturday, with nine Canadian artists on stage, led by Ivan Coyote, a spoken word performer and author originally from Whitehorse.
“It was standing-room only last year,” said Chapple. “Part of the reason is that admission for this caliber of talent is, at $10, quite reasonable.”
She hopes people will take the time to visit a new booth by the Victoria Pride Society this year that seeks information, stories and images on Victoria’s early gay community.
“The local community is embarking on a project on Victoria’s pride history,” she said. “We are using the festival to reach out to members of the older generation. The demographics of this group means that some of them are not online and not aware of our call for material about Victoria’s gay history.”
People registered to take part in the parade, which runs approximately one hour, are asked to assemble in the 1400 block of Broad Street before noon.
The parade begins at noon from the corner of Pandora and Government streets. It travels south on Government Street, turns west on Belleville, south on Menzies and west at Kingston. It continues south on Oswego before ending up at MacDonald Park at the corner of Oswego and Simcoe.
The festival includes more than 150 vendors, with entertainers on the main stage, 25 food vendors, child and teen activities, a breastfeeding tent and a beer garden.
The parade runs noon to 1 p.m. and the festival, which has free admission, runs 1 to 6 p.m. Sunday at MacDonald Park, 140 Oswego St. in James Bay.
The Pride in the Word event costs $10. Doors open at 6:30, performances start at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Ambrosia conference centre, 638 Fisgard St.
For more information, go to victoriapridesociety.org.
Get a taste of summer at Saanich berry fest
For the past 48 years, the Saanich Strawberry Festival has been a highlight of summer in this region.
On Sunday at Beaver Lake, families can taste summer sweetness, in the form of plump local strawberries and ice cream, inexpensively — at only 50 cents per serving. But don’t delay. The traditional serving of strawberries and ice cream will run
1 to 3 p.m. Tickets for the treat are on sale 11 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. (or earlier if sold out) at the ticket booth next to the main stage area. Only 3,500 tickets will be sold, so it’s a good idea to line up early.
The festival was originally a celebration of the agricultural roots of Saanich. It has evolved into a festival for the whole family, with an old-style family picnic at the beach and a wide range of activities.
Children can take pony rides, take part in interactive sports and games, create arts and crafts, compete in a pie-eating contest or watch a model boat display. They can take a ride on a miniature train, get their faces painted, attend pirate school, make music at the hand-drum rhythm workshop or bounce away on inflatable structures.
Adults can grab a coffee and some food and relax to entertainers such as Russell in the Bushes Classic Rock Band, the Stuffies and the Commodore Big Band throughout the day.
The free event runs 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Beaver Lake Regional Park, off the Pat Bay Highway in Saanich. On-site parking is limited. There will be a shuttle bus from Saanich Commonwealth Place to the parking areas between 11:30 a.m. and 4 p.m. The rec centre is an easy walk from the Royal Oak transit exchange. Information at saanichsunfest.ca, click on the Featured Events menu.
Outdoor adventures on land and water
The parks and recreation department of the Capital Regional District kicks off its summer programming with a trio of guided tours on land and water.
Saturday’s Morning Mist Canoe Adventure takes participants on a quest for eagles, herons, turtles and other lake life. Canoes, safety equipment and instruction (no experience necessary) are provided.
People who can’t make the early start time can take the Early Evening Canoe Adventure mid-week instead.
Pre-registration is mandatory. Cost is $20 for people 15 and older, $10 for those five to 14. Not open to those under five years old. The event takes place
8 to 11 a.m. Saturday or
6 to 9 p.m. Wednesday. A meeting place will be provided upon registration. The paddle takes place at Elk/Beaver Lake Regional Park. The park is served by B.C. Transit buses 70 and 72. Call 250-478-3344.
Meanwhile, children eight and under are invited to join the Forest Fun guided walk on Sunday. Joining a parks naturalist, they will play forest games while discovering the largest and oldest Douglas fir trees on Vancouver Island. After wandering past leafy ferns and mossy logs, the children will create tree craft at the nature centre to take home.
The free activity runs 1 to 2:30 p.m. at the Francis/
King Regional Park nature centre off Munn Road.
Finally, Crazy for Craigflower Creek is an adult (18-plus) guided hike at Thetis Lake Regional Park on Sunday. A naturalist will take a limited number of people to explore the lesser-known creek at the park. Attendees will discover a wooded wonderland on a trail that follows the water. Participants should wear sturdy shoes and bring a snack and water.
The hike is free but pre-registration by Friday is a must. The location of the meeting place will be provided upon registration. Call 250-478-3344. The park is served by B.C. Transit route 53.
Try to arrive 10 minutes before the start of the program. Please leave pets at home. Details at crd.bc.ca/parks.
Check out these Island art studios
Artists and artisans in the Cowichan Valley are opening their doors to the public as part of the annual Visions Studio Tour and Sale, which runs Friday to Sunday.
This is the 18th year the local artists, who work in studios from Mill Bay to Chemainus, have participated in the event.
There will be 25 artists and artisans at 16 venues, displaying and selling paintings, jewelry, turned-wood pieces, sculpture, painted clothing, painted glass, pottery, prints and photography.
Visitors can see the artists in any order over the three days of the tour. This year, visitors will save time at some venues where clusters of up to five artists will collectively show their works.
Taking a leisurely drive in byways and back-
country roads is an added bonus of the tour. Studios can be found at diverse locations, including waterfront, farmland, gardens and woodland settings — all of which have provided inspiration for the artists.
The self-guided tour is free. The studios are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Friday to Sunday, at various locations in the Cowichan Valley. Brochures with a map are available at Thrifty Foods in Mill Bay and Duncan or by download from visionsarttour.ca.
Dancing in the square
ROMP!, a festival of independent dance, returns to Victoria Friday and Saturday for its 17th season.
Presented by Suddenly Dance theatre, the outdoor festival features three acts:
• RISK, by Lynda Raino — A program where artists are invited to show up ready to dance. Acts, which must be no more than 12 minutes, will be selected randomly. It starts at 7:30 p.m. Friday
• Present/Tense 9; Dance and the Spoken Word — Writers read their work while dancers improvise to the sound, syllables and meanings. Each dancer is given the first and last line of the written work before stepping onto the stage. It starts at 7:30 p.m. Saturday.
• Act of War — A work-in-progress that includes balloons, a knife and harmonicas tethered in the mouths of dancers to increase a sense of suspense, peril and illusion. It runs at 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
The Centennial Square shows are free with donations accepted. Details at suddenlydance.ca.
Tales from the crypt — at the maritime museum
Take your children on a nautical adventure almost every day over the summer without ever getting your feet wet, as the Maritime Museum of British Columbia sets sail with a flotilla of programs that entertain and inform. Here is a sampling of the subjects covered:
The Shipwrecks tour focuses on the tragedy of ships lost along British Columbia’s rugged coast. Stories include those of the most famous wrecks in the area, the SS Valencia and the Princess Sophia.
Visitors can find out why the museum is known as the most haunted building in western Canada at the Ghosts of the Maritime tour. Hear about death, violence and mystery. For the days and times of these and other tours, go to the website at mmbc.bc.ca.
Meet notorious characters, hear tales of murder, witness the punishment meted out to miscreants at the museum’s Vice Tours, held every Friday and Saturday night until Aug. 23. Join the museum’s town gossip in period costume as he tours around Bastion Square giving a taste of Victoria’s rich history, replete with blood-curdling tales from those who lived, loved and died in Bastion Square. The highlight of this walkabout is an opportunity to explore the historic Supreme Court chamber and witness how justice was delivered in early Victoria.
The cost of the walkabout is $15. The one-hour walking tour runs 8 to 9 p.m. Payment and bookings are to be made at the door the night of the tour. As the tour contains sensitive themes, organizers request a parent or guardian accompany children under the age of 16.
For information, email programs@mmbc.bc.ca or call 250-385-4222.
Other tours are included with admission: $12 adults, $10 students and seniors, $30 family, and free for children 12 and under with paying adult. During summer, the museum at 28 Bastion Sq. is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Details at mmbc.bc.ca..
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