'Absolutely we're going ahead': Festivals and fairs making a return to the capital region
It’s been a while since we’ve been able to ride on a ferris wheel at the fair or introduce our kids to farm animals at a petting zoo, but come September, you’ll be able to get your fill of both. The 153rd annual Saanich Fall Fair is again a go.
“Absolutely, we’re going ahead,” said Catriona McHattie, the fair’s director. “We’re excited to have all of Victoria come out and support the fair as last year we could only do an online component of the fair.”
This year’s fair will be slightly scaled down, but will mostly resemble its former self.
“This year, there will be large displays of animals, but you won’t be seeing as many animals walking around the ring, being shown to judges,” said McHattie.
The midway will be back and this year’s theme is ‘Local for Locals,’ meaning local businesses and local performers on the main stage.
The Victoria Dragon Boat Festival is back on in August, as well, but it will be quite a bit different.
“This year, we’re not going to have the actual racing,” said Tony Joe, a member of the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival Society board.
While there will be no dragon boat races, there will be entertainment, food and the beer garden.
“Normally, what happens is, the next year event gets sort of organized and funded as a result of how the year goes and we didn’t have that last year,” said Joe. “So we have to plan ahead for next year and that’s really what we’re doing.”
Scaled back versions or not, the upcoming events are still an opportunity to get out and get a piece of that normal that we’ve been missing.
“I’ve heard things like, ‘It’s the most normal thing I’ve done in the last two years,’” said Kelly Kurta, executive director of the Greater Victoria Festival Society.
“People are excited.”
The executive director says that the region is once again coming alive.
The Luxton Fair will be back, as will CarnEvil at Galey Farms and – looking ahead into late fall – Light up the City and The Santa Claus Parade.
“We’re just thrilled with the way Victoria has come together as a community to make its way through this pandemic and ensure that festivals and fairs and everything can start happening in the city again,” said McHattie. “Everybody has done such a good job.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
CRA no longer requiring 'bare trust' reporting in 2023 tax return
The Canada Revenue Agency announced Thursday it will not require 'bare trust' reporting from Canadians that it introduced for the 2024 tax season, just four days before the April 2 deadline.
He didn't trust police but sought their help anyway. Two days later, he was dead
Jameek Lowery was among more than 330 Black people who died after police stopped them with tactics that aren’t supposed to be deadly, like physical restraint and use of stun guns, The Associated Press found.
Fluid in eye cells can 'boil' if you watch the eclipse without protection: expert
Millions of people in parts of Eastern and Atlantic Canada will be able to see the rare solar eclipse happening on April 8. But they should only look up if they have proper eye protection, experts say.
NEW More unauthorized products for skin, sexual enhancement, recalled: Here are the recalls of this week
Health Canada and the Canadian Food Inspection Agency recalled various items this week, including torches, beef biltong and unauthorized products related to skin care and sexual enhancement.
Where is the worst place for allergy sufferers in Canada?
The spring allergy season has started early in many parts of Canada, with high levels of pollen in some cities already. Experts weigh in on which areas have it worse so far this season.
Do these exercises for core strength if you can't stomach doing planks
Planks are one of the most effective exercises for strengthening your midsection, as they target all of your major core muscles: the transverse abdominis, rectus abdominis, external obliques and internal obliques. Yet despite the popularity of various 10-minute plank challenges, planking is actually one of the most dreaded core exercises, according to many fitness experts.
Grandparent scam: London, Ont., senior beats fraudsters not once, but twice
It was a typical Tuesday for Mabel Beharrell, 84, until she got the call that would turn her world upside down. Her teenaged grandson was in trouble and needed her help.
Angst and calls for resting places as Surrey, B.C., pet cemetery development continues
A single headstone is all that remains of dozens of markers for long-buried pets in a subdivision in Surrey’s Newton neighbourhood, where a half-acre parcel bears a large sign announcing the proposed construction of new homes.
Polar ice is melting and changing Earth's rotation. It's messing with time itself
One day in the next couple of years, everyone in the world will lose a second of their time. Exactly when that will happen is being influenced by humans, according to a new study, as melting polar ice alters the Earth’s rotation and changes time itself.