Monday was the perfect excuse to be creative with red and white.
Many of the tens of thousands turning out at Canada Day events across Greater Victoria took the opportunity to the sport the colours of the flag.
Kathleen Bradley decked herself out head to toe in bright red clothing. She then supplemented the look with a dollar-store Canada Day hat and red-and-white face stickers.
“I just thought I’d have fun for the first time ever in a long time,” she said with a grin.
George Burnside spent three hours decorating his car for the day.
The Canadiana attached to his car on Monday included maple-leaf string lights, red mini paper lanterns, Canadian flag truck nuts, a moose stuffy, maple leaf wind chimes, and a litany of Canadian flags. “I brought it to life,” he said of his heavily-customized 1965 Fairlane Ford.
Burnside, who participated in the Sidney Canada Day Parade, spent the afternoon showing off his creation at the Inner Harbour.
Munira Abalulesa paired a white jacket with her red headscarf and dress in a subtle rendition of the Canadian flag during her visit to the Inner Harbour festivities. “It’s a good day for everyone,” she said of Canada Day. “I just love my country.”
Abalulesa said she has gone to Canada Day events ever since she immigrated here from Ethiopia four years ago.
Patrick Detchoua bought a red Canada-branded baseball cap and jersey to mark his first Canada Day in the country. Sitting on the legislature lawn with his family with Cameroonian pop playing from a nearby speaker, Detchoua said he was looking forward to the pyrotechnics and drone display later in the night.
Talk of the drone show was heard from many a passerby, but the 200 drones responsible for seven-minute light show had yet to show up at the launch point at Peter Pollen Waterfront Park off Belleville Street on Monday afternoon.
Those involved with the show were unavailable for an interview.
City spokesperson Colleen Mycroft said organizers expected an attendance of up to 50,000 at the Inner Harbour on Monday night for the drone show and the fireworks.
In Langford, about 3,000 people attended Canada Day celebrations at Starlight Stadium.
In the morning, attendees formed a line that went beyond the parking lot and into the pedestrian pathway connecting Glen Lake Road and Langford Parkway.
Councillor Keith Yacucha said this year’s celebrations were the biggest that Langford has seen since it started hosting Canada Day celebrations in earnest three years ago.
West Shore residents don’t necessarily to go into Victoria to celebrate and can stay closer to home, Yacucha said.
“We’re really just investing in getting community events here in the West Shore in Langford for our families … working at making it bigger, making more events here, so people aren’t just emptying out every weekend,” he said.
Katty Stolar, who was volunteering at the stadium concession with the Canadian Legion Branch 91 for a popular by-donation pancake breakfast at the stadium, said her group had gone through 44 pounds of pancake mix by 11 a.m.
Langford resident Benjamin Ferger, at the event with his family, said he hasn’t been to Canada Day celebration in Victoria in decades.
“We’re a part of this community. We want to come out to this community’s Canada Day event,” he said, while his three-year-old son chased giant bubbles the size of a basketball with a group of kids while his five-month-old baby napped in a pram.
There were festivities all around Greater Victoria, including in Sidney, View Royal, Colwood, Sooke, and along the Gorge Waterway.
Celebrations also took place at parks in Nanaimo, Courtenay and Campbell River.
>>> To comment on this article, write a letter to the editor: [email protected]
