The Awakening Chinatown festival returns May 28 for its second annual event.
Festivities, which will run from noon to 5 p.m., begin with a noon eye-dotting ceremony to symbolically awaken the lions, and Chinatown itself, using lion masks.
A Lion Parade will be held to bring fortune and prosperity, and entertainment on the main stage at Fisgard and Store streets will include martial arts, lion dancing by the Wong Sheung Kung Fu Club, Asian opera singers, magician Justin Louie, the Happy Drum Group and the all-Asian drag review House of Rice.
There will also be opportunities to try Chinese arts and crafts, and see calligraphy and fortune-telling demonstrations. The community gathering is presented by the Victoria Chinatown Museum Society in collaboration with the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association and Chinatown businesses, and coincides with Asian Heritage Month in Canada. RBC returns as the lead sponsor.
“Last year, thousands came out to celebrate our inaugural event,” said museum society Grace Wong Sneddon.
“This year’s celebration promises to be even bigger, so we are very excited to see even more of our community come together once again.”
She said that the museum society “is committed to fostering learning about the Chinese community, its living history and dynamic culture through the creation of a museum.”
“Awakening Chinatown is just one more way we can achieve our mandate to educate and engage our community at large.”
Victoria’s Chinatown is a national historic site and has existed for about 165 years — making it the oldest Chinatown in Canada and the second-oldest in North America, after San Francisco’s.
Festival organizers call it “a sanctuary within the city.”
Museum society vice-chair Robert Fung noted that Chinatown is still developing.
“There are still plenty of opportunities for Chinatown to evolve and grow in ways that reveal even more of its magic that has been hidden from public view in intervening decades,” Fung said.
“Awakening Chinatown gives our community a chance to rediscover this beautiful part of our city. From its eye-catching architecture to its amazing eateries, there is something for everyone to explore.”
Fisgard Street between Store and Government streets will be closed to traffic during the event.
Those attending are encouraged to help with a visual diary of the festival by tagging Instagram photos of the activities with @chinatownyyj and #awakeningchinatown2023. Pictures selected as the best will earn the photographers gift certificates to Chinatown businesses.
• For more about Awakening Chinatown go to victoriachinatownmuseum.com.
>>> Art+Fare: Union Club cooks with style for art gallery
The Union Club of B.C. is once again hosting its culinary celebration and auction Art+Fare in support of the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria on June 3.
Proceeds from the 6-9 p.m. event at the Gordon Street club will go toward the acquisition of contemporary Indigenous art for the gallery.
To date, more than $200,000 has been raised through the event for children’s and family programs, and preservation and conservation of the gallery collection.
“We are most grateful to the Union Club of British Columbia for our very special relationship and for once again organizing this event to benefit the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria,” said gallery director and chief executive Nancy Noble.
The evening features a live auction with auctioneer Alison Ross of Alison Ross Appraisals and a silent auction of “unique and intriguing items” from generous donors.
Tickets are $100 per person. For $300, VIP tickets include a $145 tax receipt, 2 single-use gallery passes and a one-year gallery membership. A patron-ticket package for $1,500 includes four event tickets, a $1,000 tax receipt, access to the gallery’s Leadership Circle benefits and a one-year gallery membership.
• Tickets are on sale at the front desk of the gallery at 1040 Moss St. or at bit.ly/3Bv80Bd.
>>> Heroes Walk on Saturday battles Huntington’s disease
The Vancouver Island and Gulf Islands Chapter of the Huntington Society of Canada is inviting the public to the Huntington Heroes Walk on Saturday at Esquimalt’s Captain Jacobson Park, on Head Street near the West Bay Marina.
The five-kilometre walk starts at 11 a.m. and proceeds along the West Bay Walkway. The route will take participants to the Johnson Street Bridge and back.
The day begins with refreshments from 10-10:45 a.m., and includes a 10:50 a.m. warm-up and a 10:55 a.m. group photo.
Chapter president Hedley Cullen was diagnosed with Huntington’s disease 10 years ago and has been working to raise awareness about the condition and collect funds to support those affected by it.
The disease is a fatal, incurable brain disorder that affects about one in every 7,000 Canadians, and has been described as like having elements of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and schizophrenia.
• To register, visit bit.ly/41Iy4U0.
>>> Sooke residents take on invasive Scotch broom
Sooke residents are invited to bring Scotch broom to a drop-off station at the municipality’s parks yard at 2070 Kaltasin Rd., running 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays from May 27 to June 17.
The success of a two-day pilot for the drop-off station last year has led to extended hours this year.
“We hope to eventually extend the program to more yard waste, but for now are focusing on the species that is easily recognizable and poses a considerable risk to native plants and our wildfire hazard,” said Jessica Boquist, Sooke’s parks and environmental services co-ordinator. “We have a limited capacity at the yard and we need to ensure we can dispose of all that is gathered appropriately.”
Scotch broom is an invasive shrub that was brought to southern Vancouver Island in 1850s, and was actually sold at Greater Victoria plant nurseries for a time.
Boquist said to remove broom when it’s in bloom, cut at the base of the plant instead of pulling to limit soil disturbance and prevent weed seeds from germinating. She also suggested restoring sites where broom has been removed with native plants such as Oregon grape or red currant.
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