16 March 2017: Over 250 iconic landmarks and sites around the world will be illuminated green over the coming days – as part of Tourism Ireland’s 2017 Global Greening initiative to celebrate the island of Ireland and St Patrick.
The annual initiative, now in its eighth year, which sees a host of major landmarks around the world turn green for St Patrick’s Day, has grown from strength to strength, with many new landmarks signing up to take part this year.
Stadiums, statues, castles and towers will go green to celebrate our national day (17 March) with exciting additions for 2017 including the One World Trade Center in New York – the main building of the re-built World Trade Center in New York and the tallest building in the Western Hemisphere.
Canadian landmarks going green this year include the Toronto Sign, Casa Loma, Whistler Ski Resort, Calgary Tower, Cabot Tower, The Big Fiddle, the Museum of Nature, the Big Nickel, the Distillery District, the Sails of Lights, the Futalognkosaurus (dinosaur) in the Royal Ontario Museum, Montreal City Hall, Complexe Desjardins, and La Tour McGill.
Click Tourism Ireland’s Global Greenings for footage of the world turning green.
Niall Gibbons, CEO of Tourism Ireland, said: “This is the eighth year of Tourism Ireland’s Global Greening initiative and each year I am delighted to see even more well-known attractions and landmark sites wishing to get involved. The eagerness of cities and countries everywhere to take part underlines the strength of the deep connection that people all over the world feel to Ireland. More than 70 million people around the world claim links to the island of Ireland and St Patrick’s Day is a truly unique opportunity to reconnect them with their heritage.”
Of course, the ‘greenings’ are just one part of the St Patrick’s Day celebrations. The place to be on 17th March is Ireland where there are two festivals which shouldn’t be missed.
In Dublin, Ireland’s capital city, the ‘St Patrick’s Festival’ will last for four great days, taking in the weekend and running from 16-19 March. The city will be alive with music, film, arts, dance, culture, fun and even international rugby.
Each year the festival has a different theme with this year’s ‘Ireland We Are’ giving the city a chance to showcase all that Ireland stands for today. Festival favourites include the world’s largest outdoor céilí, world-class museums hosting free workshops and guided historic walks including famous sites such as the Guinness Storehouse. The main event, the St Patrick’s Festival parade, is held on Friday 17 March in Dublin’s city centre.
In Northern Ireland, the newly curated ‘Home of St Patrick Festival’ celebrates St Patrick, the man and the saint, as one of the world’s most inspiring and loved saints of all time. Taking place in the beautiful landscape of Counties Armagh and Down, which was once Patrick’s home, the festival will culminate on Sunday 19 March with ‘The Voice of the Irish’ closing concert in spectacular Newry Cathedral.
PRE-SEASON SALE – Girls Getaway Weekends – Snowpack Updates – New Glamping Options & More
Girls Getaway Weekend: 2015
Hey girls, want to have an epic weekend of fun in the great outdoors? Come out and challenge the rapids by day and enjoy amazing chef-prepared meals and campfire fun by night……and then sleep in river’s edge cabin tents to the sound of the river! All-inclusive 3 day/ 2 night getaway from just $240 US / $299 CDN reorafting.com/site/groups-and-packages/ladies-weekend.html
Or call Tina, Karen or Michelle at 604-461-7238 or 800-736-7238
Massage 2
Snow Pack Update & Best Time to Come to REO in 2015
Mother Nature is really making an impact in 2015! The Nahatlatch valley has received less than 40% of it’s normal snowpack which feeds our beautiful jade-green river. So here are some things to expect in 2015:
May & June: don’t miss the legendary rapids in full form; best time for the big stuff
July: Expect warm water, hot days and technical whitewater. Canyon opens! Stein opens!
August: Nahatlatch canyon runs, low water uppers, get on the Thompson for massive waves.
September: All about the Thompson…..expect the best levels of the year for paddle rafting
Check out Pre-Season Sales: Day Trips & 1-Night Rafting & Camping reorafting.com/site/rafting-trips/nahatlatch-day-trip.html reorafting.com/site/rafting-trips/nahatlatch-1-night.html
Book by May 5 for lowest rates of the year!
Free admission to Parks Canada sites to celebrate Canada Day
OTTAWA, June 13, 2013 /CNW/ – Parks Canada reminds that admission will be free in all 44 national parks, 167 national historic sites, and four national marine conservation areas on Canada Day.
To celebrate Canada Day, Canadians are invited to participate in an array of activities offered across the country.
From wine tasting, to jungle survival and adventure sports; here are some travel suggestions for the modern man
Vacation days are a precious commodity and although some men might be happy to squander them laying on a beach, here are some travel suggestions aimed at increasing knowledge, physical prowess and even helping to make the world a better place.
Pump Up The Pedal Pressure
Forget the Lycra, dressed from head to toe in protective gear; downhill mountain bikers are the gladiators of the two-wheel world. EnjoyWhistler.com offers a package including mountainside accommodation, a bike lesson on Whistler Mountain, and then a trip to the Scandinave Spa so you too can feel like you faced the arena – and won. For more information visit www.EnjoyWhistler.com
Me Tarzan: Jungle Survival Training
Be the knight in shining armour, rather than the paper pusher behind him. Leave the desk job behind and embark on a trip to the jungle. Learn expert survival training whilst helping to protect stunning habitat and cultural landmarks in places like Belize, Borneo, and the Himalayas. For more information visit www.GoVoluntouring.com
Brain vs. Braun: Intellectual Summer Camp
Wouldn’t it be nice if you could drop a line about cloning genes into your usual chat-up repertoire? Or perhaps a little something on geology, or the human quest for truth? Head to Quest University Canada for a week-long adult intellectual summer camp and you’ll certainly learn something to liven up the conversation. For more information visit www.QuestU.com
Into the Wild: Whitewater Rafting and Fishing
You know you’re a man when you can jump off a cliff called the “Devil’s Elbow”. Part of Sunwolf’s “Elaho River Expedition”, their full-day summer whitewater rafting trip includes conquering grade five rapids and a dip in the glacial waters if you’re brave enough to face the Devil’s Elbow drop. If you visit during the colder months the rivers teem with steelhead trout just begging to be reeled in. For more information visit www.Sunwolf.net
Learning the Lingo: Give and Surf
Learn how to surf and brush up on your Spanish in Bocas del Toro, Panama while you help the local community. Get a tan, learn the lingo and catch some waves whilst assisting in the day-to-day running of a preschool for the local children. For more information visit www.GoVoluntouring.com
Cool Combination: Savvy Skier and Wine Aficionado
Kill two birds with one stone at Big White Ski Resort, based in the heart of Canadian wine country. Learn to navigate your way around not only the slopes but also the wine list with their “Groomers and Grapes Package”, which includes a tour of the local wineries. With 700cm of powdery snow, 118 runs to explore and a 60ft manmade ice tower to clamber up, who doesn’t like a man who can handle the cold? For more information visit www.BigWhite.com
Manmade Impact: Heal The World
Adventure philanthropy can take you all over the world, whether you want to help build an orphanage in Guatemala, install solar panels in Nicaragua or help with a water treatment system in Malaysia. No construction experience required, just some muscle and a sense of adventure. For more information visit www.GoVoluntouring.com
Island Chef Food Fest: Eat Food & Fund Farms
Southern Vancouver Island is often referred to as “Canada’s Provence” for its high quality, niche food products. On June 10, 2012, visitors to Victoria, B.C. can enjoy the outdoors and experience Vancouver Island’s bounty all in one place with the Island Chefs Collaborative’s fifth annual food festival. Held from noon to 4:00 p.m. at Fort Rodd Hill, this year’s festival, Eat Food & Fund Farms , will include more than 60 local food producers and chefs. Culinary tourists are encouraged to grab a bite and explore around the grounds of the National Historic Site, a coast artillery fort built in the late 1890s complete with three gun batteries, underground magazines, command posts, guardhouses, barracks and searchlight emplacements. The food fest showcases top chefs, restaurateurs and local producers, while raising awareness on the issues and challenges of food production and sustainability on Vancouver Island. Tickets are $40 CDN for adults, $20 CDN for youth and $80 CDN for a family ticket, which includes two adults and two youth. For those looking for a healthy way to get to the festival, Habit Coffee will be organizing its annual bike trip to the fest. Skip the queue and get free bike parking as bike participants arrive before noon. The Island Chefs Collaborative is a like-minded community of chefs and food and beverage professionals with a common interest in regional food security, the preservation of farmland and the development of local food systems. For more information visit www.iccbc.ca.
Fly From Tee to Tee
Celebrating its 30th year in 2012, Harbour Air in Victoria, B.C. is the world’s largest carbon neutral seaplane airline. Offering flights between Victoria and Vancouver, the summer flight schedule also offers a daily flight between two of Canada’s premier golfing destinations: Victoria and Whistler. With the mildest climate in the country, Victoria offers residents and visitors golf year-round. Golfers can choose from twenty courses in the Victoria area, from full-scale championship links to smaller, less difficult courses, most with spectacular lake, ocean and mountain views. Visitors can try their hand at Victoria’s newest championship golf course Highland Pacific Golf, or Canada’s only 36-hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf course at The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa. The truly dedicated golfer can spend an entire vacation exploring a variety of courses and follow the Vancouver Island Golf Trail, golfing their way up and down Vancouver Island at 12 premier courses. If that’s not enough, the extreme golfing fanatic can play two cities in one trip by catching a float plane to Whistler, B.C. Once daily from May 18 to September 30, 2012, Harbour Air’s flight from Victoria’s Inner Harbour offers golfers spectacular aerial views of the majestic glaciers and turquoise waters before landing on beautiful Green Lake in Whistler, B.C. and hitting the next green in just over an hour’s time. Whistler boasts four championship courses in Big Sky Golf and Country Club, Nicklaus North Golf Course, Whistler Golf Club and The Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club. Flight cost between B.C.’s capital and the world-class mountain resort is $266.40 CDN. For more information visit www.harbour-air.com.
Celebrating a Diamond Jubilee
Victoria, B.C. has long been known for its British heritage and the city simply cannot resist celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of her 60-year reign. Several events and activities at some of Victoria’s most iconic locations have been planned around her Majesty’s milestone. The month of June 2012 has been declared Diamond Jubilee month at The Fairmont Empress. Events planned range from an exclusive Diamond Jubilee Gala to outdoor tea parties to queen-worthy spa packages. Four-legged friends are also welcome at the Royal Dog Show and Tea Party. On June 1, 2012 the Royal BC Museum will also honour the Queen with its latest exhibition, Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration . Featuring nearly 100 portraits by royal photographer Cecil Beaton, this exhibit explores Beaton’s long relationship with Elizabeth, who was a teenage princess when he first photographed her in 1942. Experience the many different sides of Elizabeth in her roles as princess, monarch and mother while getting a glimpse of her royal life with a number of rarely seen photographs alongside extracts from Beaton’s personal diaries and letters. Beaton’s royal portraits were among the most widely published photos of the 20th century and this five-section exhibition charts the shift in Beaton’s style from early rococo-inspired portraits to the starker images of the 1960s. The exhibition will open June 1 and run until September 3, 2012. Tickets are $14.29 CDN for adults and $9.06 CDN for children. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress and www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
Royal BC Museum Offers Kids Dinosaur Fun
Located in downtown Victoria, B.C., the Royal BC Museum’s fourth annual summer camp series is taking on Dinosaurs! With the feature exhibition Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries opening May 17, 2012 the summer camps will allow budding paleontologists to discover more about dinosaurs. Divided into six week-long segments, campers will spend time in the exhibition, visit the paleobotany lab behind-the-scenes in the museum, attend an IMAX movie and go on a geologically inspired field trip. The camps run from July 16 to August 31, 2012. The camp costs $224 CDN and is open to children ages 6 to 12. The feature exhibition offers amazing bio-mechanical models and lush dioramas to give the thrill of discovering something brand new about the creatures that lived millions of years ago. Visitors are encouraged to dive into the exciting world of modern paleontology, where new dinosaur fossils are being discovered faster than ever before. The young and young-at-heart are invited to try some dinosaur fun with interactive animations like Dino-Pedia and Continental Drift and other fun dino activities. Designed and curated by the world-famous American Museum of Natural History, this exhibit is a must-see for all ages and Victoria is its only stop in Canada. For more information visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
The Fairmont Empress Bees Create Sweet New Brew In late April, The Fairmont Empress in Victoria, B.C. welcomed back their most famous summer residents– the honeybees. Last year, The hotel became the newest property in the Fairmont family to initiate a honeybee program, bringing ten hives and 800,000 bees to the hotel’s Centennial Garden. The bees produced 1,300 pounds of honey, which was used in the hotel restaurants for Afternoon Tea. In partnership with Hoyne Brewery, the honey was also used to create the Empress Honey Wheat Ale, launching just in time for summer. Beginning May 10, 2012, visitors can try the new brew in the best seats in the house when The Fairmont’s Veranda opens for the summer season. The perfect setting to enjoy the sights and sounds of Victoria’s picturesque Inner Harbour, The Veranda offers a farm to fork menu featuring some of Vancouver Island’s finest ingredients for visitors’ dining experience. Open from 11:30 a.m. to dusk, or chilly if that comes first, the Veranda also provides heaters, wraps and sun shades for their guests’ enjoyment. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress.
Merridale Adds New Orchard Cookhouse
This May, Merridale Ciderworks located 25 minutes north of Victoria, B.C., offers a feast for the senses with the opening of their Orchard Cookhouse. This new outdoor kitchen is complete with a BBQ grill, brick oven and new smoker, offering endless opportunities for menu creativity. With all of Merridale’s food now being cooked outside, menu experimentations to date include: smoked cider glazed wild salmon, marinated smoked vegetables for sides and pizza toppings and pork ribs on the grill. And, if that doesn’t get your mouth watering, this summer Merridale will also feature an impressive line of burgers made from lamb, beef, seafood and chicken and also a veggie burger for those less meat inclined. The smoker will be used to smoke meats for both the bistro and the deli, offering visitors a flavourful smoked taste. Daily seafood specials will feature tasty bowls of mussels, or the freshest find for the day. Merridale Ciderworks, nestled in the south of Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley, is Canada’s largest producer of craft cider from English and French cider apples. For more information visit www.merridalecider.com.
Cycle Your Way Through Wine Country
Victoria, B.C. is rated the cycling capital of Canada (Statistics Canada 2006) and along with world-class trails, the region produces internationally recognized and award-winning wines. Visitors can experience this ever growing wine region on two wheels with a tour from Cycle Treks called the Saanich Peninsula Wine Tour. This guided, full-day tour (approximately seven to eight hours), follows the picturesque Lochside Trail through bird sanctuaries, active farmlands and over train tressles. Stops include Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, a ten-acre certified organic farm that produces hand-crafted ciders onsite, Church and State Wines, an 11-acre property producing award-winning wines and Victoria Spirits, B.C.’s first artisan gin distillery. The tour returns via the stunning Colquitz River Trail. The cost for this tour is $139 CDN and includes a hybrid-style bicycle, helmet, map, water bottle and lunch. Cycle Treks also offers Victoria City, The Butchart Gardens, West Coast Adventure, Seaside Touring Route, Cowichan Valley Winery and Lochside Trail tours as well as multi-day tours of Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. For more information visit www.cycletreks.com.
Tourism Victoria Provides Escape Plan Maybe it’s the anticipation of warmer weather on the way or maybe it’s the work week that never ends; whatever the case may be, wouldn’t it be nice to escape it all? Until July 3, 2012, Tourism Victoria is offering visitors the chance to win one of five perfectly-you escapes departing from Vancouver, B.C. or Seattle, WA to Victoria, B.C. valued at $2,000 CDN each! Visitors can discover their unique travel style and enter to win using the Escape Planner app at www.WinYourEscape.com , then share the contest on Twitter using the hashtag #WinYourEscape and they’ll be entered to win one of the $100 CDN weekly cash prizes. As an island destination, Victoria offers visitors an escape from the hurried world and is a unique blend of old world charm and new world experiences. This combined with the wild beauty of the Pacific Ocean and old-growth rainforests set against a backdrop of the Olympic Mountains makes for a nearby getaway that feels out of this world. For more information visit www.tourismvictoria.com.
Holly Lenk will be in Fredericton, NB from May 2 to 5 attending the 2012 TMAC Conference and AGM.
Cathy Ray will be in Vancouver, BC on May 7 hosting a reception for the media launch of Tourism Victoria’s Summer Marketing Campaign.
Cathy Ray and Tessa Humphries will be in Seattle, WA on May 8 hosting a reception for the media launch of Tourism Victoria’s Summer Marketing Campaign.
Holly Lenk will be in Whitehorse, YT from May 27 to 31 attending GoMedia Canada.
Tessa Humphries will be in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR the week of June 12 to 15 along with partners from Tourism British Columbia, Tourism Vancouver and Tourism Whistler for a media marketplace event and media calls.
Non-stop direct flights are available from Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary, Toronto and San Francisco year-round. Seasonal non-stop flights are available from Honolulu, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Island Chef Food Fest: Eat Food & Fund Farms
Southern Vancouver Island is often referred to as “Canada’s Provence” for its high quality, niche food products. On June 10, 2012, visitors to Victoria, B.C. can enjoy the outdoors and experience Vancouver Island’s bounty all in one place with the Island Chefs Collaborative’s fifth annual food festival. Held from noon to 4:00 p.m. at Fort Rodd Hill, this year’s festival, Eat Food & Fund Farms , will include more than 60 local food producers and chefs. Culinary tourists are encouraged to grab a bite and explore around the grounds of the National Historic Site, a coast artillery fort built in the late 1890s complete with three gun batteries, underground magazines, command posts, guardhouses, barracks and searchlight emplacements. The food fest showcases top chefs, restaurateurs and local producers, while raising awareness on the issues and challenges of food production and sustainability on Vancouver Island. Tickets are $40 CDN for adults, $20 CDN for youth and $80 CDN for a family ticket, which includes two adults and two youth. For those looking for a healthy way to get to the festival, Habit Coffee will be organizing its annual bike trip to the fest. Skip the queue and get free bike parking as bike participants arrive before noon. The Island Chefs Collaborative is a like-minded community of chefs and food and beverage professionals with a common interest in regional food security, the preservation of farmland and the development of local food systems. For more information visit www.iccbc.ca.
Fly From Tee to Tee
Celebrating its 30th year in 2012, Harbour Air in Victoria, B.C. is the world’s largest carbon neutral seaplane airline. Offering flights between Victoria and Vancouver, the summer flight schedule also offers a daily flight between two of Canada’s premier golfing destinations: Victoria and Whistler. With the mildest climate in the country, Victoria offers residents and visitors golf year-round. Golfers can choose from twenty courses in the Victoria area, from full-scale championship links to smaller, less difficult courses, most with spectacular lake, ocean and mountain views. Visitors can try their hand at Victoria’s newest championship golf course Highland Pacific Golf, or Canada’s only 36-hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf course at The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa. The truly dedicated golfer can spend an entire vacation exploring a variety of courses and follow the Vancouver Island Golf Trail, golfing their way up and down Vancouver Island at 12 premier courses. If that’s not enough, the extreme golfing fanatic can play two cities in one trip by catching a float plane to Whistler, B.C. Once daily from May 18 to September 30, 2012, Harbour Air’s flight from Victoria’s Inner Harbour offers golfers spectacular aerial views of the majestic glaciers and turquoise waters before landing on beautiful Green Lake in Whistler, B.C. and hitting the next green in just over an hour’s time. Whistler boasts four championship courses in Big Sky Golf and Country Club, Nicklaus North Golf Course, Whistler Golf Club and The Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club. Flight cost between B.C.’s capital and the world-class mountain resort is $266.40 CDN. For more information visit www.harbour-air.com.
Celebrating a Diamond Jubilee
Victoria, B.C. has long been known for its British heritage and the city simply cannot resist celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of her 60-year reign. Several events and activities at some of Victoria’s most iconic locations have been planned around her Majesty’s milestone. The month of June 2012 has been declared Diamond Jubilee month at The Fairmont Empress. Events planned range from an exclusive Diamond Jubilee Gala to outdoor tea parties to queen-worthy spa packages. Four-legged friends are also welcome at the Royal Dog Show and Tea Party. On June 1, 2012 the Royal BC Museum will also honour the Queen with its latest exhibition, Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration . Featuring nearly 100 portraits by royal photographer Cecil Beaton, this exhibit explores Beaton’s long relationship with Elizabeth, who was a teenage princess when he first photographed her in 1942. Experience the many different sides of Elizabeth in her roles as princess, monarch and mother while getting a glimpse of her royal life with a number of rarely seen photographs alongside extracts from Beaton’s personal diaries and letters. Beaton’s royal portraits were among the most widely published photos of the 20th century and this five-section exhibition charts the shift in Beaton’s style from early rococo-inspired portraits to the starker images of the 1960s. The exhibition will open June 1 and run until September 3, 2012. Tickets are $14.29 CDN for adults and $9.06 CDN for children. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress and www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
Royal BC Museum Offers Kids Dinosaur Fun
Located in downtown Victoria, B.C., the Royal BC Museum’s fourth annual summer camp series is taking on Dinosaurs! With the feature exhibition Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries opening May 17, 2012 the summer camps will allow budding paleontologists to discover more about dinosaurs. Divided into six week-long segments, campers will spend time in the exhibition, visit the paleobotany lab behind-the-scenes in the museum, attend an IMAX movie and go on a geologically inspired field trip. The camps run from July 16 to August 31, 2012. The camp costs $224 CDN and is open to children ages 6 to 12. The feature exhibition offers amazing bio-mechanical models and lush dioramas to give the thrill of discovering something brand new about the creatures that lived millions of years ago. Visitors are encouraged to dive into the exciting world of modern paleontology, where new dinosaur fossils are being discovered faster than ever before. The young and young-at-heart are invited to try some dinosaur fun with interactive animations like Dino-Pedia and Continental Drift and other fun dino activities. Designed and curated by the world-famous American Museum of Natural History, this exhibit is a must-see for all ages and Victoria is its only stop in Canada. For more information visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
The Fairmont Empress Bees Create Sweet New Brew In late April, The Fairmont Empress in Victoria, B.C. welcomed back their most famous summer residents– the honeybees. Last year, The hotel became the newest property in the Fairmont family to initiate a honeybee program, bringing ten hives and 800,000 bees to the hotel’s Centennial Garden. The bees produced 1,300 pounds of honey, which was used in the hotel restaurants for Afternoon Tea. In partnership with Hoyne Brewery, the honey was also used to create the Empress Honey Wheat Ale, launching just in time for summer. Beginning May 10, 2012, visitors can try the new brew in the best seats in the house when The Fairmont’s Veranda opens for the summer season. The perfect setting to enjoy the sights and sounds of Victoria’s picturesque Inner Harbour, The Veranda offers a farm to fork menu featuring some of Vancouver Island’s finest ingredients for visitors’ dining experience. Open from 11:30 a.m. to dusk, or chilly if that comes first, the Veranda also provides heaters, wraps and sun shades for their guests’ enjoyment. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress.
Merridale Adds New Orchard Cookhouse
This May, Merridale Ciderworks located 25 minutes north of Victoria, B.C., offers a feast for the senses with the opening of their Orchard Cookhouse. This new outdoor kitchen is complete with a BBQ grill, brick oven and new smoker, offering endless opportunities for menu creativity. With all of Merridale’s food now being cooked outside, menu experimentations to date include: smoked cider glazed wild salmon, marinated smoked vegetables for sides and pizza toppings and pork ribs on the grill. And, if that doesn’t get your mouth watering, this summer Merridale will also feature an impressive line of burgers made from lamb, beef, seafood and chicken and also a veggie burger for those less meat inclined. The smoker will be used to smoke meats for both the bistro and the deli, offering visitors a flavourful smoked taste. Daily seafood specials will feature tasty bowls of mussels, or the freshest find for the day. Merridale Ciderworks, nestled in the south of Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley, is Canada’s largest producer of craft cider from English and French cider apples. For more information visit www.merridalecider.com.
Cycle Your Way Through Wine Country
Victoria, B.C. is rated the cycling capital of Canada (Statistics Canada 2006) and along with world-class trails, the region produces internationally recognized and award-winning wines. Visitors can experience this ever growing wine region on two wheels with a tour from Cycle Treks called the Saanich Peninsula Wine Tour. This guided, full-day tour (approximately seven to eight hours), follows the picturesque Lochside Trail through bird sanctuaries, active farmlands and over train tressles. Stops include Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, a ten-acre certified organic farm that produces hand-crafted ciders onsite, Church and State Wines, an 11-acre property producing award-winning wines and Victoria Spirits, B.C.’s first artisan gin distillery. The tour returns via the stunning Colquitz River Trail. The cost for this tour is $139 CDN and includes a hybrid-style bicycle, helmet, map, water bottle and lunch. Cycle Treks also offers Victoria City, The Butchart Gardens, West Coast Adventure, Seaside Touring Route, Cowichan Valley Winery and Lochside Trail tours as well as multi-day tours of Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. For more information visit www.cycletreks.com.
Tourism Victoria Provides Escape Plan Maybe it’s the anticipation of warmer weather on the way or maybe it’s the work week that never ends; whatever the case may be, wouldn’t it be nice to escape it all? Until July 3, 2012, Tourism Victoria is offering visitors the chance to win one of five perfectly-you escapes departing from Vancouver, B.C. or Seattle, WA to Victoria, B.C. valued at $2,000 CDN each! Visitors can discover their unique travel style and enter to win using the Escape Planner app at www.WinYourEscape.com , then share the contest on Twitter using the hashtag #WinYourEscape and they’ll be entered to win one of the $100 CDN weekly cash prizes. As an island destination, Victoria offers visitors an escape from the hurried world and is a unique blend of old world charm and new world experiences. This combined with the wild beauty of the Pacific Ocean and old-growth rainforests set against a backdrop of the Olympic Mountains makes for a nearby getaway that feels out of this world. For more information visit www.tourismvictoria.com.
Holly Lenk will be in Fredericton, NB from May 2 to 5 attending the 2012 TMAC Conference and AGM.
Cathy Ray will be in Vancouver, BC on May 7 hosting a reception for the media launch of Tourism Victoria’s Summer Marketing Campaign.
Cathy Ray and Tessa Humphries will be in Seattle, WA on May 8 hosting a reception for the media launch of Tourism Victoria’s Summer Marketing Campaign.
Holly Lenk will be in Whitehorse, YT from May 27 to 31 attending GoMedia Canada.
Tessa Humphries will be in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR the week of June 12 to 15 along with partners from Tourism British Columbia, Tourism Vancouver and Tourism Whistler for a media marketplace event and media calls.
Non-stop direct flights are available from Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary, Toronto and San Francisco year-round. Seasonal non-stop flights are available from Honolulu, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Island Chef Food Fest: Eat Food & Fund Farms
Southern Vancouver Island is often referred to as “Canada’s Provence” for its high quality, niche food products. On June 10, 2012, visitors to Victoria, B.C. can enjoy the outdoors and experience Vancouver Island’s bounty all in one place with the Island Chefs Collaborative’s fifth annual food festival. Held from noon to 4:00 p.m. at Fort Rodd Hill, this year’s festival, Eat Food & Fund Farms , will include more than 60 local food producers and chefs. Culinary tourists are encouraged to grab a bite and explore around the grounds of the National Historic Site, a coast artillery fort built in the late 1890s complete with three gun batteries, underground magazines, command posts, guardhouses, barracks and searchlight emplacements. The food fest showcases top chefs, restaurateurs and local producers, while raising awareness on the issues and challenges of food production and sustainability on Vancouver Island. Tickets are $40 CDN for adults, $20 CDN for youth and $80 CDN for a family ticket, which includes two adults and two youth. For those looking for a healthy way to get to the festival, Habit Coffee will be organizing its annual bike trip to the fest. Skip the queue and get free bike parking as bike participants arrive before noon. The Island Chefs Collaborative is a like-minded community of chefs and food and beverage professionals with a common interest in regional food security, the preservation of farmland and the development of local food systems. For more information visit www.iccbc.ca.
Fly From Tee to Tee
Celebrating its 30th year in 2012, Harbour Air in Victoria, B.C. is the world’s largest carbon neutral seaplane airline. Offering flights between Victoria and Vancouver, the summer flight schedule also offers a daily flight between two of Canada’s premier golfing destinations: Victoria and Whistler. With the mildest climate in the country, Victoria offers residents and visitors golf year-round. Golfers can choose from twenty courses in the Victoria area, from full-scale championship links to smaller, less difficult courses, most with spectacular lake, ocean and mountain views. Visitors can try their hand at Victoria’s newest championship golf course Highland Pacific Golf, or Canada’s only 36-hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf course at The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa. The truly dedicated golfer can spend an entire vacation exploring a variety of courses and follow the Vancouver Island Golf Trail, golfing their way up and down Vancouver Island at 12 premier courses. If that’s not enough, the extreme golfing fanatic can play two cities in one trip by catching a float plane to Whistler, B.C. Once daily from May 18 to September 30, 2012, Harbour Air’s flight from Victoria’s Inner Harbour offers golfers spectacular aerial views of the majestic glaciers and turquoise waters before landing on beautiful Green Lake in Whistler, B.C. and hitting the next green in just over an hour’s time. Whistler boasts four championship courses in Big Sky Golf and Country Club, Nicklaus North Golf Course, Whistler Golf Club and The Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club. Flight cost between B.C.’s capital and the world-class mountain resort is $266.40 CDN. For more information visit www.harbour-air.com.
Celebrating a Diamond Jubilee
Victoria, B.C. has long been known for its British heritage and the city simply cannot resist celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of her 60-year reign. Several events and activities at some of Victoria’s most iconic locations have been planned around her Majesty’s milestone. The month of June 2012 has been declared Diamond Jubilee month at The Fairmont Empress. Events planned range from an exclusive Diamond Jubilee Gala to outdoor tea parties to queen-worthy spa packages. Four-legged friends are also welcome at the Royal Dog Show and Tea Party. On June 1, 2012 the Royal BC Museum will also honour the Queen with its latest exhibition, Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration . Featuring nearly 100 portraits by royal photographer Cecil Beaton, this exhibit explores Beaton’s long relationship with Elizabeth, who was a teenage princess when he first photographed her in 1942. Experience the many different sides of Elizabeth in her roles as princess, monarch and mother while getting a glimpse of her royal life with a number of rarely seen photographs alongside extracts from Beaton’s personal diaries and letters. Beaton’s royal portraits were among the most widely published photos of the 20th century and this five-section exhibition charts the shift in Beaton’s style from early rococo-inspired portraits to the starker images of the 1960s. The exhibition will open June 1 and run until September 3, 2012. Tickets are $14.29 CDN for adults and $9.06 CDN for children. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress and www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
Royal BC Museum Offers Kids Dinosaur Fun
Located in downtown Victoria, B.C., the Royal BC Museum’s fourth annual summer camp series is taking on Dinosaurs! With the feature exhibition Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries opening May 17, 2012 the summer camps will allow budding paleontologists to discover more about dinosaurs. Divided into six week-long segments, campers will spend time in the exhibition, visit the paleobotany lab behind-the-scenes in the museum, attend an IMAX movie and go on a geologically inspired field trip. The camps run from July 16 to August 31, 2012. The camp costs $224 CDN and is open to children ages 6 to 12. The feature exhibition offers amazing bio-mechanical models and lush dioramas to give the thrill of discovering something brand new about the creatures that lived millions of years ago. Visitors are encouraged to dive into the exciting world of modern paleontology, where new dinosaur fossils are being discovered faster than ever before. The young and young-at-heart are invited to try some dinosaur fun with interactive animations like Dino-Pedia and Continental Drift and other fun dino activities. Designed and curated by the world-famous American Museum of Natural History, this exhibit is a must-see for all ages and Victoria is its only stop in Canada. For more information visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
The Fairmont Empress Bees Create Sweet New Brew In late April, The Fairmont Empress in Victoria, B.C. welcomed back their most famous summer residents– the honeybees. Last year, The hotel became the newest property in the Fairmont family to initiate a honeybee program, bringing ten hives and 800,000 bees to the hotel’s Centennial Garden. The bees produced 1,300 pounds of honey, which was used in the hotel restaurants for Afternoon Tea. In partnership with Hoyne Brewery, the honey was also used to create the Empress Honey Wheat Ale, launching just in time for summer. Beginning May 10, 2012, visitors can try the new brew in the best seats in the house when The Fairmont’s Veranda opens for the summer season. The perfect setting to enjoy the sights and sounds of Victoria’s picturesque Inner Harbour, The Veranda offers a farm to fork menu featuring some of Vancouver Island’s finest ingredients for visitors’ dining experience. Open from 11:30 a.m. to dusk, or chilly if that comes first, the Veranda also provides heaters, wraps and sun shades for their guests’ enjoyment. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress.
Merridale Adds New Orchard Cookhouse
This May, Merridale Ciderworks located 25 minutes north of Victoria, B.C., offers a feast for the senses with the opening of their Orchard Cookhouse. This new outdoor kitchen is complete with a BBQ grill, brick oven and new smoker, offering endless opportunities for menu creativity. With all of Merridale’s food now being cooked outside, menu experimentations to date include: smoked cider glazed wild salmon, marinated smoked vegetables for sides and pizza toppings and pork ribs on the grill. And, if that doesn’t get your mouth watering, this summer Merridale will also feature an impressive line of burgers made from lamb, beef, seafood and chicken and also a veggie burger for those less meat inclined. The smoker will be used to smoke meats for both the bistro and the deli, offering visitors a flavourful smoked taste. Daily seafood specials will feature tasty bowls of mussels, or the freshest find for the day. Merridale Ciderworks, nestled in the south of Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley, is Canada’s largest producer of craft cider from English and French cider apples. For more information visit www.merridalecider.com.
Cycle Your Way Through Wine Country
Victoria, B.C. is rated the cycling capital of Canada (Statistics Canada 2006) and along with world-class trails, the region produces internationally recognized and award-winning wines. Visitors can experience this ever growing wine region on two wheels with a tour from Cycle Treks called the Saanich Peninsula Wine Tour. This guided, full-day tour (approximately seven to eight hours), follows the picturesque Lochside Trail through bird sanctuaries, active farmlands and over train tressles. Stops include Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, a ten-acre certified organic farm that produces hand-crafted ciders onsite, Church and State Wines, an 11-acre property producing award-winning wines and Victoria Spirits, B.C.’s first artisan gin distillery. The tour returns via the stunning Colquitz River Trail. The cost for this tour is $139 CDN and includes a hybrid-style bicycle, helmet, map, water bottle and lunch. Cycle Treks also offers Victoria City, The Butchart Gardens, West Coast Adventure, Seaside Touring Route, Cowichan Valley Winery and Lochside Trail tours as well as multi-day tours of Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. For more information visit www.cycletreks.com.
Tourism Victoria Provides Escape Plan Maybe it’s the anticipation of warmer weather on the way or maybe it’s the work week that never ends; whatever the case may be, wouldn’t it be nice to escape it all? Until July 3, 2012, Tourism Victoria is offering visitors the chance to win one of five perfectly-you escapes departing from Vancouver, B.C. or Seattle, WA to Victoria, B.C. valued at $2,000 CDN each! Visitors can discover their unique travel style and enter to win using the Escape Planner app at www.WinYourEscape.com , then share the contest on Twitter using the hashtag #WinYourEscape and they’ll be entered to win one of the $100 CDN weekly cash prizes. As an island destination, Victoria offers visitors an escape from the hurried world and is a unique blend of old world charm and new world experiences. This combined with the wild beauty of the Pacific Ocean and old-growth rainforests set against a backdrop of the Olympic Mountains makes for a nearby getaway that feels out of this world. For more information visit www.tourismvictoria.com.
Holly Lenk will be in Fredericton, NB from May 2 to 5 attending the 2012 TMAC Conference and AGM.
Cathy Ray will be in Vancouver, BC on May 7 hosting a reception for the media launch of Tourism Victoria’s Summer Marketing Campaign.
Cathy Ray and Tessa Humphries will be in Seattle, WA on May 8 hosting a reception for the media launch of Tourism Victoria’s Summer Marketing Campaign.
Holly Lenk will be in Whitehorse, YT from May 27 to 31 attending GoMedia Canada.
Tessa Humphries will be in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR the week of June 12 to 15 along with partners from Tourism British Columbia, Tourism Vancouver and Tourism Whistler for a media marketplace event and media calls.
Non-stop direct flights are available from Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary, Toronto and San Francisco year-round. Seasonal non-stop flights are available from Honolulu, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Island Chef Food Fest: Eat Food & Fund Farms
Southern Vancouver Island is often referred to as “Canada’s Provence” for its high quality, niche food products. On June 10, 2012, visitors to Victoria, B.C. can enjoy the outdoors and experience Vancouver Island’s bounty all in one place with the Island Chefs Collaborative’s fifth annual food festival. Held from noon to 4:00 p.m. at Fort Rodd Hill, this year’s festival, Eat Food & Fund Farms , will include more than 60 local food producers and chefs. Culinary tourists are encouraged to grab a bite and explore around the grounds of the National Historic Site, a coast artillery fort built in the late 1890s complete with three gun batteries, underground magazines, command posts, guardhouses, barracks and searchlight emplacements. The food fest showcases top chefs, restaurateurs and local producers, while raising awareness on the issues and challenges of food production and sustainability on Vancouver Island. Tickets are $40 CDN for adults, $20 CDN for youth and $80 CDN for a family ticket, which includes two adults and two youth. For those looking for a healthy way to get to the festival, Habit Coffee will be organizing its annual bike trip to the fest. Skip the queue and get free bike parking as bike participants arrive before noon. The Island Chefs Collaborative is a like-minded community of chefs and food and beverage professionals with a common interest in regional food security, the preservation of farmland and the development of local food systems. For more information visit www.iccbc.ca.
Fly From Tee to Tee
Celebrating its 30th year in 2012, Harbour Air in Victoria, B.C. is the world’s largest carbon neutral seaplane airline. Offering flights between Victoria and Vancouver, the summer flight schedule also offers a daily flight between two of Canada’s premier golfing destinations: Victoria and Whistler. With the mildest climate in the country, Victoria offers residents and visitors golf year-round. Golfers can choose from twenty courses in the Victoria area, from full-scale championship links to smaller, less difficult courses, most with spectacular lake, ocean and mountain views. Visitors can try their hand at Victoria’s newest championship golf course Highland Pacific Golf, or Canada’s only 36-hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf course at The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa. The truly dedicated golfer can spend an entire vacation exploring a variety of courses and follow the Vancouver Island Golf Trail, golfing their way up and down Vancouver Island at 12 premier courses. If that’s not enough, the extreme golfing fanatic can play two cities in one trip by catching a float plane to Whistler, B.C. Once daily from May 18 to September 30, 2012, Harbour Air’s flight from Victoria’s Inner Harbour offers golfers spectacular aerial views of the majestic glaciers and turquoise waters before landing on beautiful Green Lake in Whistler, B.C. and hitting the next green in just over an hour’s time. Whistler boasts four championship courses in Big Sky Golf and Country Club, Nicklaus North Golf Course, Whistler Golf Club and The Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club. Flight cost between B.C.’s capital and the world-class mountain resort is $266.40 CDN. For more information visit www.harbour-air.com.
Celebrating a Diamond Jubilee
Victoria, B.C. has long been known for its British heritage and the city simply cannot resist celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of her 60-year reign. Several events and activities at some of Victoria’s most iconic locations have been planned around her Majesty’s milestone. The month of June 2012 has been declared Diamond Jubilee month at The Fairmont Empress. Events planned range from an exclusive Diamond Jubilee Gala to outdoor tea parties to queen-worthy spa packages. Four-legged friends are also welcome at the Royal Dog Show and Tea Party. On June 1, 2012 the Royal BC Museum will also honour the Queen with its latest exhibition, Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration . Featuring nearly 100 portraits by royal photographer Cecil Beaton, this exhibit explores Beaton’s long relationship with Elizabeth, who was a teenage princess when he first photographed her in 1942. Experience the many different sides of Elizabeth in her roles as princess, monarch and mother while getting a glimpse of her royal life with a number of rarely seen photographs alongside extracts from Beaton’s personal diaries and letters. Beaton’s royal portraits were among the most widely published photos of the 20th century and this five-section exhibition charts the shift in Beaton’s style from early rococo-inspired portraits to the starker images of the 1960s. The exhibition will open June 1 and run until September 3, 2012. Tickets are $14.29 CDN for adults and $9.06 CDN for children. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress and www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
Royal BC Museum Offers Kids Dinosaur Fun
Located in downtown Victoria, B.C., the Royal BC Museum’s fourth annual summer camp series is taking on Dinosaurs! With the feature exhibition Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries opening May 17, 2012 the summer camps will allow budding paleontologists to discover more about dinosaurs. Divided into six week-long segments, campers will spend time in the exhibition, visit the paleobotany lab behind-the-scenes in the museum, attend an IMAX movie and go on a geologically inspired field trip. The camps run from July 16 to August 31, 2012. The camp costs $224 CDN and is open to children ages 6 to 12. The feature exhibition offers amazing bio-mechanical models and lush dioramas to give the thrill of discovering something brand new about the creatures that lived millions of years ago. Visitors are encouraged to dive into the exciting world of modern paleontology, where new dinosaur fossils are being discovered faster than ever before. The young and young-at-heart are invited to try some dinosaur fun with interactive animations like Dino-Pedia and Continental Drift and other fun dino activities. Designed and curated by the world-famous American Museum of Natural History, this exhibit is a must-see for all ages and Victoria is its only stop in Canada. For more information visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
The Fairmont Empress Bees Create Sweet New Brew In late April, The Fairmont Empress in Victoria, B.C. welcomed back their most famous summer residents– the honeybees. Last year, The hotel became the newest property in the Fairmont family to initiate a honeybee program, bringing ten hives and 800,000 bees to the hotel’s Centennial Garden. The bees produced 1,300 pounds of honey, which was used in the hotel restaurants for Afternoon Tea. In partnership with Hoyne Brewery, the honey was also used to create the Empress Honey Wheat Ale, launching just in time for summer. Beginning May 10, 2012, visitors can try the new brew in the best seats in the house when The Fairmont’s Veranda opens for the summer season. The perfect setting to enjoy the sights and sounds of Victoria’s picturesque Inner Harbour, The Veranda offers a farm to fork menu featuring some of Vancouver Island’s finest ingredients for visitors’ dining experience. Open from 11:30 a.m. to dusk, or chilly if that comes first, the Veranda also provides heaters, wraps and sun shades for their guests’ enjoyment. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress.
Merridale Adds New Orchard Cookhouse
This May, Merridale Ciderworks located 25 minutes north of Victoria, B.C., offers a feast for the senses with the opening of their Orchard Cookhouse. This new outdoor kitchen is complete with a BBQ grill, brick oven and new smoker, offering endless opportunities for menu creativity. With all of Merridale’s food now being cooked outside, menu experimentations to date include: smoked cider glazed wild salmon, marinated smoked vegetables for sides and pizza toppings and pork ribs on the grill. And, if that doesn’t get your mouth watering, this summer Merridale will also feature an impressive line of burgers made from lamb, beef, seafood and chicken and also a veggie burger for those less meat inclined. The smoker will be used to smoke meats for both the bistro and the deli, offering visitors a flavourful smoked taste. Daily seafood specials will feature tasty bowls of mussels, or the freshest find for the day. Merridale Ciderworks, nestled in the south of Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley, is Canada’s largest producer of craft cider from English and French cider apples. For more information visit www.merridalecider.com.
Cycle Your Way Through Wine Country
Victoria, B.C. is rated the cycling capital of Canada (Statistics Canada 2006) and along with world-class trails, the region produces internationally recognized and award-winning wines. Visitors can experience this ever growing wine region on two wheels with a tour from Cycle Treks called the Saanich Peninsula Wine Tour. This guided, full-day tour (approximately seven to eight hours), follows the picturesque Lochside Trail through bird sanctuaries, active farmlands and over train tressles. Stops include Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, a ten-acre certified organic farm that produces hand-crafted ciders onsite, Church and State Wines, an 11-acre property producing award-winning wines and Victoria Spirits, B.C.’s first artisan gin distillery. The tour returns via the stunning Colquitz River Trail. The cost for this tour is $139 CDN and includes a hybrid-style bicycle, helmet, map, water bottle and lunch. Cycle Treks also offers Victoria City, The Butchart Gardens, West Coast Adventure, Seaside Touring Route, Cowichan Valley Winery and Lochside Trail tours as well as multi-day tours of Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. For more information visit www.cycletreks.com.
Tourism Victoria Provides Escape Plan Maybe it’s the anticipation of warmer weather on the way or maybe it’s the work week that never ends; whatever the case may be, wouldn’t it be nice to escape it all? Until July 3, 2012, Tourism Victoria is offering visitors the chance to win one of five perfectly-you escapes departing from Vancouver, B.C. or Seattle, WA to Victoria, B.C. valued at $2,000 CDN each! Visitors can discover their unique travel style and enter to win using the Escape Planner app at www.WinYourEscape.com , then share the contest on Twitter using the hashtag #WinYourEscape and they’ll be entered to win one of the $100 CDN weekly cash prizes. As an island destination, Victoria offers visitors an escape from the hurried world and is a unique blend of old world charm and new world experiences. This combined with the wild beauty of the Pacific Ocean and old-growth rainforests set against a backdrop of the Olympic Mountains makes for a nearby getaway that feels out of this world. For more information visit www.tourismvictoria.com.
Tourism Victoria’s Monthly Media Newsletter May 2012
Island Chef Food Fest: Eat Food & Fund Farms
Southern Vancouver Island is often referred to as “Canada’s Provence” for its high quality, niche food products. On June 10, 2012, visitors to Victoria, B.C. can enjoy the outdoors and experience Vancouver Island’s bounty all in one place with the Island Chefs Collaborative’s fifth annual food festival. Held from noon to 4:00 p.m. at Fort Rodd Hill, this year’s festival, Eat Food & Fund Farms , will include more than 60 local food producers and chefs. Culinary tourists are encouraged to grab a bite and explore around the grounds of the National Historic Site, a coast artillery fort built in the late 1890s complete with three gun batteries, underground magazines, command posts, guardhouses, barracks and searchlight emplacements. The food fest showcases top chefs, restaurateurs and local producers, while raising awareness on the issues and challenges of food production and sustainability on Vancouver Island. Tickets are $40 CDN for adults, $20 CDN for youth and $80 CDN for a family ticket, which includes two adults and two youth. For those looking for a healthy way to get to the festival, Habit Coffee will be organizing its annual bike trip to the fest. Skip the queue and get free bike parking as bike participants arrive before noon. The Island Chefs Collaborative is a like-minded community of chefs and food and beverage professionals with a common interest in regional food security, the preservation of farmland and the development of local food systems. For more information visit www.iccbc.ca.
Fly From Tee to Tee
Celebrating its 30th year in 2012, Harbour Air in Victoria, B.C. is the world’s largest carbon neutral seaplane airline. Offering flights between Victoria and Vancouver, the summer flight schedule also offers a daily flight between two of Canada’s premier golfing destinations: Victoria and Whistler. With the mildest climate in the country, Victoria offers residents and visitors golf year-round. Golfers can choose from twenty courses in the Victoria area, from full-scale championship links to smaller, less difficult courses, most with spectacular lake, ocean and mountain views. Visitors can try their hand at Victoria’s newest championship golf course Highland Pacific Golf, or Canada’s only 36-hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf course at The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa. The truly dedicated golfer can spend an entire vacation exploring a variety of courses and follow the Vancouver Island Golf Trail, golfing their way up and down Vancouver Island at 12 premier courses. If that’s not enough, the extreme golfing fanatic can play two cities in one trip by catching a float plane to Whistler, B.C. Once daily from May 18 to September 30, 2012, Harbour Air’s flight from Victoria’s Inner Harbour offers golfers spectacular aerial views of the majestic glaciers and turquoise waters before landing on beautiful Green Lake in Whistler, B.C. and hitting the next green in just over an hour’s time. Whistler boasts four championship courses in Big Sky Golf and Country Club, Nicklaus North Golf Course, Whistler Golf Club and The Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club. Flight cost between B.C.’s capital and the world-class mountain resort is $266.40 CDN. For more information visit www.harbour-air.com.
Celebrating a Diamond Jubilee
Victoria, B.C. has long been known for its British heritage and the city simply cannot resist celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of her 60-year reign. Several events and activities at some of Victoria’s most iconic locations have been planned around her Majesty’s milestone. The month of June 2012 has been declared Diamond Jubilee month at The Fairmont Empress. Events planned range from an exclusive Diamond Jubilee Gala to outdoor tea parties to queen-worthy spa packages. Four-legged friends are also welcome at the Royal Dog Show and Tea Party. On June 1, 2012 the Royal BC Museum will also honour the Queen with its latest exhibition, Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration . Featuring nearly 100 portraits by royal photographer Cecil Beaton, this exhibit explores Beaton’s long relationship with Elizabeth, who was a teenage princess when he first photographed her in 1942. Experience the many different sides of Elizabeth in her roles as princess, monarch and mother while getting a glimpse of her royal life with a number of rarely seen photographs alongside extracts from Beaton’s personal diaries and letters. Beaton’s royal portraits were among the most widely published photos of the 20th century and this five-section exhibition charts the shift in Beaton’s style from early rococo-inspired portraits to the starker images of the 1960s. The exhibition will open June 1 and run until September 3, 2012. Tickets are $14.29 CDN for adults and $9.06 CDN for children. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress and www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
Royal BC Museum Offers Kids Dinosaur Fun
Located in downtown Victoria, B.C., the Royal BC Museum’s fourth annual summer camp series is taking on Dinosaurs! With the feature exhibition Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries opening May 17, 2012 the summer camps will allow budding paleontologists to discover more about dinosaurs. Divided into six week-long segments, campers will spend time in the exhibition, visit the paleobotany lab behind-the-scenes in the museum, attend an IMAX movie and go on a geologically inspired field trip. The camps run from July 16 to August 31, 2012. The camp costs $224 CDN and is open to children ages 6 to 12. The feature exhibition offers amazing bio-mechanical models and lush dioramas to give the thrill of discovering something brand new about the creatures that lived millions of years ago. Visitors are encouraged to dive into the exciting world of modern paleontology, where new dinosaur fossils are being discovered faster than ever before. The young and young-at-heart are invited to try some dinosaur fun with interactive animations like Dino-Pedia and Continental Drift and other fun dino activities. Designed and curated by the world-famous American Museum of Natural History, this exhibit is a must-see for all ages and Victoria is its only stop in Canada. For more information visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
The Fairmont Empress Bees Create Sweet New Brew In late April, The Fairmont Empress in Victoria, B.C. welcomed back their most famous summer residents– the honeybees. Last year, The hotel became the newest property in the Fairmont family to initiate a honeybee program, bringing ten hives and 800,000 bees to the hotel’s Centennial Garden. The bees produced 1,300 pounds of honey, which was used in the hotel restaurants for Afternoon Tea. In partnership with Hoyne Brewery, the honey was also used to create the Empress Honey Wheat Ale, launching just in time for summer. Beginning May 10, 2012, visitors can try the new brew in the best seats in the house when The Fairmont’s Veranda opens for the summer season. The perfect setting to enjoy the sights and sounds of Victoria’s picturesque Inner Harbour, The Veranda offers a farm to fork menu featuring some of Vancouver Island’s finest ingredients for visitors’ dining experience. Open from 11:30 a.m. to dusk, or chilly if that comes first, the Veranda also provides heaters, wraps and sun shades for their guests’ enjoyment. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress.
Merridale Adds New Orchard Cookhouse
This May, Merridale Ciderworks located 25 minutes north of Victoria, B.C., offers a feast for the senses with the opening of their Orchard Cookhouse. This new outdoor kitchen is complete with a BBQ grill, brick oven and new smoker, offering endless opportunities for menu creativity. With all of Merridale’s food now being cooked outside, menu experimentations to date include: smoked cider glazed wild salmon, marinated smoked vegetables for sides and pizza toppings and pork ribs on the grill. And, if that doesn’t get your mouth watering, this summer Merridale will also feature an impressive line of burgers made from lamb, beef, seafood and chicken and also a veggie burger for those less meat inclined. The smoker will be used to smoke meats for both the bistro and the deli, offering visitors a flavourful smoked taste. Daily seafood specials will feature tasty bowls of mussels, or the freshest find for the day. Merridale Ciderworks, nestled in the south of Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley, is Canada’s largest producer of craft cider from English and French cider apples. For more information visit www.merridalecider.com.
Cycle Your Way Through Wine Country
Victoria, B.C. is rated the cycling capital of Canada (Statistics Canada 2006) and along with world-class trails, the region produces internationally recognized and award-winning wines. Visitors can experience this ever growing wine region on two wheels with a tour from Cycle Treks called the Saanich Peninsula Wine Tour. This guided, full-day tour (approximately seven to eight hours), follows the picturesque Lochside Trail through bird sanctuaries, active farmlands and over train tressles. Stops include Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, a ten-acre certified organic farm that produces hand-crafted ciders onsite, Church and State Wines, an 11-acre property producing award-winning wines and Victoria Spirits, B.C.’s first artisan gin distillery. The tour returns via the stunning Colquitz River Trail. The cost for this tour is $139 CDN and includes a hybrid-style bicycle, helmet, map, water bottle and lunch. Cycle Treks also offers Victoria City, The Butchart Gardens, West Coast Adventure, Seaside Touring Route, Cowichan Valley Winery and Lochside Trail tours as well as multi-day tours of Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. For more information visit www.cycletreks.com.
Tourism Victoria Provides Escape Plan Maybe it’s the anticipation of warmer weather on the way or maybe it’s the work week that never ends; whatever the case may be, wouldn’t it be nice to escape it all? Until July 3, 2012, Tourism Victoria is offering visitors the chance to win one of five perfectly-you escapes departing from Vancouver, B.C. or Seattle, WA to Victoria, B.C. valued at $2,000 CDN each! Visitors can discover their unique travel style and enter to win using the Escape Planner app at www.WinYourEscape.com , then share the contest on Twitter using the hashtag #WinYourEscape and they’ll be entered to win one of the $100 CDN weekly cash prizes. As an island destination, Victoria offers visitors an escape from the hurried world and is a unique blend of old world charm and new world experiences. This combined with the wild beauty of the Pacific Ocean and old-growth rainforests set against a backdrop of the Olympic Mountains makes for a nearby getaway that feels out of this world. For more information visit www.tourismvictoria.com.
Holly Lenk will be in Fredericton, NB from May 2 to 5 attending the 2012 TMAC Conference and AGM.
Cathy Ray will be in Vancouver, BC on May 7 hosting a reception for the media launch of Tourism Victoria’s Summer Marketing Campaign.
Cathy Ray and Tessa Humphries will be in Seattle, WA on May 8 hosting a reception for the media launch of Tourism Victoria’s Summer Marketing Campaign.
Holly Lenk will be in Whitehorse, YT from May 27 to 31 attending GoMedia Canada.
Tessa Humphries will be in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR the week of June 12 to 15 along with partners from Tourism British Columbia, Tourism Vancouver and Tourism Whistler for a media marketplace event and media calls.
Non-stop direct flights are available from Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary, Toronto and San Francisco year-round. Seasonal non-stop flights are available from Honolulu, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Island Chef Food Fest: Eat Food & Fund Farms
Southern Vancouver Island is often referred to as “Canada’s Provence” for its high quality, niche food products. On June 10, 2012, visitors to Victoria, B.C. can enjoy the outdoors and experience Vancouver Island’s bounty all in one place with the Island Chefs Collaborative’s fifth annual food festival. Held from noon to 4:00 p.m. at Fort Rodd Hill, this year’s festival, Eat Food & Fund Farms , will include more than 60 local food producers and chefs. Culinary tourists are encouraged to grab a bite and explore around the grounds of the National Historic Site, a coast artillery fort built in the late 1890s complete with three gun batteries, underground magazines, command posts, guardhouses, barracks and searchlight emplacements. The food fest showcases top chefs, restaurateurs and local producers, while raising awareness on the issues and challenges of food production and sustainability on Vancouver Island. Tickets are $40 CDN for adults, $20 CDN for youth and $80 CDN for a family ticket, which includes two adults and two youth. For those looking for a healthy way to get to the festival, Habit Coffee will be organizing its annual bike trip to the fest. Skip the queue and get free bike parking as bike participants arrive before noon. The Island Chefs Collaborative is a like-minded community of chefs and food and beverage professionals with a common interest in regional food security, the preservation of farmland and the development of local food systems. For more information visit www.iccbc.ca.
Fly From Tee to Tee
Celebrating its 30th year in 2012, Harbour Air in Victoria, B.C. is the world’s largest carbon neutral seaplane airline. Offering flights between Victoria and Vancouver, the summer flight schedule also offers a daily flight between two of Canada’s premier golfing destinations: Victoria and Whistler. With the mildest climate in the country, Victoria offers residents and visitors golf year-round. Golfers can choose from twenty courses in the Victoria area, from full-scale championship links to smaller, less difficult courses, most with spectacular lake, ocean and mountain views. Visitors can try their hand at Victoria’s newest championship golf course Highland Pacific Golf, or Canada’s only 36-hole Jack Nicklaus designed golf course at The Westin Bear Mountain Golf Resort & Spa. The truly dedicated golfer can spend an entire vacation exploring a variety of courses and follow the Vancouver Island Golf Trail, golfing their way up and down Vancouver Island at 12 premier courses. If that’s not enough, the extreme golfing fanatic can play two cities in one trip by catching a float plane to Whistler, B.C. Once daily from May 18 to September 30, 2012, Harbour Air’s flight from Victoria’s Inner Harbour offers golfers spectacular aerial views of the majestic glaciers and turquoise waters before landing on beautiful Green Lake in Whistler, B.C. and hitting the next green in just over an hour’s time. Whistler boasts four championship courses in Big Sky Golf and Country Club, Nicklaus North Golf Course, Whistler Golf Club and The Fairmont Chateau Whistler Golf Club. Flight cost between B.C.’s capital and the world-class mountain resort is $266.40 CDN. For more information visit www.harbour-air.com.
Celebrating a Diamond Jubilee
Victoria, B.C. has long been known for its British heritage and the city simply cannot resist celebrating the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee Anniversary of her 60-year reign. Several events and activities at some of Victoria’s most iconic locations have been planned around her Majesty’s milestone. The month of June 2012 has been declared Diamond Jubilee month at The Fairmont Empress. Events planned range from an exclusive Diamond Jubilee Gala to outdoor tea parties to queen-worthy spa packages. Four-legged friends are also welcome at the Royal Dog Show and Tea Party. On June 1, 2012 the Royal BC Museum will also honour the Queen with its latest exhibition, Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration . Featuring nearly 100 portraits by royal photographer Cecil Beaton, this exhibit explores Beaton’s long relationship with Elizabeth, who was a teenage princess when he first photographed her in 1942. Experience the many different sides of Elizabeth in her roles as princess, monarch and mother while getting a glimpse of her royal life with a number of rarely seen photographs alongside extracts from Beaton’s personal diaries and letters. Beaton’s royal portraits were among the most widely published photos of the 20th century and this five-section exhibition charts the shift in Beaton’s style from early rococo-inspired portraits to the starker images of the 1960s. The exhibition will open June 1 and run until September 3, 2012. Tickets are $14.29 CDN for adults and $9.06 CDN for children. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress and www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
Royal BC Museum Offers Kids Dinosaur Fun
Located in downtown Victoria, B.C., the Royal BC Museum’s fourth annual summer camp series is taking on Dinosaurs! With the feature exhibition Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries opening May 17, 2012 the summer camps will allow budding paleontologists to discover more about dinosaurs. Divided into six week-long segments, campers will spend time in the exhibition, visit the paleobotany lab behind-the-scenes in the museum, attend an IMAX movie and go on a geologically inspired field trip. The camps run from July 16 to August 31, 2012. The camp costs $224 CDN and is open to children ages 6 to 12. The feature exhibition offers amazing bio-mechanical models and lush dioramas to give the thrill of discovering something brand new about the creatures that lived millions of years ago. Visitors are encouraged to dive into the exciting world of modern paleontology, where new dinosaur fossils are being discovered faster than ever before. The young and young-at-heart are invited to try some dinosaur fun with interactive animations like Dino-Pedia and Continental Drift and other fun dino activities. Designed and curated by the world-famous American Museum of Natural History, this exhibit is a must-see for all ages and Victoria is its only stop in Canada. For more information visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
The Fairmont Empress Bees Create Sweet New Brew In late April, The Fairmont Empress in Victoria, B.C. welcomed back their most famous summer residents– the honeybees. Last year, The hotel became the newest property in the Fairmont family to initiate a honeybee program, bringing ten hives and 800,000 bees to the hotel’s Centennial Garden. The bees produced 1,300 pounds of honey, which was used in the hotel restaurants for Afternoon Tea. In partnership with Hoyne Brewery, the honey was also used to create the Empress Honey Wheat Ale, launching just in time for summer. Beginning May 10, 2012, visitors can try the new brew in the best seats in the house when The Fairmont’s Veranda opens for the summer season. The perfect setting to enjoy the sights and sounds of Victoria’s picturesque Inner Harbour, The Veranda offers a farm to fork menu featuring some of Vancouver Island’s finest ingredients for visitors’ dining experience. Open from 11:30 a.m. to dusk, or chilly if that comes first, the Veranda also provides heaters, wraps and sun shades for their guests’ enjoyment. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress.
Merridale Adds New Orchard Cookhouse
This May, Merridale Ciderworks located 25 minutes north of Victoria, B.C., offers a feast for the senses with the opening of their Orchard Cookhouse. This new outdoor kitchen is complete with a BBQ grill, brick oven and new smoker, offering endless opportunities for menu creativity. With all of Merridale’s food now being cooked outside, menu experimentations to date include: smoked cider glazed wild salmon, marinated smoked vegetables for sides and pizza toppings and pork ribs on the grill. And, if that doesn’t get your mouth watering, this summer Merridale will also feature an impressive line of burgers made from lamb, beef, seafood and chicken and also a veggie burger for those less meat inclined. The smoker will be used to smoke meats for both the bistro and the deli, offering visitors a flavourful smoked taste. Daily seafood specials will feature tasty bowls of mussels, or the freshest find for the day. Merridale Ciderworks, nestled in the south of Vancouver Island’s Cowichan Valley, is Canada’s largest producer of craft cider from English and French cider apples. For more information visit www.merridalecider.com.
Cycle Your Way Through Wine Country
Victoria, B.C. is rated the cycling capital of Canada (Statistics Canada 2006) and along with world-class trails, the region produces internationally recognized and award-winning wines. Visitors can experience this ever growing wine region on two wheels with a tour from Cycle Treks called the Saanich Peninsula Wine Tour. This guided, full-day tour (approximately seven to eight hours), follows the picturesque Lochside Trail through bird sanctuaries, active farmlands and over train tressles. Stops include Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse, a ten-acre certified organic farm that produces hand-crafted ciders onsite, Church and State Wines, an 11-acre property producing award-winning wines and Victoria Spirits, B.C.’s first artisan gin distillery. The tour returns via the stunning Colquitz River Trail. The cost for this tour is $139 CDN and includes a hybrid-style bicycle, helmet, map, water bottle and lunch. Cycle Treks also offers Victoria City, The Butchart Gardens, West Coast Adventure, Seaside Touring Route, Cowichan Valley Winery and Lochside Trail tours as well as multi-day tours of Southern Vancouver Island and the Gulf Islands. For more information visit www.cycletreks.com.
Tourism Victoria Provides Escape Plan Maybe it’s the anticipation of warmer weather on the way or maybe it’s the work week that never ends; whatever the case may be, wouldn’t it be nice to escape it all? Until July 3, 2012, Tourism Victoria is offering visitors the chance to win one of five perfectly-you escapes departing from Vancouver, B.C. or Seattle, WA to Victoria, B.C. valued at $2,000 CDN each! Visitors can discover their unique travel style and enter to win using the Escape Planner app at www.WinYourEscape.com , then share the contest on Twitter using the hashtag #WinYourEscape and they’ll be entered to win one of the $100 CDN weekly cash prizes. As an island destination, Victoria offers visitors an escape from the hurried world and is a unique blend of old world charm and new world experiences. This combined with the wild beauty of the Pacific Ocean and old-growth rainforests set against a backdrop of the Olympic Mountains makes for a nearby getaway that feels out of this world. For more information visit www.tourismvictoria.com.
Holly Lenk will be in Fredericton, NB from May 2 to 5 attending the 2012 TMAC Conference and AGM.
Cathy Ray will be in Vancouver, BC on May 7 hosting a reception for the media launch of Tourism Victoria’s Summer Marketing Campaign.
Cathy Ray and Tessa Humphries will be in Seattle, WA on May 8 hosting a reception for the media launch of Tourism Victoria’s Summer Marketing Campaign.
Holly Lenk will be in Whitehorse, YT from May 27 to 31 attending GoMedia Canada.
Tessa Humphries will be in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR the week of June 12 to 15 along with partners from Tourism British Columbia, Tourism Vancouver and Tourism Whistler for a media marketplace event and media calls.
Non-stop direct flights are available from Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary, Toronto and San Francisco year-round. Seasonal non-stop flights are available from Honolulu, Las Vegas and Phoenix.
Tourism Victoria’s Monthly Media Newsletter April 2012
In this issue:
*Harnessing Your Energy in a World-First
*150 Years Packaged
*A Tweedy Affair
*Summer Theatre with Blue Bridge
* Bring Out Your Inner Scotsman
*Take a “Big Ride” Around Victoria This Summer
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Harnessing Your Energy in a World-First
In Victoria, B.C., members and guests of the Victoria Athletic Club at the Hotel Grand Pacific now have the opportunity to harness their workout energy output to create electricity in a clean, green way. Using a pod of ten SportsArt “Green System” machines, specially designed energy saving treadmills and elliptical trainers, gym users’ energy is converted at a rate of 75 per cent and then transferred back to a grid to help power the athletic club, thus saving the facility approximately $3,000 in electricity costs per year. While this technology is not new, the partnership between SportsArt and local Victoria-based company EcoFit is. Together they have created a world’s first, as these machines not only send electricity back to the grid simply by using them, but they also allow users to see on a television screen how much power they are producing in real time. Furthermore to help encourage both fitness and environmental goals, once their work out is complete, users will receive an email detailing the stats of their workout. At the Victoria Athletic Club, no hard work goes unnoticed as fitness fanatics are acknowledged for their sweat by a rewards-based program started by EcoFit. Members and guests are given an EcoFit card upon registration which tracks their current and future energy production and fitness statistics, earning them EcoPoints they can redeem for discounts and offers within the hotel and at other local businesses. Having started in Victoria, this initiative is bound to succeed in eco-friendly markets around the world, as finding motivation to hop on that elliptical has never been so easy! For more information visit www.victoriaathleticclub.com.
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150 Years Packaged
The City of Victoria is celebrating its 150th anniversary in 2012. The town site of Fort Victoria was incorporated as the City of Victoria on August 2, 1862 and in celebration a variety of events will be taking place over the course of the year. Fifty-seven 150th-themed arts, cultural and community-based projects are planned and take place from March to November. These projects include: Cycling Through Time Victoria from June 1 to June 23, a look back at bicycles and cycling in Victoria’s past, and several themed Chinatown Night Markets, taking place on the third Wednesday of the month from May to September. Special hotel packages for the 150th will also be available, including specials at The Fairmont Empress with rates starting at $150 CDN. The Inn at Laurel Point is offering a stay in a Laurel Wing room at $150 CDN and a $40 CDN food credit as a bonus if you book by April 30. And should you wish for a more intimate stay, Humboldt House B&B is also offering a 150th package which includes two tickets to Butchart Gardens, two tickets to Craigdarroch Castle, two tickets to the Royal BC Museum and chocolate truffles and sparkling wine awaiting you on your arrival. This package can be added to any two night stay for $150 CDN. For more information visit www.victoria.ca, www.fairmont.com/empress, www.laurelpoint.com and www.humboldthouse.com.
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A Tweedy Affair
On May 12, 2012, grab your chapeau and hop on a bike in Victoria, B.C. for a smashing good time at this year’s Tweed Ride Victoria. Occurring in countries around the world, including Tokyo and Finland, Tweed Rides started in London in the fall of 2009 and feature cyclists riding through city streets wearing classic tweed and other smart looking outfits. Victoria’s version will accept 350 riders and is a fundraiser for Bicycles for Humanity Victoria, a non-profit group that sends bicycles to those in need in Africa. This slower-paced cosmopolitan ride begins at 12:00 p.m. on the front lawn of The Fairmont Empress Hotel and includes judging stations along the way for prizes such as Best Men’s & Ladies Tweed and Tweediest Child, given out once the ride is complete. No Tweed Ride is complete without traditional Afternoon Tea, so riders are invited to bring their tweediest cup and saucer as the ride stops halfway for tea time. Be prepared for anything as this ride goes rain or shine. Whether you want to participate or just watch from the sidelines, this leisurely cycle is bound to be one classy affair. For more information visit www.tweedridevictoria.com.
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Summer Theatre with Blue Bridge
Back for its fourth season in 2012, Victoria, B.C.’s Blue Bridge Repertory Theatre Company celebrates summer with plays from the United Kingdom and the United States. The season begins on May 15, 2012, with Willy Russell’s British Classic, Shirley Valentine . The play is a wildly funny one-woman tour-de-force about a Liverpool housewife who wins a trip to Greece. This is followed by another British Classic, Arms & the Man running June 5 to 17. John Steinbeck’s American classic Of Mice and Men follows next from July 3 to 15, 2012. The season concludes with Alan Menken and Howard Ashman’s Little Shop of Horrors , a smash-hit rock ‘n’ roll musical about a blood thirsty plant. Housed out of the beautifully restored MacPherson Theatre in downtown Victoria, the 2012 Blue Bridge Season promises visitors a season of wit, outrageous comedy, and rockin’ tunes all under one roof. Single tickets begin at $24.50 CDN. The Blue Bridge Theatre Company also offers special promotions such as B&B package deals and Tea Matinees, where the matinee audience receives a complimentary cup of tea and biscuits from beloved Victoria establishments Silk Road Tea Company and The Dutch Bakery and Coffee Shop. For more information visit www.bluebridgetheatre.ca.
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Bring Out Your Inner Scotsman
Victoria, B.C.’s 149th Highland Games and Celtic Festival is a fun-filled weekend event for the whole family. From May 19 to 20, 2012, visitors are invited to experience all things Celtic, as Celtic music, dance, sports and culture entertain the crowds. The two-day event will feature competitions in highland dancing, pipe bands, kilted mile athletics, tug of war, sheep dog herding, haggis hurling and heavy events. This year’s heavy events competition, a crowd favourite, features the top Canadian athletes battling for the title of the 2012 CSAF Canadian Heavy Event Champion through events such as the caber toss, hammer throw, weight over bar and stone put. The traditional massed pipe band opening ceremonies, complete with a cannon and muskets display, take place on the second day of the event held at Topaz Park, located just minutes from downtown Victoria. The Victoria Highland Games and Celtic Festival is the perfect place to bring out your inner Scotsman. Advance tickets are $12 CDN for adults, $10 CDN for seniors and youth. Children 12 and under are free, with special advance ticket pricing available. For more information visit www.victoriahighlandgames.com.
Coming up for us….
Holly Lenk will be in Fredericton, NB from May 2 to 5 attending the 2012 TMAC Conference and AGM.
Holly Lenk will be in Whitehorse, YT from May 27 to 31 attending GoMedia Canada.
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Top 5…
Places to See Spring Flowers
Abkhazi Gardens
The Butchart Gardens
The Gardens at HCP
Government House
Hatley Park National Historic Site
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Did you know….
Aside from BC Ferries, Harbour Air, Victoria Clipper, the M.V. Coho and Kenmore Air who regularly service the Victoria area, you can also fly directly into the Victoria International Airport (YYJ) from a number of Canadian and American cities?
Non-stop direct flight are available from Vancouver, Seattle, Calgary, Toronto, San Francisco year-round. Seasonal non-stop flights available from Honolulu, Las Vegas and Arizona.
Happy Travels!
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Other services:
Visit the website
Access our media gallery
Read Tourism Victoria’s “Going Local” blog
Canada’s leading outdoor adventure company for women celebrates 22nd anniversary
Wild Women Expeditions unveils 2012 schedule of wilderness adventures, getaways and retreats
12 October, 2011 (Woody Point, Newfoundland) — Wild Women Expeditions (WWE), Canada’s largest all-women adventure travel company, enters its 22nd season with fun and unique adventures in every region of Canada. Wild Women Expeditions specializes in outdoor adventure travel exclusively within Canada.
In 1991, the company started as an all-women canoe tripping company and over the last 20 years, Wild Women has expanded across Canada and is now offering kayak, flatwater and whitewater canoe, hiking, cycling, surfing and yoga adventures in eight provinces and territories. Yoga and art retreats compliment multi-sport adventures in a variety of outstanding wilderness destinations, including Vancouver Island’s Pacific Rim, the Rockies, Charlevoix Quebec, Northern Ontario, New Brunswick’s Bay of Fundy and Newfoundland’s Gros Morne National Park.
In 2011, WWE broke new ground with the wildly popular “Wild Yoga Retreats” in Gros Morne, Newfoundland and Bay of Fundy, New Brunswick, combining a wellness-based program with outdoor adventure activities. WWE Director Jennifer Haddow said, “Women are looking to experience the wild in a holistic way, with other women who share their values and interests. Women’s-only travel resonates with more and more women who want more than a typical getaway vacation. They want to be part of a meaningful wilderness experience and they talk about the connections with other woman on our adventures as being as valuable as the experience of the destinations themselves”.
From the beginning of June through to September 2012, many traditional favorites and some brand new expeditions are available. A greater number and range of trips have recently been added to meet the growing demand of women wanting to explore and experience the natural beauty of Canada’s wilderness.
Recognized nationally and internationally for excellence in all-women wilderness trips, Wild Women Expeditions accommodates both the absolute beginner and the well-seasoned tripper.
“WWE has had a steady climb, increasing our activities and business by almost 20 per cent in the last year, and is poised to grow even more in 2012.” said Haddow. “We are increasing our specialized trips, such as trips exclusively for lesbian and bisexual women, as well as building on trips for mothers and daughters and meeting more specific needs of the women’s travel community”.
The complete 2012 schedule is available at www.wildwomenexp.com, or for more information 1-888-WWE-1222.
In 2011, WWE also launched a unique new blog ‘Women Going Wild’ (www.womengoingwild.ca) as a forum to share the stories of women about their empowerment and experience in Canada’s wilderness.
Rising regally on Victoria, BC’s spectacular Inner Harbour, The Fairmont Empress showcases the spirit and energy of Vancouver Island in grand style. With her turn-of-the-century beauty, The Fairmont Empress has been a longstanding host to many visiting royalty and is excited to celebrate the new generation with a month long series of events. For the die-hard royal-watcher, hotel guests are invited to join the Rise & Shine with The Royals for Breakfast on Friday, April 29 at 3 am PST to watch the live broadcast of the Royal Wedding. Breakfast will be served from 3-6 am and is $39.00 CDN per person; guests wearing robes and pajamas are welcome and may request a late check out. Later that afternoon, the front lawns of The Fairmont Empress will welcome the public for their Royal Subjects Tea, where “Afternoon Tea To-Go” is available for $20.00 CDN. This picnic treat includes a cup of tea, traditional scone, cream, jam, mini sandwiches, delightful Empress-made pastries and a flag to wave. Grab a hat, bring a blanket to sit on and be prepared for a special announcement from “The Queen” herself on The Fairmont Empress Flag Deck. Dog lovers are encouraged to deck out their canine companions for the best dressed doggie contest. And to top off the celebrations, The Fairmont Empress is hosting an exclusive Royal Dinner to be served on the Queen’s China, previously only used by Her Majesty. Expect a selection of dishes from Royal Menus that the Queen herself ate from on previous visits to The Fairmont Empress. Three exclusive dinners will be held on April 29 – May 1 for an intimate number of guests and tickets are $150.00 CDN per person. Reservations are highly recommended; for more information visit http://www.fairmont.com/empress/vanity/royalty.
FOR THE HISTORY BOOKS IN SIDNEY’S ‘BOOKTOWN’ The town of Sidney, 20 minutes outside of Victoria, BC has proclaimed the week of April 24 to 30, 2011, as Royal Wedding Week. During this special week, all Sidney businesses are encouraged to decorate in a royal red, white and blue theme in honour of the nuptials. In London the wedding venue will be Westminster Abbey – in Sidney the Mary Winspear Community Centre will be the place to celebrate this happy and momentous occasion. A Royal Wedding Breakfast and Brunch will take place on April 29th at 9:00 am and 12:00 pm meals are $20.00 CDN and guests will watch a recording of the special ceremony. Those attending are encouraged to dress in royal wedding attire. Outside of the celebrations, visitors to Sidney will enjoy strolling the main street, Beacon Avenue, down to the oceanfront walkway and marina. Along the way, bakeries, coffee houses, art galleries and home decor and furnishings stores will be welcome stops for a leisurely royal afternoon. Sidney considers itself “Canada’s only book town” and boasts a love of both new and used books with almost a dozen bookstores on one street. For further information on Sidney’s royal events, contact Councillor Kenny Podmore, Town of Sidney 250-655-4631.
DRESS THE PART With all the royal parties to attend and wedding season right around the corner, sometimes shopping on vacation is the best way to ensure an original outfit. Several of Victoria, BC’s local dress boutiques offer plenty of ways to stand out in the crowd. Bernstein & Gold is part fashion house, part homewares retailer, part spa and wholly a local gem. From frock to shoes and accessories, hostess gift and a little bliss treatment, B&G is the ultimate pre-party stop. Lark & Sparrow, in Victoria’s charming Cook Street Village has a constantly evolving collection of party dresses, unique casual pieces and lovely jewelry – perfect for bridesmaid gifts or a personal vacation memento. And, if a true original is desired, Covet’s in-house designer and tailor can create the perfect dress. Inspired by the Old-World art of dressing and nestled in Fort Street’s Antique Row, a treasure-trove of antique pins and vintage jewelry, Covet’s clients will be sure to find that perfect something old and something new. And, if the ideal topper for any wedding outfit is a hat; Roberta’s Hats offers a plethora of choices – from the traditional top hat to modern interpretations of the Fascinator, to help the wearer discover their inner royalty. For more information visit www.bernsteinandgold.com, Lark&SparrowFB, www.covetalterations.com and www.victoriahat.com.
POINT ELLICE HOUSE’S ROYAL SEASON OPENER In anticipation and celebration of the Royal Wedding, Point Ellice House National Historic Site in Victoria, BC will be hosting a Tea and Toast on Thursday, April 28, 2011 from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm. Their Royal celebration will mark the opening of Point Ellice House for the 2011 season and the public is invited to enjoy, as in the days of H.R.H. Prince William of Wales’ great-great-great-great grandmother, HRH Queen Victoria, a formal afternoon tea with scones, devon-style cream, preserves from the garden and lemon curd, fruit, and tea sandwiches. Point Ellice House has made special note that Prince William dislikes champagne, so toasts to the bridal couple will be carried out with the Point Ellice House special blend of tea, with lemon or milk, of course. Point Ellice House is accessible by car, bus and most charmingly, by water taxi from Victoria’s Inner Harbour. In support of the historic house museum, refreshments will be offered at $10.00 CDN each or two for $18.00 CDN. Hats and gloves encouraged; wedding attire optional. Point Ellice was the 19th century home of Peter and Caroline O’Reilly and their children, Frank, Kathleen, Mary Augusta and Jack. The house remained in the O’Reilly family for three generations, becoming a provincial historic site in 1974. Point Ellice is also nationally designated and is considered Western Canada’s finest collection of Victoriana in its original setting. For more information visit www.pointellicehouse.ca.
THE ROYAL TREATMENT Not everyone gets to marry a prince or princess, but all can be treated like one at several of Victoria, BC’s spas, with their royal-themed spa services and treatments. The Fairmont Empress’ Willowstream Spa is a fairytale setting for their Royal Empress Renewal, a specialty facial with relaxing hand and foot treatments; $119.00 CDN for 60 minutes. A local secret, Silk Road’s Spa offers the Palace Pedicure, an Imperial Palace Asian-inspired treat that is a completely natural departure from its chemical counterparts. Walk away on a cloud, knowing there is no toxic rain to follow; Palace Pedicures are $55.00 CDN for 60 minutes. And for brides making Victoria their destination wedding location, the Merridale Spa at Merridale Cidery offers a wide range of Spa Wedding Packages as a treat to the bride, her bridesmaids or the new couple. Imagine sipping cider while being pampered in the tranquility of the country. Merridale Ciderworks, located 45 minutes north of Victoria, BC, encourages you to do just that at their day spa set in the heart of their working cidery. The spa offers a full range of spa treatments – have a massage overlooking their orchard and meadow or opt for a pond-side manicure…the scene is positively pastoral. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress, www.silkroadtea.com and www.merridalecider.com.
LIQUID COURAGE FOR THE HEART Once the drink of kings mead, or honey wine, has made a resurgence on Vancouver Island’s local food scene. Mead has gained a reputation as a giver of life, wisdom, courage and strength down through the ages, which may be why it was a popular choice for wedding celebrations and is thought to be the source of the term ‘honeymoon’. Local mead producer, Tugwell Creek Meadery, located 25 minutes outside of Victoria, BC blends varietal honeys and berries from Vancouver Island to produce an award winning beverage. Just in time for Spring, Tugwell Creek Meadery will open May 1st for their 8th season and offers tastings and self-guided tours. A visit to the meadery may be just enough encouragement for a shy groom’s wedding proposal. For more information visit www.tugwellcreekfarm.com.
VICTORIA’S OWN PRINCE & PRINCESS Victoria, BC was named as a tribute to the United Kingdom’s longest-serving monarch, but Victoria’s reign is not the only royal legacy the city embraces. Abkhazi Garden has received international recognition for its unique west coast design, but it is the story of two royal lovers that has captured people’s hearts. War and imprisonment kept Georgian Prince Nicholas Abkhazi and Peggy Pemberton-Carter apart until they were able to finally reunite in Victoria to create what they called “A garden that love built.” Known for its collection of splendid rhododendrons and azaleas, visits in April and May guarantee breathtaking displays of colour and is the ideal setting for a cup of the garden’s fundraiser tea, Royal Abkhazi produced by local tea purveyor Silk Road. The tea is a graceful blend of black teas, vanilla, citrus and of course, soft florals, and reflects the passion of this modern-day romance in a garden. In 1946, the property that is now Abkhazi was purchased by Peggy Pemberton-Carter who came to Victoria after spending close to eight years in a Japanese internment camp outside of Shanghai. She was soon reunited with Prince Nicholas Abkhazi who she had met and fallen in love with in Paris in the 1920’s. Married in Victoria, they began building their garden and home. Slightly more than one acre, the garden features native Garry oaks, ornamental evergreens, significant rhododendrons, rock and alpine plants, naturalized bulbs and examples of Japanese maples and weeping conifers. Abkhazi Garden is maintained by volunteers of the Land Conservancy of BC. For more information visit www.abkhazigarden.comand www.silkroadtea.com.
VICTORIA’S FAIRYTALE WEDDING LOCATIONS With the Royal Wedding just around the corner, many couples are looking to fulfill their own fairytale romance with the perfect wedding. Victoria, BC is a cosmopolitan island destination that boasts world-class accommodation, spas, food and wine – all the makings of a memorable wedding destination. Breathtaking mountain and ocean vistas, beautiful gardens and quaint heritage charm make Victoria one of the world’s most desirable destinations for a romantic getaway. So, if the bride’s dream has been to get married in a castle, Victoria’s Hatley Park, is one of Canada’s largest and most diverse National Historic Sites. At the centre is a magnificent castle built in 1908 by former British Columbia Premier and coal baron, James Dunsmuir. For those with an appreciation of the arts, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria is a stunning location in the heart of the city. The beautiful 19th century Spencer mansion and modern galleries, along with their permanent collection of 15,000 objects d’art from Asia, Europe and North America, provide the perfect cultural setting for a picturesque event. And for the English Rose, The English Inn’s Tudor style manor houses and English gardens make for a timeless wedding, but with their professional wedding planners giving each ceremony every modern convenience, leaving more time for the blushing bride to bloom. For more information visit www.hatleypark.ca, www.aggv.bc.ca, and www.englishinn.ca.
BC’S CAPITAL WINE REGION EXPANDS De Vine Vineyards is the capital city’s newest winery. Located in the Saanich Peninsula, 20 minutes from downtown Victoria, De Vine produces wines specific to the South Island region. A recent family venture, from father to sons and daughter-in-laws, the Windsor family is hands-on in the production of their wines; everything from organic farming to pressing grapes and welcoming guests. Visiting the vineyard, winery and tasting room to savour their wines and enjoy the breathtaking views of the coast & mountains is an integral part of the Island experience, and is currently the only way to take home a bottle or two of these lovely white wines. The winery produces several different types of wines including Pinot Gris, Pinot Blanc and has the Island’s largest planting of Gruner Veltliner, a luscious Austrian white. For more information visit www.devinevineyards.ca.
WEDDING SEASON AT THE BUTCHART GARDENS From January 15 through March 31, 2011, The Butchart Gardens in Victoria, BC celebrates the bride and groom. The Butchart Gardens’ Wedding Season coincides with the annual Spring Prelude, featuring an indoor garden of Spring flowers, blossoming shrubs and trees, water features including a pond with large colourful Koi fish and pathways which are available for indoor wedding ceremonies and photographs. Areas of the outdoor gardens are also available for photos. The Butchart Gardens offers wedding packages for ceremonies of up to 60 guests, which include indoor and outdoor photo rights. Weddings at The Gardens can also take advantage of The Dining Room Restaurant for a gourmet dinner in an historic setting, once home to the Butchart Family. For those choosing to have a ceremony, a two-hour rehearsal time is also included. For more information visit www.butchartgardens.com/weddings.
THE OTHER EMILY AT THE ROYAL BC MUSEUM Emily Carr, one of Victoria, BC’s most notable, historical residents and considered Canada’s greatest woman artist, is the subject of the Royal British Columbia Museum’s latest exhibition, The Other Emily. Delving into the artist’s life prior to her fame from her formative teenage years to her emergence on the national art scene in 1927, this exhibition dares to challenge the stereotypes attached to her name and explores the influences of the time through historical documents, period pieces, Emily’s personal documents and rarely seen sketches, in addition to an outstanding collection of original Carr paintings. Paired with eighteen contemporary paintings of Carr, based on historical photographs, by artist Manon Elder, this modern addition shows the longevity of Emily Carr’s influence and the importance of the Royal BC Museum’s collections as public legacy and source of inspiration. Opening March 2nd, The Other Emily will run until October 2011. Tickets are $14.29 CDN for adults and $9.06 CDN for children 6-18 years. For more information visit www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca.
LIGHT UP THE NIGHT WITH SPARK FESTIVAL Victoria, BC is home to the Spark Festival: the Belfry Theatre’s mid-Winter festival of innovative and alternative theatre pieces from across Canada. Running March 7 to 20, 2011, the festival features mini plays, play readings, Belfry 101 Live, professional development workshops and outstanding new plays. Festival highlights include Sign Language from Calgary, Alberta’s One Yellow Rabbit Theatre Company and the unexpectedly funny and poetic play about youth and homelessness, The Middle Place by Andrew Kushnir from Toronto, Ontario’s Project Humanity. Tickets for the mini-plays and readings are free and distributed by lottery each evening; Spark Passes, for the four shows, are $72.00 CDN, or $20.00 CDN per performance. For more information visit www.belfry.bc.ca.
BABYMOONS AND VICTORIA’S SPRING BLOOM Spring seems to be synonymous with new starts, and in Victoria BC, where Spring is already awakening, the Villa Marco Polo Bed and Breakfast Inn offers a babymoon package designed to celebrate expecting couples before two becomes three in the new adventure of parenthood. The Villa Marco Polo is one of Victoria’s most romantic B&B’s, with its stunning Italianate garden – perfect for quiet walks- sumptuous breakfasts and a luxurious Penthouse Spa Hamaam, complete with specialty pregnancy massage. Originally built in 1923 as a gift to a young bride, the Villa Marco Polo is an Italian Renaissance mansion with guest suites that feature double soakers, fireplaces, fine linens, luxurious beds, down pillows, hardwood floors and Persian carpets. Babymoon packages start at $520 CDN and include a $100 CDN voucher for dinner for two at favourite local restaurants Paprika Bistro or Café Brio. The Villa Marco Polo is 10 minutes from downtown Victoria, making a pre-baby trip an easy jaunt from the Lower Mainland or Washington State. So if the future holds sleepless nights, shouldn’t one of the last full ones be luxurious? For more information visit www.villamarcopolo.com.
CALLING ALL CULINARY TOURISTS On March 10, 2011, visitors to BC’s capital city are invited to bring an empty stomach and immerse themselves in the wonderful world of fine cuisine at Culinaire, Victoria’s Premier Food Tasting Experience. Celebrating its second year at The Crystal Garden at The Victoria Conference Centre, the event brings together the region’s best restaurants and purveyors of fine foods. New to this years’ event is the addition of seating times, with the first seating running from 5:00 pm – 7:30 pm and the second from 7:30 pm – 10:00 pm. From the iconic Victoria landmarks of The Fairmont Empress and The Butchart Gardens, the new hip spaces of Pig BBQ Joint and The Oyster and the artisanal Hilary’s Cheeses and Pink Sugar Cupcakery, learn about menu offerings, indulge in samples of amazing cuisine and have the chance to rub shoulders with the chefs themselves to learn about their backgrounds, their vision and food concepts. Tickets are available online at www.selectyourtickets.com or by telephone at 250-220-7777 and are $28 CDN. Tickets include 10 food tastings from the presenters on hand with extra tickets for food and beverage tastings available for $1 each. Wine and spirits are available for purchase during the event. For more information visit www.culinairevictoria.com.
ART IN BLOOM From March 28 to April 2, 2011, the Art Gallery of Greater Victoria in Victoria, BC will hold their biennial event Art in Bloom to celebrate the “art” of all things gardening. Art in Bloom’s week–long celebration will include floral demonstrations, lectures, workshops and The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, a red carpet gala event at downtown Victoria’s new Atrium building. Four special exhibitions, Flora, Down the Garden Path, The Immortal Garden, and Serenity, Asian Garden, will set the stage for the event this year beginning on January 21, 2011 and will run consecutively through the summer months. Art in Bloom will also present an impressive line-up of internationally respected speakers that are as colourful as the gardens they’ll talk about. Headliners include: farmer, author and photographer, Michael Ableman, former editor of House and Garden Magazine, Dominique Browning and internationally acclaimed Belgian floral designer, Tomas De Bruyne. Tickets to the lectures start at $20.00 CDN with tickets to the gala costing $200.00 CDN. For more information visit www.aggv.bc.ca.
NEIGHBOURHOOD PROFILE: OAK BAY Oak Bay is one of Victoria’s oldest and best known neighbourhoods, filled with beautiful character homes, Gary Oak trees and sandy beaches. Oak Bay Village, a quaint strip of Oak Bay Avenue, is a lovely destination for an afternoon stroll with plenty of time for shopping and eating. The many bookshops, art galleries and boutiques speak to the quiet pleasure of browsing in this community, but be sure not to miss Ottavio Italian Bakery & Deli known for its wide selection of imported cheeses, meats, homemade breads and gelato, along with its licensed café; a perfect spot catching up with friends. Stroll through the historic neighbourhood to view lovingly renovated turn-of-the-century homes and gardens, and down to Oak Bay Marina & Restaurant, where boaters and locals gather for stunning views of the Pacific Ocean, Strait of Juan de Fuca and Mount Baker, while sampling stellar sushi and regional cuisine. Top off the day with a drive along scenic oceanfront Beach Drive, which connects several Oak Bay beaches, ever-popular spots for walks, beach combing and ocean gazing. For more information visit www.ottaviovictoria.com and www.marinarestaurant.com.
CYCLING FEST RETURNS TO THE CAPITAL The Victoria International Cycling Festival will take place over four weeks during May and June 2011 in Victoria, BC, the cycling capital of Canada. The cycling festival will bring together families, children, professional riders, commuters, road racers and track racers of all ages and abilities. The festival kicks off on May 28, 2011 with Ryder Hesjedal’s Tour de Victoria. The tour includes a scenic yet challenging 100km waterfront “Gran Fondo” style ride around the Victoria Peninsula, on roads Ryder used to train for the 2010 Tour de France in which he placed 7th overall. Registration for the Tour de Victoria opens on January 10, 2011 and is limited to 2000 participants. Other cycling festival highlights include the Kids Bike Weekend, the Rockstar Freeride Competition and the Bastion Square Cycling Grand Prix Criterium. The Bastion Square Grand Prix features a closed loop circuit on city streets around historic Bastion Square in downtown Victoria. The course is short and fast, with riders often only an arm’s length away from spectators. Visitors are welcome to participate as cyclists or simply take in the excitement of watching some of North America’s top cyclists take over Victoria. For more information visit www.vicf.ca.
25TH YEAR FOR THE INTREPID THEATRE In 2011, the Intrepid Theatre celebrates a quarter century of adventurous shows, courageous artists and thrill-seeking audiences during the five-show season of cutting edge theatre from around the world. Running from January through April 2011, the 25th year sees plays from Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada hit downtown Victoria’s Metro Theatre stage. The season opens on January 21, 2011 with Australia’s Nicola Gunn’s At the Sans Hotel, a psychological detective story about a woman piecing together fragments of her past. The UK’s, Floating, about a 1982 earthquake hitting The Isle of Anglesey runs from February 10 to 11. Influence, playing March 4 to 5 and March 9 to12, is presented by the Intrepid Theatre and looks to transport theatre goers to the British Museum and delve into the drama and godly world of ancient Greece. Running from March 18 to 19, The Last 15 Seconds by The MT Space explores the impact of terrorism and asks viewers to ponder the question: what would you say to a suicide bomber? Last but not least, wrapping up the 2011 season is Chairs, a comedy by the Vancouver Theatre Company Itsazoo, running from March 30 to April 2. Single tickets start at $21.00 CDN/USD with 5 show passes available for $84.00 CDN / $85.00 USD. For more information visit www.intrepidtheatre.com.
CIDER MAKING CLASSES IN VICTORIA, BC Throughout 2011, Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse will be offering visitors signature cider classes at their working farm and cidery on the Saanich Peninsula, located 20 minutes from downtown Victoria, BC. Open to both new and seasoned cider enthusiasts, Sea Cider will offer three classes giving students the opportunity to glean insider information and tips from seasoned experts. The classes offered will be a half-day Introduction to Cider course, a basic foray into the world of cider; a full day Introduction to Cider course, focusing on everything from sourcing the apples to an introduction to the fermentation process; and Orcharding and Sensory Analysis, a lesson about heritage cider apples, cider lore and organic orchards, complete with a guided in-depth tasting. Courses will be held on Fridays, subject to change due to private event bookings. Courses start at $200.00 CDN / $202.00 USD. Two weeks’ notice is required for booking classes. Sea Cider is a10-acre certified organic farm boasting panoramic orchards and ocean views. They grow over 50 varieties of certified organic heritage apples selected for their superior cider qualities. All ciders are crafted on site. Sea Cider also makes cider vinegar and carries a variety of local farm products for sale in their traditional ciderhouse. For more information visit www.seacider.com.
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION FOR VFF From February 4 to 13, 2011, the 17th Annual Victoria Film Festival will be held in Victoria, BC. The festival showcases the best in Canadian and world cinema including feature films, documentaries and shorts. Highlights of the Victoria Film Festival include the Opening Gala, a red carpet screening followed by a reception at The Atrium; Empire Lounge at The Office, the festival hub in which to eat, drink, take in some live local music and discuss the day’s films; SpringBoard Talks 2011, a series of talks by notable and emerging film and television personalities meant to move, inform and inspire; and Sips and Cinema, an afternoon of film followed by an evening of wine, hors d’oeuvres and engaging discussion. The Fairmont Empress Hotel will offer a festival package for two beginning at $149.00 CDN / $150.00 USD. The Lights, Camera, Action Film Festival package includes overnight accommodation, breakfast for two, two film festival tickets of your choice and two complimentary cocktails. For more information on the Victoria Film Festival visit www.victoriafilmfestival.com.
PASTRY APPRENTICE PROGRAM AT THE EMPRESS Taking place on the forth Sunday of every month until June 2011, The Fairmont Empress Hotel presents a new program sure to excite every budding junior pastry chef. Providing a behind the scenes look at Pastry Chef, D’Oyen Christie’s creation space, The Pastry Apprentice Program at Victoria’s iconic grande dame is a one hour and 30 minute all access experience literally filled with sweet delights. Open to children 16 and under, program participants will receive a Chef’s hat, personalized apron, framed certificate, and their specially created pastry treats to take home. The cost of the Pastry Apprentice Program is $100.00 CDN / $101.00 USD per child. For those looking to linger a little longer and share the excitement of the day over a steaming cuppa tea, the whole family can enjoy The Fairmont Empress’ Afternoon Tea service for an additional $44.00 CDN/USD per adult or $18.00 CDN/USD per child. For more information visit www.fairmont.com/empress.
PLAY ON!IN BC’S CAPITAL CITY From February 11 to 12, 2011 the streets of Victoria will come alive as British Columbia’s capital city plays host to sixty street hockey teams from across Canada vying for national supremacy in CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Presents Play on!National Championship. The 4 on 4 street hockey championship tournament, played in conjunction with the tenth annual Scotiabank Hockey Day in Canada celebration, will see teams take to the pavement on Belleville Street in Victoria’s picturesque Inner Harbour for the chance to hoist the Redwood Cup. Each of the sixty teams participating in the championships qualified through one of the fifteen Play on! events held this past summer in a number of Canadian communities. CBC’s Hockey Night in Canada Presents Play On! features both men’s and women’s recreational and competitive street hockey tournament divisions which includes all skill levels and ages. More than 520,000 Canadians have ‘taken back the streets’ from coast to coast through involvement in one of the fifty Play On! events since the program’s inception in 2003. Past events have seen the participation from many current NHL, AHL, CHL and CIS players. The two-day event is free to spectators with seating available on a first come first serve basis. For more information visit www.playon.ca.
VICTORIA TEA FESTIVAL Just in time for Valentine’s Day, the 5th Annual Victoria Tea Festival is sure to warm your heart like no other event. The two-day festival will be held in Victoria, BC, from February 12 to 13, 2011 at the Crystal Gardens and features an international collection of black, oolong, green, white and herbal teas for sampling. Tea experts and purveyors will be on hand to discuss traditions and trends of tea, health benefits, and serving suggestions while bakeries, chocolatiers, and restaurants will be in attendance to provide samples and recommendations for food pairings. Festival goers can also attend complimentary presentations given by local and international tea experts. Topics include Cooking with Tea, Naturopathic Medicine & Tea: Health Benefits and Risks, and Making Iced Teas Fresh. The Fairmont Empress Hotel is the official host hotel for the event and is offering rates starting at $99.00 CDN / $100.00 USD. Tickets to the Victoria Tea Festival are $20.00 CDN/USD ($25.00 CDN/USD at the door) and available by calling 250-370-4880. For more information visit www.victoriateafestival.com.
CHAIRLIFT DATING AT MOUNT WASHINGTON Mount Washington Alpine Resort, Vancouver Island’s premier ski and snowboard area hopes to help encourage a love connection just in time for Valentine’s Day. On February 12, 2011 the resort will offer singles the opportunity to join like minded snow enthusiasts for a day of high-speed chairlift dating. Spend the day hitting the slopes and riding the lifts, and when the day is done guests are invited to indulge in après ski drinks and appies all in the name of love. Alpine lift tickets for interested bachelor and bachelorettes at Mount Washington start at $64.00 CDN / $65.00 USD for an adult for the day. Home to one of North America’s deepest snowpacks, Mount Washington receives an average of 11 metres (36 ft.) of snow annually. Located just three hours and 30 minutes from Victoria, BC, Mount Washington offers visitors 60 downhill runs, two terrain parks, a half pipe, 55 km (34 mi.) of Nordic trails, 20 km (12 mi.) for snowshoers, and a 300 m (984 ft.) all natural luge. For more information visit www.mountwashington.ca.
BRAVO! FOR DINE AROUND, STAY IN TOWN Celebrating its 11th year in 2011, Victoria BC’s Dine Around, Stay in Town will take place February 17 to March 6, 2011. British Columbia’s capital city boasts the second highest number of restaurants per capital in North America and this year’s event will see over 50 of Victoria’s restaurants participating including Aura Waterfront Restaurant & Patio, Paprika Bistro and Veneto Tapa Lounge. Along with offering amazing three-course menus in three prices categories: $20.00, $30.00 and $40.00 CDN/USD per person, food lovers are invited to take advantage of the great accommodation packages also offered and stay in town. Prices for participating hotels, resorts and bed & breakfasts are available for $69.00, $79.00, $99.00 and $129.00 CDN / $70.00, 80.00, 100.00 and 130.00 USD. Coinciding with Dine Around, Stay in Town this year is Bravo! Victoria. This promotion offers reduced prices for various arts performances taking place during this same period at venues such as The Belfry and The Royal Theatre. A complete list of participating restaurants and hotels will be available online on January 15, 2011. For more information visit www.tourismvictoria.com/dine.
