Victoria’s African and Caribbean community kicks off Black History Month — Canada 150 with a trio of events, starting with a Drum and Dance Festival Saturday featuring a multicultural lineup of musicians and performers at Oak Bay High School’s theatre.
The first half of the family-friendly event is free to attend. It includes 150 drums to be used by the public as part of a learn-to-play workshop hosted by Jordan Hanson of Drum Victoria. The workshop runs from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m. After a short intermission, Jacky Ésombé will lead a workshop in African dance.
Sample African and Caribbean food and stay for a live evening show featuring world-class artists Naby Camara and Jacky Ésombé. They will be joined on stage by Polynesian and Ukrainian dancers. The highlight of the evening is a performance by a 35-person percussion band.
Tickets are free for events between 1 and 5 p.m. Tickets for the evening concert, which runs from 5 to 9 p.m., are $25 for adults and $20 for students and seniors.
Saturday’s event takes place at the Dave Dunnet Community Theatre, 2121 Cadboro Bay Rd.
Activities continue Feb. 18 with a free film screening and a panel discussion on The Colour of Beauty, a short documentary by Elizabeth St. Philip that examines racism in the fashion industry. The event takes place 3 to 8 p.m. at École Victor-Brodeur, 637 Head St.
The finale is the Black History Month Community Recognition Awards and Closing Gala on Feb. 25.
The formal gala celebrates members of Victoria’s black community who have distinguished themselves in the public, private and community sectors.
Tickets are $25 and available from Eventbrite. The gala runs from 6 p.m. to 12:30 a.m. Feb. 25 in the auditorium of the Cedar Hill Recreation Center, 3220 Cedar Hill Rd.
The Victoria African and Caribbean Cultural Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting and preserving the cultural heritage of the black community in Greater Victoria. Details at vaccsociety.blogspot.ca.
Tapping into Vancouver Island’s sweetest resource
Learn how to make maple syrup from the largest maple tree in Canada, which is native to Vancouver Island, at the B.C. Forest Discovery Centre in Duncan this weekend.
At the Bigleaf Maple Syrup Festival, you can learn how sap is tapped from the bigleaf maple (Acer macrophyllum). Producers boast that the syrup from local trees rivals the flavour of any produced in the eastern provinces.
The community event is presented by the Vancouver Island Sapsuckers, a group of Cowichan and Vancouver Island maple-syrup producers.
Visitors can explore the many facets of maple sugaring in a fun festival atmosphere with live entertainment and the aroma of hot syrup from the evaporator.
There will be tapping demos, syrup tasting and mini-workshops throughout the day — with start-up kits and other tapping supplies available, so visitors can go home and tap their own trees.
The festival is one of the few places visitors can sample and purchase bigleaf maple syrup. There will be a marketplace, featuring all things made from maple.
Participants can take in the many museum displays, warm up around the fire pits, enjoy a maple pulled-pork sandwich from the concession and take unlimited train rides on the Green Hornet.
The event is hosted by the B.C. Forest Discovery Centre, a charitable, non-profit museum with a mandate to tell the story of forestry in coastal British Columbia.
Admission is $10 for adults, seniors and students and $8 for children. The event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the centre, 2892 Drinkwater Rd., Duncan.
For more information, go to bcforestdiscoverycentre.com.
Break the winter blues with a cup of tea
Last year Victorians sipped almost 4,700 cups of tea at the Victoria Tea Festival Revival, which returns on Saturday at Nootka Court.
Hosted by the International Tea Appreciation Society, the event is an opportunity for people to break the winter blues by celebrating with a cup of tea.
This year attendees can take in tea talks each hour in the JagaSilk tea bar, attend tea tastings or shop among the assembled tea merchants in a farmer market-style expo.
To cut down on waste, organizers suggest people bring their own tea cup to sample the various blends.
Admission is on a sliding scale of $2 to $10 at the door. The 2017 Festival Tea Festival Revival: Market and Symposium runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday at Nootka Court, 633 Courtney St. For details, go to teavictoria.com.
Look at that fancy footwork
Watch world-class Irish dancers — and novices as young as five years old — perform intricate
and fast-paced footwork at the Salish Sea Feis dance competition at the Mary Winspear Centre on Saturday.
Contestants from the Island, Vancouver and the Pacific Northwest will be in town to show off the reel, slip jig, light jig and more.
The event is hosted by the O’Brien School of Irish Dance
and registered with the An Coimisiun Le Rinci Gaelecha
— The Irish Dancing Commission.
Irish dancing is focused primarily on footwork and is performed either individually (step dancing) or by teams
(céilí and set dancing).
The dance style got a huge boost almost 20 years ago with shows such as Riverdance and Michael Flatley’s Lord of the Dance.
Organizers say that this year’s event is even larger
than last year’s, with more than 300 dancers set to attend.
On Saturday, the public will get a chance to glimpse the dancers perform fancy footwork in colourful dresses, wigs, bubble socks and hard shoes.
Admission to view the competition is free. The event runs 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Mary Winspear Centre, 2243 Beacon Ave., Sidney.
For information, check out the event’s Facebook page or
go to obrienirishdance.com.
Let’s talk about our orcas
Learn more about orcas on Sunday at Tea, Talk and Treats, a speaker series presented by the Sooke Region Museum and Visitor Centre in co-operation with the University of Victoria Speakers Bureau.
This weekend’s talk is the first of three planned for the season. The talks will look at a wide variety of subjects — paired with tea and a snack.
Sunday’s presentation touches on the iconic whales that live in the waters off British Columbia and the challenges they face due to human activity.
Learn about the social structure of orca communities and threats associated with food availability, pollution and noise.
The talk will be presented by Dr. Richard Dewey, associate director of Science Ocean Networks Canada.
Admission is free, but donations to offset the cost of the snacks are appreciated. The event runs 2:30 to 4 p.m. at the museum, 2070 Phillips Rd. in Sooke. For information, go to sookeregionmuseum.ca.
February fun on Salt Spring
Enjoy musical performances, including live jazz and rock, sign up for workshops, culinary events and participate in health and yoga gatherings during the month of February at the Salt Spring Island February Festival.
Events planned include: family weekend events, Seedy Saturday weekend, Valentine’s Lovers Get-Away, Indoor Salt Spring Market, Coast Salish First Nations Cultural Day and live music and entertainment every day in various venues.
Along with scheduled events, visitors to the island can take in year-round outdoor activities, including biking and hiking, on some of the best trails on the West Coast.
Activities take place throughout the month at various venues on the island.
For more information and a list of activities, go to saltspringtourism.com.