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Were you looking for some cool Victoria Events? Cool! We have listed out some of the best Victoria Events that you should be a part of!
Victoria is a beautiful town located near Vancouver Island in British Columbia. The town has unique architecture and awesome places to visit; Victoria is one of the most recommended places to visit in British Columbia.
You can cover the places within one or two days, but the most exciting part about Victoria is its events. Being such a lively place, Victoria Events enhances the overall aura of the town.
Every month has some of the other events listed on its calendar, which is another great fact because you’ll be able to attend a few events no matter which month you visit. I
Victoria events: 15 Impressive Festivals!
n case you want to visit a few best and most recommended Victoria Events, follow us through the article!
1. TD Victoria International Jazz Festival
The annual music festival is the main attraction of any town. It gets the whole community excited and leaves them mesmerized; such is the power of music!
The TD Victoria International Jazz Festival is one of the must-visit Victoria Events you can come across. The best thing about this festival is its duration, which lasts for 10 amazing days.
You can witness the music of different genres like rap and blues, and most prominently jazz.
The artists are from local cities of Canada to other countries as well, and with the artist, the genres of music change! The music festival is lined up with professional artists who leave the audience spellbound.
These Victoria events have been organized by the Victoria Jazz Society every year. The festival is one of the major attractions around Vancouver and is organized on a large scale.
The International Jazz Festival has been celebrated for the last 37 years. This one of the popular Victoria Events happens around June, every year.
So if you are a Jazz music fan, this 10 days music festival should be on your list; and do buy the tickets in advance.
2. Victoria Buskers Festival
It would help if you had a rough idea about these Victoria events before diving in. Victoria Buskers Festival is about providing a platform for street artists from around the world.
This is a five-day energetic festival that is free to attend and one of the best Victoria events that are recommended for friends and families.
The festival has a circus-like feel, as you can witness a few best street performers and their mind-blowing stunts.
Attend this event with your family, and you can also bring your pets along. Witness the amazing busking stars and performers from around the globe.
If you are new to Victoria, then having some information about Victoria Buskers Festival is important.
The event is organized every year at the end of August and lasts until the first week of September. The event takes place in different areas like Centennial, bastion, and Market Square. The Busker Festival remains open throughout the day!
3. Art of the Cocktail festival
The biggest cocktail party in Victoria is the art of the Cocktail! The cocktail festival is one grand event of the town, and you should not miss this celebration when at any cost.
At this Victoria event, you will have the opportunity of tasting over sixty different types of drinks. The popularity of the event can be seen by the crowd, as over a thousand people attend this festival.
It would be best if you were above the age of 19 to be a part of this festival. Cocktail art is all about tasting a wide range of spirits, learning the art of making cocktails, and most important having fun!
Over 40 exhibitors participate in this event, and the participants are from the local region. You can taste some delicious appetizers that are served by some experienced chefs in Victoria.
Art of the Cocktail Festival is celebrated in the heart of Victoria at Crystal Gardens. This Victoria Event is organized during October for a day and during evening hours.
You can buy your passes in advance and also go for VIP passes for early access.
4. James Bay Market
Now James Bay Market doesn’t appear like an event because it’s a seasonal market. You can buy many interesting things from this market, like handmade crafts and pottery, beautiful jewelry, and clothes.
The market has great decorations, and it doesn’t appear like a local farm supplies market. You can also spot wooden items for home décor, making it one of the town’s popular and most awaited Victoria events.
James Bay Market offers a wide range of food items as well, from bakery goods to freshly picked farm vegetables, meats, and even dried fruits and nuts. The best element of the market is its live music, which is played by reputed local artists.
This market’s organization is done on a large scale, as there are play areas for children and places for people to sit, relax, and grab a bite of street food from food stalls and trucks.
The market comes to life from May to October every year. It remains active every Saturday, from 9 AM to 3 PM, and you can find this market on the corner of Menzies and Superior in James Bay.
5. Victoria Pride Week
One of the greatest Victoria Events is the Pride week festival because of the motive behind it. The Victoria pride festival is all about embracing yourself, and feeling empowered with your head held high!
The Victoria Pride week started 25 years ago as a community picnic. A large number gathered in Beacon Hill Park to have some fun moments and a relaxing time. They gathered to have a little celebration by eating, dancing, playing, and socializing.
Pride week majorly involves the LGBTQ community and sends a message to people in taking pride in who they are. This great Victoria event lasts for a week and is celebrated by a large group of people.
The event takes place to reflect and spread awareness about discrimination, violence, and other problems faced by the people of the LGBTQ community. The message is expressed through music and performances.
The Pride festival has a rainbow theme, and you can spot people in colorful attires. This Victoria Event’s festive vibe gets complete when entertainment factors like music, drinks, and food are added. The event attracts over ten thousand people from around the world.
The Victoria Pride Society organizes the event with the agenda of spreading love. Victoria Pride Week takes place in July every year, and you can witness the parade near McDonald Park.
6. Symphony Splash
Symphony Splash is one of the greatest Victoria events of the year. The event is celebrated on Sunday before British Columbia day. As the name suggests, the event is about music and the celebration of life!
This music festival is celebrated on such a grand level that it is concluded with fireworks and cannon fire!
You can be a part of Symphony Splash by visiting the Inner Harbor of Victoria. This musical event has been celebrated for the last 31 years in Victoria.
Symphony Splash is one popular Victoria event, and it has the potential of gathering over 40,000 people.
The event gets so crowded that boats and kayaks are organized for people’s convenience. The festival is considered one of the biggest musical events in North America.
If you get the opportunity of witnessing this great Victoria event, never back down, because the festival has the potential of leaving you mesmerized.
Every year a solo artist is featured by the orchestra, which is one of the highlights of this event.
You should read about 5 reasons why you should check out Victoria’s Symphony Splash to understand the event better.
7. Victoria Day Parade
Victoria Day is a national holiday in Canada. Victoria’s Day is celebrated in honor of Queen Victoria’s birthday. Some people also believe that this day marks the beginning of summer days.
Victoria Day sounds like a great event, and on this day, one of the largest parades of Victoria is held. The extravaganza of the event increases when over 150 bands and groups participate in this Victoria event.
You can see American and Canadian marching bands, with entertaining clowns, musical floats, and cultural exhibitions. The bands are so amazing that it attracts several thousand people from different parts of the world.
Victoria Day Parade is held on the last Monday of May 25, every year. It is also taken as the official birthday of Canada’s sovereign. This Parade has been a part of Canadian culture since 1845. This Victoria event has been celebrated every year for the last 122 years.
The parade starts from Douglas and Finlayson St. and ends up at Courtenay St. It’s a multi-cultural Victoria event that is led by the Canadian forces, and it begins at 9 AM.
8. Victoria Ska & Reggae Festival
Victoria Ska and Reggae Festival is another musical event that is organized in Victoria. This Victoria event is among one of the longest-running ska musical festivals in North America and is organized in June every year.
This Victoria event started in 2000 as a one-day event; by 2012, it lasted for five days. The expansion of its time slot happened because the audience and participants loved the festival.
The ska and reggae festival attracts over ten thousand people every year.
The Victoria event occurs in several venues, and artists like Ky-Mani Marley, Freddie McGregor, Skatalites, and Fishbone perform at the musical festival.
The Victoria Ska Festival is a platform for several artists who come from all corners of the world to perform here.
You can witness many other music genres like hip-hop, funk, and rock as well. This Victoria event is one of the best festivals in the town and is best for families and kids. You can go for individual passes or group passes for great discounts.
9. Classic Boat Festival
Boat Festival is one of those Victoria events which is unique and one of a kind. Classic Boat Festival is about showcasing the classic boats present at the dock of Victoria. There are also boat races and other fun activities.
In every picture of Victoria, the classic boats are always present, and hence a boat festival is a must thing for the town. This Victoria event has been celebrated for the last forty years.
The classic boats are present on the dockside that has roamed all around the Northwest Pacific ocean and are showcased on each Labor Day weekend. The boats are witnessed by over ten thousand visitors every year.
The Maritime Museum of British Columbia organizes the classic boat festival. The classic boat festival aims to promote maritime heritage and share its experience with the people of Victoria.
You can be a part of this Victoria festival by visiting the Inner Harbors of the town on the weekend from 9 AM to 9 PM. You will get to see different activities, boat races, and 100 different types of classic boats.
10. Brewery & the Beast Culinary Festival
Brewery and the beast culinary festival is one of the most awaited Victoria events.
Four factors are important for making an event into a festival: music, food, drinks, and people. All the four factors are filled in Brewery and the beast culinary festival.
This one of Victoria’s events is all about educating the guest with the science and information about the foods and how it is grown on the farms.
The event focuses on spreading awareness among people about the food they consume and being conscientious consumers.
You can try some of the best local dishes prepared by fine chefs of the community. The beer, wines, spirits, craft ciders, and other drinks are also a highlight of the event because, without drinks, the party vibes remain incomplete.
The event has been organized with the purpose of fundraising that goes in the form of charity to different organizations.
Brewery and the Beast culinary festival are organized in three different Canadian cities, and these are Vancouver, Calgary, and Victoria.
This is another Victoria event that has restricted entry to adults only. You need to book a ticket for witnessing the festival. The venue of this festival in Victoria is Royal Athletic Park.
11. Victoria Yoga Festival
Now, that sounds like an unusual Victoria event, but the Yoga festival is one of the most loved events in the town. As the name suggests, the festival is about celebrating, learning, and practicing yoga.
In this Victoria event, you have the opportunity of learning yoga from a few best teachers in the country. In the Yoga festival, you can try and learn any form of yoga you want, and experience mental peace!
A festival that can make you feel relaxed and motivated is what the world needs. Here in this peaceful Victoria event, over sixty classes are organized ad you can learn about Ayurveda and types of yoga and poetry and writing workshops.
The yoga festival is organized in February every year at the University of Victoria. It would help if you got the passes in advance by booking online.
12. Magic of Christmas at Butchart Gardens
Butchart Gardens is one of the most recommended places to visit in Victoria. When the garden is decorated during Christmas, it makes the place even more lively. Magic of Christmas at Butchart Gardens is one of the most exciting Victoria events of the year.
Christmas’s magic is celebrated for over a month, which makes it one of the best Victoria events. The festival starts in the first week of December and ends in the first week of January.
The elements that make the garden lively are the lighting, decorations, and carols that are sung here daily. The ice skating, festive food, and carolers make the Butchart Gardens one of the best places to visit during the winter.
This bright Victoria event remains inactive only on the day of Christmas, and you need to buy tickets for getting access to the Garden. During the festival, you can access the garden between 9 AM to 9 PM.
13. Indigenous Cultural Festival
This is one of the most unique and amazing Victoria events. As the name suggests, the festival is about displaying and spreading awareness about the indigenous culture of British Columbia.
Every day you can see a different indigenous performance that comes from a different corner of British Columbia.
Apart from enjoying the artists’ dance and acts, you can also witness the unique handcrafted items the participant brings with them.
You can spot unique home décors items like paintings, jewelry, and carvings in this Victoria event. The participants also display the art of making those crafts that you can learn on the spot.
14. Dine Around & Stay in Town
The most delicious Victoria events of the town are Dine around and stay in town. This food festival is a heavenly event for foodies from around the world.
Dine around and staying in Town is one of the best festivals to enjoy with your foodie friends.
In this Victoria event, over 50 local restaurants collaborate and offer their three-course menu, and that too at meager and affordable prices. The food festival is one of the major Victoria events and also a satisfying attraction.
This delicious Victoria event lasts for around a month; it begins in the second week of January and ends in the first week of February. The food festival is organized by BC Restaurants and Foodservice association every year.
15. Chinese New Year
One of the most vibrant and cultural events of all time is the Chinese New Year celebration. This is one of the most recommended Victoria events of the year.
The Chinese new year is celebrated by immigrants from China that are now settled in Victoria and other parts of Canada.
These Victoria events are organized in the Chinatown locality, and the energy and decorations turn the community into mini-China. According to the Chinese calendar, the Chinese New Year is celebrated, and usually, it falls in January or February.
The traditional lion and dragon dance of the celebration is the highlight of this Victoria event. Thousands of spectators gather around the town to witness the parade. The ongoing year is named the year of the rat.
Chinatown’s narrow lanes are decorated with traditional lights, and lots of delicious food items are served to people by Victoria’s Chinese community.
While exploring Chinatown, do visit Fan Tan alley, where you can come across several items like clothing, artworks, home décor ad, and boutiques.
The indigenous cultural festival has delicious dishes like barbequed salmon burgers, clam chowder, and many other delicacies. This Victoria event takes place in June for three days, and it is filled with music, food, and cultural education.
The Takeaway
Victoria is one of the most amazing places to visit when in British Columbia. If you are visiting the town for the first time, you should check out some of Victoria’s great attractions.
And in case you want to indulge yourself in some fun activities to do in Victoria, then you should click here! Victoria’s events are quite engaging, fun, and diverse. You can be a part of the Pride festival, or experience something calm like a yoga festival.
Victoria events are diverse and organized on a grand level, it is fun-filled, and people are more than excited about these events.
Several other Victoria events take place around the year. It’s a city with lively people and an awesome environment from cherry blossoms festivals to food, wine, and music festival.
The Victoria events have food, drinks, music, awareness, and the most important element of love and togetherness among the community’s people. Victoria events are a way of binding people and adding happiness to their lives.
I hope you enjoyed reading the ‘Victoria Events: 15 Impressive Festivals!‘ if you have anything to add, please feel free to share your thoughts with us!
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Last Updated on by Priyanshi Sharma