Victoria’s Canada Day -- Multicultural Entertainment for the Whole Family

VICTORIA, BC — Presented by Coast Capital Savings, Victoria’s Canada Day will showcase an impressive line-up of local and noteworthy, multicultural Canadian performances along with family-friendly activities. The City of Victoria expects close to 50,000 attendees downtown on Monday, July 1 at Victoria’s Inner Harbour
to celebrate Canada’s 152^nd birthday.

Family festivities will begin at 10:30 a.m. at the Family Zone on the Legislature Lawns, culminating in a magnificent display of fireworks over Victoria’s Inner Harbour at 10:20 p.m., accompanied by an all Canadian music mix produced by The Zone at 91.3’s DJ Boitano.

Headlining this year’s Main Stage performances on the iconic Legislature Lawn will be nêhiyawak (pronounced neh-HEE-o-wuk) from Edmonton on Treaty 6 territory. nêhiyawak tells stories, capturing time through honeyed and haunting vocals, swaying in and out of the cacophony of electronic and analog sounds. Collecting and piecing together their experiences – existing simultaneously between diverse and disparate cultures – nêhiyawak shares with its audience their unique expression of Indigeneity in Canada today.

An eclectic mix of Canadian and local acts will form the Main Stage showcase, featuring Khanvict, Diamond Café, Caleb Hart, Fortune Killers, Johnny Gr4ves and Quebec’s Dominic Pelletier.

Khanvict, a Pakistani-Canadian DJ and producer who arrived as an immigrant in 2001, explores his roots through his music blending elements of classic Bollywood, Sufi and Panjabi music with Bass, Moombahton and Trap. Diamond Café is the solo project of Victoria’s very own Tristan Thompson, with the song “The Way You Used To Love Me” as their latest song featured on HBO’s Ballers and countless playlists. Caleb Hart, who grew up in the twin-island nation of Trinidad and Tobago, now calls Victoria home and blends a variety of genres. Fortune Killers make glitter and grit collide, having just released their debut album Temper Temper, and Victoria’s Johnny Gr4ves, who since the age of 16 has been collaborating with Electronic powerhouse duo Pegboard Nerds on Just Like That, which topped Billboard and iTunes Electronic charts, will perform.

Quebec-based francophone singer Dominic Pelletier of the rock band Caravane will also take the stage.
In recent years, Dominic has travelled solo and is focused on pushing his explosive and dynamic live show even further, making sure to captivate audiences everywhere he goes.

The City of Victoria acknowledges the financial support from the Government of British Columbia and the Government of Quebec Canadian Francophonie Financial Support grant program.

Cultural highlights will also include an Indigenous blessing with performances by the Lekwungen Traditional Dancers, Victoria’s Youth Poet Laureate Aziza Moqia Sealey-Qaylow, and the Victoria Children’s Choir.

The community will have the opportunity to demonstrate its national pride and celebrate being Canadian by participating in the Coast Capital Savings “Living Flag”. Over 2,400 red and white T-shirts will be available courtesy of Coast Capital Savings for pick up starting at noon, or participants can bring their own red or white T-shirt to guarantee a spot. Participants are asked to assemble for the “Living Flag” photo at 1:30 p.m. for the 2 p.m. photo on the Legislature Lawns.

“Canada Day celebrations are about the story… the story of the pride of being Canadian, the story of the life and experiences expressed through our artists’ music, and the story about being Canadian and having the privilege to live, work and enjoy music being performed on the homelands of our Indigenous people,” said Charlayne Thornton-Joe, Victoria City Councillor and Victoria’s Canada Day organizer.

This year, the ever-popular Family Zone will feature the Bateman Foundation Gallery of Nature hosting a family-friendly colouring activity with information about at-risk species. The Victoria Bug Zoo will bring a collection of preserved bug specimens, and the Unity Mandala Project will encourage families to register to participate in the creation of an art installation that promotes unity, diversity, and understanding. Free face painting by Sparkle Shack and a bouncy castle will also be available.

Additional activations will include those of presenting partner Coast Capital Savings, the City of Victoria, the interactive Bayview Place Express Train, TELUS Purefibre, La Société Francophone de Victoria, and the Greater Victoria Public Library. The Flavour of Canada Food Village will return to Belleville Street offering a range of delicious meals and snacks.

Victoria’s Canada Day green initiatives will include vendors offering reusable bags or paper bags, and event goers are encouraged to “BYO Bag.” Returning this year will be the free bicycle parking lock-up adjacent to the Legislature Building off Menzies Street, the use of biodegradable and recyclable food containers, a water refill station, a waste system that differentiates between compost, recycling and garbage, and paper-based mâché fireworks.

Transit will run on a regular Sunday schedule on July 1. Additional buses will be added as required, which includes buses standing by along the Douglas Street corridor to depart from downtown after the fireworks. Some buses will run later with the last buses leaving downtown Victoria between 1:15 a.m. and
1:30 a.m. For service details, visit bctransit.com/Victoria.

Transit customers are reminded they can ride all day by purchasing a $5 DayPASS, which is available on buses. Gaurdians, 13 years and older, using any prepaid pass may bring up to four children under the age of 12 on the Family Pass program.

As in previous years, alcohol will not be permitted on board BC Transit buses in the Capital Region, including alcohol in closed containers. Victoria Police will assist Transit personnel to enforce this one-day regulation to ensure public safety.

“BC Transit is proud to support our Greater Victoria communities and local police forces to ensure everyone can safely get to and from their Canada Day festivities,” said Erinn Pinkerton, BC Transit President and Chief Executive Officer. “We recognize this is a day of celebration, and our bus drivers are dedicated to ensuring our customers reach their destinations safely.”

VicPD officers and Reserves will be greeting the public and ensuring Canada’s 152nd celebration is a family-friendly event.

“To help foster a fun, safe, and family-friendly celebration, VicPD officers will be out early and in large numbers again this year,” Chief Constable Del Manak said. “They’ll be supported by our Reserve Constables who volunteer their time to help keep us all safe as we celebrate our nation’s birthday.”

VicPD will deploy temporarily-placed cameras in open, public spaces in support of operations to enhance public safety. The cameras will be taken down following the event.

The public is encouraged to head downtown early, as road closures around the Inner Harbour will begin at
4 p.m. to provide a safe space for the community to celebrate Canada’s birthday.

With the large crowds expected, people are encouraged to walk, cycle or take public transit to the event. For those who choose to drive, parking will be free at the City’s five parkades and at on-street meters on Monday, July 1.

ATTACHED: Schedule of Events and Map

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For regular updates during Canada Day, follow @CanadaDayVic on Twitter.

For More Information:

Charlayne Thornton-Joe
City Councillor and Canada Day Organizer
City of Victoria
250.217.0776

Constable Matt Rutherford
Media Spokesperson
VicPD
250.995.7294

Jonathon Dyck
Communications Manager
BC Transit
250.995.5720