The B.C. Sustainable Energy Association is hosting Changing Gears 2014, a sustainable transportation exposition on Saturday.
The show features information on various transportation options such as walking, cycling, transit, ride-share, car-share, electric vehicles and EV conversions.
There will be speakers and panelists taking part in 11 sessions throughout the day. Topics include: Transpiration without Oil, the vision of a Future World; Sustainable and Healthy Transportation Planning; Victoria’s Bicycle Master Plan and Personal EV Experiences by members of the Victoria LEAF Club.
There will be two workshops, one on bicycles, with opportunities for hands-on learning and an electric vehicle workshop, to learn from owners, dealers and charging station companies.
Participants will also have the opportunity to take a test drive in an electric car.
Children can attend a bike-safety seminar, test drive electric-aided vehicles such as e-bikes and Segways and take part in contests for cool prizes.
B.C. Transit officials and municipal leaders will be on hand to inform people about the region’s transportation future. It is also an opportunity for people to voice their concerns and opinions.
Sponsors include the Capital Regional District, Sustainable Saanich, the Province of British Columbia, Greater Victoria Cycling Coalition, Capital Bike and Walk, and the University of Victoria.
Admission is free. The event runs 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Pearkes Recreation Centre, 3100 Tillicum Rd.
For more information on Changing Gears 2014, go to their website at changinggears2014.org.
There’s more than just a running race offered at The LifeMark Health Esquimalt 5K with 1K Kid’s Fun Run on Saturday.
The 5K event includes chip timing, refreshments, complimentary massages (sign up on the day of the event — first come first served) and a draw prize.
There will be a Kid’s Zone with face painting with arts and crafts.
Entry is $22 for 5K, $5 for 1K Kid’s Fun Run. Family pricing is available, register through the Esquimalt Recreation Centre to receive tickets for two adults and two children for $60 plus tax.
The 1K Kids’ run starts at 8 a.m., followed by the 5K at 8:30 a.m. It starts and ends at the Esquimalt Recreation Centre at 527 Fraser St.
For more information, go to the website at esquimalt.ca/5K.K
Fossil fun for all ages
Learn about the relationship between dinosaurs and birds at the Fossil Fair this weekend. At the fair, which is in its 18th year, people can see a fossil cast of one of the earliest birds, the Archaeopteryx, which is about 150 million years old.
A bird-dinosaur expert from the Victoria Palaeontology Society will be on hand to answer questions.
The fair is an educational experience for all age groups, with a diverse variety of ancient fossil animals and plants from the Cambrian (550 million years ago) to the end of the last Ice Age (10,000 years ago). Some of the fossils, which include dinosaur bones, ammonites, trilobites, corals, mollusks, insects, giant palm leaves and microscopic fossils, are from Vancouver Island.
Participants are also invited to bring in fossils for identification.
Specific activities for children include a sandbox fossil dig, fossil scavenger hunt with prizes, fossil colouring, rubbings, stampings and looking through microscopes.
Admission is by donation. The event runs 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at the Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary, 3873 Swan Lake Rd. For details, go to vicpaleo.org.
A time to celebrate poets
Friday is World Poetry Day, a time to appreciate and support poetry and poets around the world.
To celebrate, students from the University of Victoria’s Faculty of Humanities will deliver poetry readings in a variety of other languages, as well as in translation.
The day is an initiative of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization, which recognizes the important role of poetry in the arts and in cultures throughout the world.
The day is focused on promoting a return to the oral tradition of poetry recitals. The first World Poetry Day was held in 2000.
The event is free. It runs 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. in the rotunda of the Central Branch of the Greater Victoria Public Library, 735 Broughton St. For information, go to gvpl.ca.
Raise the roof at Bluegrass Mass
The congregation at St. Philip Anglican Church will raise the rafters
of the church the fourth Sunday of every month until June as they celebrate Bluegrass Mass.
The music is a sub-genre of country music with mixed roots in Scottish, Irish and English traditional music. It was later influenced by the music of African-Americans through the incorporation of jazz elements.
At Sunday’s worship the church will draw on classic gospel bluegrass, roots, folk, Americana, Canadiana and alt-country.
There will be a home-cooked meal immediately after the service. The public is invited to both or either.
Worship starts at 4 and dinner at 5 p.m. at the church, 2928 Eastdowne Rd. For more information, go to stphilipvictoria.ca/worship/bluegrass-mass.
Four weeks, six films, one giant screen
The Imax Film Festival is an opportunity for movie lovers to see six movies on a giant screen over the next four weeks. The third annual festival starts Friday and ends April 21.
The festival celebrates movies shot in the original 70 mm format, screened on the largest Imax screen in British Columbia (measuring 19 metres high by 26 metres wide).
Films play on the hour and include Dolphins, Majestic White Horses, Adrenaline Rush, Adventures in Wild California, Penguins, and D-Day: Normandy 1944.
Single tickets are $11.80, a festival pass is $36 plus GST or an annual pass is $46 plus GST. The movies run from 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday until April 21 at the Victoria Imax Theatre (inside the Royal B.C. Museum), 675 Belleville St. For more information, go to the website at imaxvictoriafilmfest.com.