Thousands of people milled around the Victoria Inner Harbour Sunday in the hours leading up to the 25th edition of the Symphony Splash, a massive orchestral event on the waterfront.
More people arrived as the 7:30 start of the Victoria Symphony concert neared, playing from a barge on the water. Nearly every spot on the lawns of the Empress Hotel and legislature was claimed by someone.
Few people looked forward to the Symphony Splash’s triumphant climax, the 1812 Overture, more than 17-year-old sea cadet Sherisse Gusnoski.
At a little after 2 p.m., she was on her knees rubbing polish on the metal hub of a military field gun. Several of the large gun carriages were lined up on the causeway, awaiting the final moments of Tchaikovsky’s wartime masterpiece, when they would blast in time with the booming orchestra.
“I love it, actually,” she said of her efforts in the hot sunshine. “I love polishing and it’s fun to be part of a team that fires the field cannon. To have them all working in time and doing everything quickly and having them just go whoosh . . .” and she traced an arc through the air.
Joan Andersen, 75, was in her lawn chair hours before the performance began. She attended the first Symphony Splash 25 years ago and she remembers it well: “We lost the five year old.”
The grandchild was located again “after lots of panic. It was so crowded and when everybody left, so did she. Anyways we found her.”
She has only missed a couple Splashes over the years. Andersen loves the music and this year was particularly pleased that a choir — Vox Humana — performed with the symphony, adding their voices to several pieces, including the 1812 Overture.
“I’ve sung in choirs but not this one — this is a very good one,” said Andersen.
Erna Fletcher had the sunscreen on and umbrella in place. Even though she got there at 8 a.m., she was still relegated to the second of the two rows of lawn chairs allowed on the lower causeway.
Fletcher has come to five or six Splashes over the years. “I love the music and the atmosphere is really unique.” It’s worth spending nearly 12 hours waiting for the show to begin, she said. She took short walks, ate and watched people.
The Victoria Symphony concert featured popular, up-beat classical pieces such as Rimsky Korsakov’s Capricicio Espagnol and Rossini’s William Tell Overture, a medley of video game tunes, and the final movement from Beethoven’s Symphony No. 9, featuring the Vox Humana choir.
One of the biggest ovations for the night was for the featured soloist, nine-year-old Erik Lin, who played Haydn’s Piano Concerto in C. He is Symphony Splash’s youngest-ever soloist.
There was no official count of the audience size, but organizers have traditionally estimated Splash crowds at 30,000 to 40,000, making it the biggest single-day festival gathering in Greater Victoria.
