Three days before a government-issued deadline to clear out a tent city at the Victoria courthouse, campers are digging in their heels – and calling in reinforcements.

Residents from tent cities on the mainland appear to be headed to Victoria Thursday to support campers living in the so-called “Super InTent City,” on the day the provincial government says they must pack up and move out.

A block party is being planned for 4 p.m. Thursday and organizers say a group called the “Alliance Against Displacement” is bussing in supporters from Burnaby, Maple Ridge, Abbotsford and Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside.

“The temporary and limited offers from the provincial government are not enough to meet the needs of ALL members of Super InTent City and we will stand together to say NO to displacement,” says a post on a Facebook event page for the block party. “We do not want to be dispersed into the parks, forests and doorways of the city where we are more isolated and less safe.”

“It’s a celebration,” said resident Christine Brett. “Celebrating the fact that this current tent city is the longest-running tent city since the 1800s. I think what has been accomplished here already is much grander than what most people see when they just look at the tents.”

The Cool-Aid Society, managing a new temporary housing facility that will house some campers starting Tuesday, said it anticipates 38 people from the hundred or so currently living in tent city will move in over the course of the week.

Another facility will open at a former youth jail in Colwood, though many homeless campers aren’t keen to move into a facility they say brings back bad memories.

“Moving into a jail is very traumatic for many people here,” said Benjamin Burge, who moved in to tent city a week ago. “We’ve gone through that and we don’t want to go stay in a jail.”

He’s one of many who are vowing to stay past the Feb. 25 deadline set by the provincial government, facing a possible injunction order in doing so.

“I plan to stay until a viable option comes,” said Burge. “What we’re looking for is a piece of land and because a lot of us here, we enjoy living outside, and we don’t feel like moving into the jail that they’ve allocated for us.”

Many of those who vow to stay at the campsite echoed his sentiments, saying the two temporary housing options the province has provided were decided upon without any input from tent city residents.

If the province does file an injunction, activist group Together Against Poverty Society says it has lined up a lawyer to help the campers in a legal battle, if needed.

Meanwhile, neighbours are already on edge over the potential for busloads of supports to arrive at the already congested camp on Thursday.

Shelly Wilson, who has lived in a nearby apartment building for more than 25 years, said the tent city has been an ongoing issue since it first popped up in November.

“Whether people are for or against it, I can’t see people continuing to live in that sort of environment,” said Wilson.

The B.C. government said it is aware of the planned block party, and reiterated a statement that it hopes campers will take advantage of the new shelter services available this week.

Moving trucks and representatives from the Our Place and Cool Aid societies will help move campers into their new homes.

The province announced it would open an additional 88 units of housing at the two new shelters as well as provide 40 rent supplements when it announced the move-out deadline in January.

It hasn’t confirmed it will file an injunction to force campers along if they stay past the Feb. 25 deadline, but said it will “re-evaluate the situation at that time.”

A letter from the province sent to tent city campers said it was asking them to leave over “safety risks to the campers and the general public.”