Party like a Fernwoodian at FernFest on Friday and Saturday.
FernFest is an all-ages, family-friendly celebration 鈥� an urban block party that has grown to attract up to 5,000 visitors.
The two-day party starts Friday afternoon with music.
Start Saturday off with a bagel breakfast, followed by a bike decoration activity and a mass bike parade through the streets of the community.
An Artisan Market will feature more than 50 vendors on the tennis courts beside Vic High Plaza offering handmade soap, upcycled clothing, arts and crafts, treats, jewelry and more.
The family-friendly event features six hours of children鈥檚 activities, including games, art projects, face-painting, pop-up performances and a Kids Stage.
Join in one of two walking tours to discover the heritage buildings 鈥� some date back more than 100 years 鈥� in the neighbourhood, one of Victoria鈥檚 oldest communities.
The Belfry Theatre will also be open for tours, with a photo booth on the main stage and mask-making for children in the family room in the lobby.
The name of the neighbourhood can be traced back to Fernwood Manor, a house built in 1860 for Benjamin Pearse, a surveyor for the Hudson鈥檚 Bay Company. Pearse served as the surveyor-general of Vancouver Island when it united with British Columbia.
Visitors can toast Pearse with a beer, cider or a cuppa tea. A community barbecue will assuage hunger pangs with a locally made sausage, falafel wraps and chips.
There will be three stages for the long lineup of performers.
Entertainment on the main stage starts at noon and continues throughout the afternoon, with the last act starting at 8:45 p.m.
The Kids stage features children鈥檚 performers from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m.
The market stage is located in the Artisan Market. Performances there run from 11:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
The weekend of events and activities is produced by the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group. Proceeds from the event will help fund programs and services to residents of the area.
Admission on both days is free. FernFest runs 5 to 10 p.m. Friday. The bagel breakfast runs 9 to 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The bike decoration starts at 10 and the Kidical Mass Bike Parade begins at 11 a.m. Activities run until 10 p.m. in Fernwood Square (Fernwood Road and Gladstone Avenue), Victoria High School field and along Gladstone Avenue.
For more information, a list of performers and a schedule of events, go to .
鈥� Foodies will be in heaven at Fernwood Bites, which promotes itself as local fare in an urban square, on Sunday.
Attendees at the sold-out event get to taste the best food and drink that Victoria and Southern Vancouver Island has to offer. Diners will nibble on samples from area restaurants and sip beer, wine, spirits and cider from breweries, distilleries, cideries and wineries.
Keep your eye on the ball at the Island Summer Games
Weekend warriors get their day in the sun at the Island Summer Games, a three-day amateur sports and entertainment festival, from Friday to Sunday at Topaz Park.
This is the ninth year of the outdoor festival, the largest of its kind on Vancouver Island. It features tournaments in seven team sports: Ball hockey, basketball, touch football, bocce ball, dodge ball, slo-pitch and soccer.
In mascot dodge ball, six of Victoria鈥檚 top mascots will compete in an exhibition game that takes place at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
There will be a fan zone and a beer garden.
The official charity this year is Kidsport Greater Victoria.
Admission is free for spectators and $7.50 to $50 per event for participants. Topaz Park is at 841 Finlayson St. (Blanshard and Finlayson streets).
Parking is available on site, with overflow parking at Mayfair Mall.
For more information, including a schedule of events, go to .
Three-day festival celebrates local Indigenous Peoples
Take in three days of music, dance, demonstrations and workshops to celebrate National Indigenous Peoples Day, today to Saturday on the traditional territory of the Songhees and Esquimalt nations.
The festival begins each day with a welcome from the host nations followed by performances from Indigenous groups from across the province.
Activities and events include a totem pole tour, a smudge ceremony, traditional dances, cedar weaving demonstrations and workshop, canoe tours and drum-making demonstrations.
Other must-do activities include browsing at the Indigenous Arts Marketplace and meeting the artisans.
The Songhees Seafood and Steam food truck will be on hand to dish out fry bread, barbecued sockeye salmon and West Coast clam chowder.
Guests attending the event are encouraged to visit the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum鈥檚 First Peoples gallery to learn more about First Nations history.
The museum鈥檚 collection of photographs, films, recordings and objects represent 10,000 years of history of Indigenous Peoples throughout the province.
This is the fifth year of the festival, organized by Indigenous Tourism sa国际传媒 in partnership with the Songhees and Esquimalt nations, the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum, Tourism Victoria, the Greater Victoria Harbour Authority and the University of Victoria.
The event is free to attend. Activities take place at three venues: 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. today, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Royal sa国际传媒 Museum plaza, 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday in the Lekwungen tent in the museum and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the Songhees Cultural Centre in the Steamship Terminal.
For more information, and to view the full program, go to .
Take part in yoga day activities
Join celebrations commemorating today鈥檚 International Day of Yoga with a group yoga session on the lawn of the Legislative Assembly, in a natural setting and at a local studio. All events take place today.
This is the fourth year of the celebration, proclaimed by the United Nations in 2014.
According to Narendra Modi, prime minister of India: 鈥淵oga is an invaluable gift of India鈥檚 ancient tradition. It embodies unity of mind and body; thought and action; restraint and fulfilment; harmony between man and nature; a holistic approach to health and well-being.
鈥淚t is not about exercise, but to discover the oneness with yourself, the world and nature.鈥�
It is estimated that 1.5 million Canadians practise yoga.
You can join other practitioners between 6 and 7:30 p.m. on the lawn of the Legislative Assembly on Belleville Street. The session will be lead by Nirmala Raniga, founder of the Chopra Addiction and Wellness Center, Squamish.
The Iyengar Yoga Centre of Victoria will open its doors to the public and there will be two free classes 鈥� 10 to 11:30 a.m. and 7 to 8 p.m. The centre is at 202-919 Fort St. For information, go to iyengaryogacentre.ca.
Practise yoga outdoors at Yoga in Nature at Swan Lake Christmas Hill Nature Sanctuary. The sanctuary is partnering with Lol茅 and Sarah Meyer Yoga to bring you yoga on the front lawn of the Nature House. Bring a mat.
Joining the event is by donation. Proceeds will support the replacement of the floating boardwalk project.
It starts at 5:30 p.m. at 3873 Swan Lake Rd. For more details, go to .
Watch the sunset while eating picnic
Celebrate the first official day of summer at Solstice Picnic, with the sunset over the ocean as your backdrop, at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site, tonight at 6.
Enjoy a family friendly evening while watching performers and storytellers that will bring to life the traditions and lore of solstice.
Special features include Yoga in the Fort, History of the Summer Solstice, Fireside Jams and Kids鈥� Solstice Crafts.
You can bring your own picnic or buy food from vendors.
The event will showcase the newly installed exterior lighting at the historic site.
General admission to the site is $3.90 for adults, $3.40 for seniors and free for youth 17 and under. For details, go to .
