Annual Events in August
Victoria Symphony Splash
The highlight of the August long weekend is the Symphony Splash. Victoria's Inner Harbour is transformed to a concert venue of gargantuan proportions. The orchestra and guest performers are set up on a barge directly in front of the Parliament Buildings. Powerful speakers carry the sound to the thousands who ring the harbour to listen. The concert traditionally closes with The 1812 Overture, complete with guns and the carillon. This free event is not to be missed.
HOW TO GET THERE
Parking is limited; organizers suggest walking, cycling or taking the bus
ACCESS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES
There will be a special roped off area on the Empress lawn on Government St. near Belleville. Buses and vehicles can drop people off at the corner of Government and Belleville.
STREET CLOSURES
Belleville Street in front of the legislature closes at 3 p.m. Other roads around the inner harbour will be closed as required.
BE PREPARED
Bring lawn chairs, blankets, possibly umbrellas, binoculars, sunscreen, food, water, hats and cameras
BEST PLACES TO WATCH
The water, of course. Canoes, kayaks and small boats must wait until after 6:45 p.m. when the performance barge is fully secured and a 90-metre sound cable is run from the barge to shore. Splash organizers have arranged for 360-degree sound, so there's more good seats behind the barge. On land, choice seats are on the lower causeway of the Inner Harbour. More speakers than ever before will help ensure even broadcasting of the sound.
Victoria Symphony Splash Photos
By land and sea, Victoria’s Inner Harbour is packed for the B.C. 150 edition of Symphony Splash - Times Colonist August 05, 2008 - TOM McMILLAN
Samantha Wilcox tilted her head and closed her eyes Sunday night as the sounds of the 19th annual Bayview Residences Symphony Splash filtered over Inner Harbour.
The fact that Wilcox is partially deaf and forgot her hearing aid didn’t matter a bit.
“My daughter ran back to her house to get it,” said the 75-yearold. “It’s an amazing experience being here anyway.”
Hundreds of chairs lined the harbour, dozens of boats filled the water and thousands of residents and tourists stood fourdeep as the 50-member Victoria Symphony, led by maestra Tania Miller, played through its sunset performance.
The concert traditionally attracts around 40,000 listeners, but organizers had expected extra-large crowds this year with the B.C. 150 celebrations and five cruise ships docked in port. Though attendance figures weren’t available yesterday, organizers estimated the concert at least matched last year’s total.
“I’d believe it,” Wilcox said, scanning the legislature lawn. “There’s hardly any ground to put a blanket on.”
This year’s Splash began with a note of controversy after the Harbour Authority announced it would prevent music fans from chaining lawn chairs to the harbour before Sunday. In the past, thousands of concertgoers staked out the best seats on the upper and lower causeways — sometimes up to three days in advance.
The Harbour Authority decided the chairs would be a hazard to large crowds milling about Inner Harbour during the long weekend. The move had eager orchestra fans out claiming spots at 8 a.m. Sunday.
“You’ve got to come prepared,” said Anderson Miller, a Seattle resident watching Splash with six friends. “We had drinks, cards and rotated to spell everyone off.”
The concert opened with the world premiere of composer Tobin Stokes’s Inner Harbour Overture — one of two original pieces on the menu. The work incorporated mixed music with pre-recorded and live sounds from around the harbour, including the Coho Ferry’s horn and carillon bells.
Wilcox tapped her feet and swayed her hips later on, as the South Island Dancers performed a six-minute selection from Celebration of Souls, Splash’s other original piece. The work was written by local composer Colin Doroschuk, and will be performed in its entirety as part of the symphony’s 2009 program.
More than 300 volunteers were also on hand handling security and donations. Splash is the Victoria Symphony’s major annual fundraiser, counted on to help raise the orchestra’s $300,000 operating budget.
Dozens of yellow-shirted donation teams encircled the harbour Sunday, soliciting donations from any who passed. Barbara Danese collected money along Belleville Street, beside 20 portable toilets and with no view of the harbour.
“Hearing it is more than enough for me,” said Danese with a wide smile. “You get to listen to beautiful music, under a beautiful sky. It’s a wonderful evening.”
This year’s Splash was loosely based around celebrating B.C.’s 150-year anniversary, including works prominent in 1850s and ’60s, such as Jacques Offen-bach’s Can Can, and songs meant to inspire historic nostalgia, including Aaron Copland’s Rodeo.
Wilcox and Marcus Handman, executive director for the Victoria Symphony, both said Splash’s best part is its explosive finale.
Annual Victoria Film Festival
FREE FILM SCREENINGS
THE 9TH ANNUAL FREE-B FILM FESTIVAL • FRI & SAT’S IN AUGUST
The countdown is on for the 2009 Free B Film Festival kick off with a 3D Friday followed by 4 Sensational Saturdays with one extra Friday flick thrown in for good luck!
Keen to see a flick for free? Don’t fancy being cooped up inside a hot stuffy theatre for long hours during summer? Then go beyond summer blockbuster and enjoy a movie under the stars with another great line-up of B-movies from the “Family-Friendly” to the “Funky and Fun”.
So go ahead and bring your snacks, your blankets and your whole family for a night of fun filled family entertainment with this year’s fantastic lineup. Heck – why not come early and bring a picnic!
Victoria Dragon Boat Race
One of Victoria's most popular summer events, the Victoria Dragon Boat Festival is a remarkable combination of culture and sport. Showcasing our world-renowned inner harbour, I understand it is the only dragon boat festival in North America to take place in a working harbour.
The Festival also reinforces our distinction as a Cultural Capital of Canada; it is a first-class example of our culturally diverse and healthy community. Legend has it that hosting a dragon boat festival brings prosperity and health to the host community. I can only infer that is one reason Victoria boasts one of the highest quality of life ratings in the country.
Blethering Place Car Show
The Blethering Place Collector Car Festival stands apart from other car shows in that not-yet-finished cars are welcomed and eagerly sought out for participation. Cars begin arriving on the Avenue at 8 a.m. with an official start time 10am. To accommodate growing participation, cars will extend farther down Oak Bay Avenue than in previous years.
Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival
late August - early September
- See the best in innovative theatre during this exciting summer festival featuring music, comedy, drama and dance performers from around the world.
- 15 locations throughout downtown all within walking distance.
- All admission prices are approximately $9 or less or buy a flexible pass.
Stinking Fish Studio Tour
The Stinking Fish Studio Tour features the best of fine art and fine craft on the southern island, surrounded by its natural beauty. All Stinking Fish artists are juried by peer professionals to assure the highest quality in fine art and fine craft.Twenty-two artists in Metchosin and East Sooke open their studios in the coastal area of Vancouver Island, just west of Victoria, BC and offer a rich artistic diversity featuring painting, fine porcelain, printmaking and mosaic; the sculptural beauty expressed in wood, metal and jewelery, as well as floral, textile and photographic works.
Come explore one of the richest “art trails” on the island – meet the artists, see their work and take some home with you! Admission is free. All are welcome. Artworks are for sale.
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No stink around Stinking Fish
Goldstream Gazette, November 23, 2007
Metchosin and East Sooke artist studios
Polishing an intricate box pieced from exotic woods, Don Knoles inspects the surface for flush sides and minute imperfections. If six years in the U.S. Marine Corps taught him anything, it is to be meticulous.
His art is a jigsaw puzzle of multicoloured, striped jewelery cases, trivets and cutting boards. Typically each item takes days and weeks to assemble into place, but each is a one of a kind.
“It’s a hobby, not a job. I probably couldn’t make a living at it,” Knoles says. “It takes too much time to finish the work. Some stuff can take months.”
For repeat visitors on the Stinking Fish Studio Tour, Knoles’ workshop in his Metchosin home (most of which he and his wife built) is familiar territory. He’s been part of the tour for five years, the only venue where he sells his work.
The 70-year-old former systems analyst for the Department of National Defence in Esquimalt says he’s been woodworking all his life. He grew up in Idaho, had a stint in the Marines and moved to Metchosin more than 35 years ago. But retiring 10 years ago gave him a chance to dive into his hobby full time.
He built a workshop and started making furniture pieces under contract, but retired life was suddenly replaced with deadline pressures. “I decided not to be under the gun. Now I do what I want, when I want,” he says.
Many of his woods are exotic timbers shipped in from overseas, but he prefers to recycle cedar leftovers from homebuilding, for instance.
“I like the grains, the various tones within the wood,” Knoles says. “Putting things together and building this and that appeals to me. If it has appeal to others, it will sell.”
The winter Stinking Fish tour has about 24 artists spread throughout Metchosin and East Sooke, with everything from abstract painting to pottery to metalwork from a blacksmith.
“There is so many different disciplines. There is definitely enough variety to make it interesting,” says Linda Peacock, a tour organizer and creator of floral art. “Metchosin is wealthy with artists.”
Peacock started the summer and winter Stinking Fish tours seven years ago, inheriting the legacy of the East Sooke-Metchosin Studio Tour that had been around for about a decade.
All the artists who join help organize the tour in some way by helping with publicity or designing brochures. The name itself derives from a First Nations word S-met-sho-sun, or “stinking fish,” after a rather confused conversation between local aboriginal people and James Douglas in the 1840s.
“We’ve been told numerous times it’s the best tour on the Island,” Peacock says. “It makes us feel good.”
The Stinking Fish Studio Tour is a self-guided tour of Metchosin and East Sooke artists, Nov. 23-25, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
