Extreme Sports in Supposedly Sleepy, Laid-Back Victoria BC
Anyone who believes that Victoria is for the “newly wed and nearly dead” should spend some time with Jayson Biggins of Vancouver Island Paragliding, based right in Fairfield. He’ll take you out to Dallas Road on a windy Saturday to watch the paragliders as they bank and weave their way to a soft beach landing – quite literally on a wing and a prayer. Read the rest of this entry »
Victoria BC 14th Annual Vancouver Island Blues Bash Starts Friday
This Labour Day weekend kicks off the 14th annual Vancouver Island Blues Bash at Ship Point on the Inner Harbour, a celebration of Blues and R&B music with afternoon free and evening ticketed performances. Featured are more than 14 individual bands who will perform over three afternoons and three evenings.
Blues in all shades for your soul will be featured, including Jim Byrnes’ House of Refuge, Lloyd Jones Struggle, Bill Johnson Blues Band, The Midnights, Auntie Kate and The Uncles of Funk and many more!
Price: Ticketed Shows: On sale Thursday, August 7, 2008. Jim Byrnes’ House of Refuge: Friday, August 29 - 7:30pm $22.00. Also ticket combo for both Jim Byrnes’ House of Refuge and Lloyd Jones Struggle only $30.00. Ticket combo (one ticket per show) only available through the Victoria Jazz Society office.
The Annual Blues Bash also presents three afternoons of free admission performances: Saturday, Aug. 30 12:30 – 5:00pm, Sunday, Aug. 31 12:30 – 8:00pm and Monday, Sept. 1 12:30 – 6:00pm.
Read the rest of this entry »
Victoria BC Fringe Festival Offers 400 Performances August 21-31
The 22nd Annual Victoria Fringe Theatre Festival will run August 21- 31, 2008. The Fringe is an unjuried, uncensored, international festival of live comedy, drama, dance, spoken word, and more.
Companies are selected by lottery in November. Anyone with a show can apply. In 2007, 16,000 people came to the Victoria Fringe and hundreds volunteered to help make it happen.The Victoria Fringe Festival is one of 23 fringes in Canada and operates under the Canadian Association of Fringe Festival‘s 4 principles: unjuried, festival participation is on a first come, first served basis; no censorship; 100% of the box office is returned to the artists; and, accessibility to all artists.
You may see anything at fringe; dramas, comedy, dance, stand up….even some things that may
make you say, “What the fringe was that?”
The Fringe Festival serves as a playground for artists, with some works getting picked up for
professional runs. The Drowsy Chaperone, Urtinetown, MacHomer and One Man Star Wars
Trilogy (by local playwright, Charles Ross) all started at the fringe and later hit the big time!
Come join 20,000 of your closest friends and 250 volunteers to celebrate this cultural explosion
in downtown Victoria. This year the Victoria Fringe runs from August 21 ? 31 with 11 venues,
50 international companies and more than 400 performances.
Victoria BC’s Saanich Fair Opens Saturday with Spectacular Horse Show
The 141st annual Saanich Fair will get off to a grand start at 9:00 a.m. on Saturday, August 30th, with a spectacular horse show. The fair is held every Labour Day weekend and is western Canada’s oldest continual agricultural fair. In addition to horse shows, there are dog shows, 4-H activities, and the Farmers’ Market are at the heart of this annual fair that also includes midway rides and lots of good food.
There will be a Draft Horse show, dog shows, scarecrow and pumpkin contests, and model boat races, to name a few of the exciting events happening all weekend. You won’t want to miss the Direct Farm Market area, where you can buy fresh veggies and fruit, homemade breads, jams, jellies and ostrich products and much more, all available for sale during the three days of the Fair. Another shopping area is the 60 commercial booths.
Tickets to the fair are $8, $5 for seniors and youth seven to 13 years old, and children under six free on Saturday and Sunday. On Monday, tickets are $7, $4 for seniors and youth, and children under six free. All-day wrist bands for the midway rides are $25 on Saturday and Sunday, $20 on Monday.
There is plenty of free parking at the fair, and the #75 bus stops right beside the fairground entrance. The fairgrounds are located at 1528 Stelly’s Cross Road in Saanichton, about 20 minutes north of Victoria on Highway 17.
Victoria Classic Boat Festival Showcases the Most Beautiful Vessels in the World
The 31st Victoria Classic Boat Festival gets underway on Friday in Victoria’s Inner Harbour with a welcoming reception held at the Maritime Museum of BC in Bastion Square followed by the annual rowing regatta starting from the Gorge Rowing and Paddling Club. The race finishes at the Undersea Gardens in the Inner Harbour.
On Saturday, the festival continues with the popular steamboat parade and on Sunday there will be the Sailpast in which all vessels participating salute the festival’s salute vessel. The salute is made by “dipping” or lowering the boat’s ensign to one third from lower end of the hoist. (US vessels, which do not lower the U.S. flag, dip their yachting ensigns instead.) The festival’s honorary Commodores, John and Diane VanDerbeek of Seattle, will be aboard the salute vessel, HMCS ORIOLE, a 101-foot yacht and the longest serving ship in the Canadian Navy.
Victoria BC Free B-Movie Films Under the Stars in Victoria’s Beacon Hill Park This August
This is the kind of event that makes Victoria such a fun place to live and visit. Once again this August, the Victoria Film Festival will host FREE screenings of classic B-movies outside under the stars at the Cameron Bandshell in Beacon Hill Park. All shows start at 9:00 p.m. on select Friday and Saturday nights.
The films are absolutely FREE. Just bring your own snack, flashlights and blankets!
The lineup this year includes:
Labyrinth
Fri, Aug 8th • General; 101 min.
David Bowie stars as the fiendish Goblin King, sending a young Jennifer Connelly through a devious maze in order to save her baby brother from his evil goblin minions. Plus it’s got all the cool, incredible worlds and fascinating creatures from Jim Henson’s Muppet Workshop that you know and love so much.
Teenagers from Outer Space
Sat, Aug 9th
(General, violence); 86 min.
Aliens descend from the stars to take over the earth and turn it into a giant ranch for hideous space monsters! It’s Rebel Without a Cause… but with “lasers”.
The Princess Bride
Sat, Aug 16th • PG; 98 min.
The ultimate fairy tale! High adventure and comedy abound in this fabulous star-packed “twoo-wuv” story of pirates and giants and tyrants. Oh my! Star Fred Savage may be a lot older now but this is a story that will live on forever.
Forbidden Planet
Sat, Aug 23rd • General; 99 min
The sci-fi story that ushered in a new era for the silver screen! On the edge of the galaxy, a strange invisible monster threatens to destroy a lost expedition before they can discover the secrets of the long-dead civilization that once populated a strange and fantastic world.
The Goonies
Fri, Aug 29th • PG (may frighten young children, course language); 114 min.
Get your 80s on because “The Goonies” is back! A mysterious pirate treasure map takes a group of kids on a perilous journey through an old and secret series of caves. Fighting to save their home from an evil developer, those caves will take them on the greatest adventure of their lives…
Bikini Beach
Sat, Aug 30th • General; 100 min
Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello: need we say more? The usual gang of suspects is back for big hi-jinx and slapstick laughs on the surf and on the sand when a millionaire sets out to prove his pet theory about the local teenage population and their strange little surf-happy lifestyle.
New Victoria BC Concierge Service Helps Residents Cope with “To Do” List Overload
The elite concierge services that used to exist solely in big cities like London, New York and Toronto are now coming to Victoria. A new company, Victoria Concierge Services, is catering to ordinary people who find that the demands of modern life are just too daunting — and could use a little help.
Concierge services are the newest trendy solution for busy professionals and multitasking parents struggling to find time to balance work and personal commitments. Similar to a concierge at a fine hotel, a personal concierge helps take care of the “to do list” that can add up to hours of lost time every day. As people become busier and busier every day, time starved individuals are seeking solutions to having more time.
Victoria Concierge Services offers a wide variety of services ranging from taking care of general errands such as grocery shopping and picking up the dry cleaning to waiting for the repair man.
“Many of our clients are overwhelmed with daily and weekly ‘to do lists,’ just like the rest of us, and they find our services to be that helping hand,” says Debbie Johnson, owner of Victoria Concierge Services. “We can take care of the things you don’t have time to do!”
Whether it is picking up dinner, waiting at the house for repair services, grocery and personal shopping, organizing services or locating hard to find gifts, a personal concierge can do it all. Boosters of these types of services insist that concierge services allow people more time for leisure activities, spending more time with your family, friends and yourself.
For more information, visit VictoriaConciergeServices.com or call (250) 478-7785.
Victoria BC Sees Old-Fashioned Soda Shoppe Across the Street from the Fairmont Empress
Rogers’ Chocolates — a Victoria institution for more than a century — just announced the grand opening of their newest store, an old-fashioned Soda Shoppe. The store is located in the heart of downtown Victoria at 801 Government Street, just across from the Fairmont Empress Hotel.
The Soda Shoppe will be using ice cream made at the Rogers’ Chocolates factory in Victoria. Some of the other items on the menu include parfaits, malts, sundaes, floats and milkshakes as well as hot fudge and caramel sauces made at the Rogers’ Chocolates factory. The signature item is the Capital City Banana Split.
The Soda Shoppe’s interior is a mixture of past and present; including a restored soda fountain, retro bar stools, and marble counters. With the option of “for here” or “to go”, the Soda Shoppe strives to be environmentally conscious and is using glass steel and biodegradable cups and spoons made from corn.
With both their Heritage Chocolate Store and Sam’s Deli, the Soda Shoppe will be the third addition to the Rogers’ Chocolates family of stores on Government Street in their 123 year history. The Soda Shoppe operates between 10 AM and 10 PM daily.
Spectacular Tall Ships Return to Victoria BC June 26-29!
Victoria’s scenic Inner Harbour will once again provide the backdrop for an event that will touch the hearts and minds of thousands this June 26-29, 2008. During four unforgettable days of revelry and celebration, the city will commemorate its maritime heritage with the historic visit of over two dozen tall ships from around the world.
This renowned international event means Victoria will have an unprecedented opportunity to experience history at first hand. Visitors will be able to walk the decks, touch the massive timbers, look up through the rigging at the sky, and turn back the clock to a time when the city’s future was being built by ships like these.
In addition, there will be a program of interactive educational activities, concerts, craft fairs and festive events that will celebrate Victoria’s history and BC’s 150th anniversary.
Kid Rock Performs July 5th at the Victoria BC Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre
American rocker Kid Rock will perform July 5th at the Victoria Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre with his “Rock And Roll Revival Tour” including featured guests Reverend Run, Peter Wolf, and Dickey Betts in addition to Kid Rock’s Twisted Brown Trucker Band. The band is to play a medley of hits has garnered the best reviews of Kid Rock’s career.
The Kansas City Star describes Kid Rock’s music this was: “It was lowbrow and hardcore and rock solid and it made for one of the most entertaining live shows you can see these days.” Kid Rock’s hometown paper The Detroit News concurred, saying “this revue-style rock and roll revival is the most musically impressive tour Rock has ever put on.” Nielson SoundScan reported Rock’s “Rock N Roll Jesus” is climbing the charts, hitting number 19 in mid-June. Read the rest of this entry »
