'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
Several flight attendants from Pakistan have gone missing after landing in Canada
Multiple flight attendants from Pakistan International Airlines have abandoned their jobs and are believed to have sought asylum in Canada in the past year and a half, a spokesperson for the government-owned airline says.
Doctors visiting a Gaza hospital are stunned by the war's toll on Palestinian children
An international team of doctors visiting a hospital in central Gaza was prepared for the worst. But the gruesome impact Israel’s war against Hamas is having on Palestinian children still left them stunned.
BREAKING Ottawa public school board, 3 Toronto-area school boards launch lawsuit against social media giants
The Ottawa-Carleton District School Board and three school boards in the Toronto-area have launched legal action against social media giants, accusing them of "disrupting students' fundamental right to education."
Crypt near Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner could fetch US$400,000 at auction
A one-space mausoleum crypt in the vicinity of Marilyn Monroe and Hugh Hefner will go on auction Saturday, when it is expected to reach between US$200,000 and $400,000.
Premiers not being truthful about carbon tax, Trudeau says while sparks fly in Ottawa
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau says Conservative premiers across the country are 'not telling the truth' when it comes to the carbon tax. Trudeau's comments came as fresh sparks were flying in Ottawa at a recalled House of Commons committee.
A Nigerian woman reviewed some tomato puree online. Now she faces jail
A Nigerian woman who wrote an online review of a can of tomato puree is facing imprisonment after its manufacturer accused her of making a “malicious allegation” that damaged its business.
Far North police 'dispatch' polar bear stalking schoolyard
Police and local hunters in an Ontario Far North First Nation community have “dispatched” a polar that was showing abnormal behaviour and treating the area as a hunting ground.
Cargo ship had engine maintenance in port before Baltimore bridge collapse, officials say
The cargo ship that lost power and crashed into a bridge in Baltimore underwent 'routine engine maintenance' in port beforehand, the U.S. Coast Guard said Wednesday.
'Ninja,' Twitch's biggest streamer, is diagnosed with skin cancer
American gamer and Twitch superstar, Tyler 'Ninja' Blevins, revealed he was diagnosed with melanoma, a form of skin cancer.