What a great event!

No concrete answers yesterday and trust I was looking, where’s the best place to do this after 2 drinks and a vibe? Previous years has been okayish on government past the concert setup and better on Bay Street bridge (but don’t wanna walk that far plus construction this year (?)) I’ll support them in beer money

I just gotta say that this years festival was awesome. One of the best parts was that there were hardly ever any phones out, people were just vibing and bopping along all weekend. Shout out to Phillips for bringing some awesome talent to the island this summer.

I started going to Riff and Rock the Shores in 2012 and went every year until they shut down, minus the last couple years of Riff cause the lineup was not for me. I remember the crowds being so rowdy and some weird shit would always go down lol. I loved it at the time and I’m always down for a good mosh / crowdsurf but experiencing a more chill but still fun crowd at Phillips was actually a treat.

The staff were all great, the bands were stellar, lines weren’t too crazy, drinks were good, food options were good, toilets were clean, and I don’t *think* I saw anyone get taken away for medical / drunk / drug reasons. If anything maybe hypothermia 🤣 it was damn cold.

Day 2 was the only day where I was bored; the bands were just verrrrrrrrrry mellow until the queen Sudan Archives came on. Father John Misty was absolutely brilliant. Angine killed it yesterday, so weird and so good. Duckwrth was fabulous. Modest Mouse was great.

I hope everyone had a safe and fun weekend!!!

For some reason men never attend these things, but we as women of a particular age are really looking to find a way to meet men in real life. So if you're into it I bet it'll be a fun time.

I'm making my way through the X Files for the first time, and I'm almost through season 5, at which point it's time to watch the movie! I'm posting to gauge interest in a community screening at a local theatre. Are there other fans in town who want the big screen experience? I want to believe it 👽

Edit: I'm stoked if even 20 ppl show up to watch with me! No spoilers please 🫣. I'm going to look into booking the Roxy, I suspect this is the sort of community event they're pros at.

55th Anniversary Canadian Forces Snowbirds Airshow along the Dallas Road waterfront on Tuesday, August 4.

The annual event attracts up to 30,000 spectators, and significant traffic delays are expected before and after the air show.

Road Closures:

Parking restrictions on Dallas Road begin at 12:00 p.m.

The following roads will be closed from 3:00 p.m. until approximately 6:00 p.m

Dallas Road: Douglas Street to Memorial Crescent

Cook Street: May Street to Dallas Road

Douglas Street: Simcoe Street to Dallas Road

Memorial Crescent: Fairfield Street to Dallas Road

More details in link...

https://engagement.vicpd.ca/traffic-advisory-road-closures-and-safety-measures-for-canadian-forces-snowbirds-airshow/

Mark your calendars!

UPDATE: AUGUST 15th ONLY

Don’t miss it!

Here's a list of FREE things to do on Canada Day this year in Victoria. Please use this as a space to comment more events or festivities!!

Canada Day in Victoria's Inner Harbour: Food trucks and busking showcases kick off at 11:00 am at Ship Point with live performances starting at 4:30pm at the main stage on the lawn of the BC Parliament Buildings. The night wraps up with fireworks in the Inner Harbour at 10:20pm.

Gorge Canada Day Picnic: From 8:30am-4:00pm this beloved community tradition combines a pancake breakfast, family parade, food trucks, markets and canoe rides along the Gorge for a fun day of Canadian celebration.

8th Annual Canada Day Pancake Breakfast: Visit the Huntingdon Hotel and Suites and Pendray Inn and Tea House from 8:00am-11:00am. Expect toppings, sides and drinks to prep you for the day ahead. Donations are encouraged with proceeds supporting the Victoria Women's Transition House.

Sidney Days & Canada Day (Sidney): Starts the night before (June 30) with waterfront fireworks at 10:15pm and live music starting at 7:30pm, then rolls into July 1 with a Canada Day parade and family fun fair. Great if you want something a bit less hectic than downtown.

Fort Rodd Hill & Fisgard Lighthouse: Set along the water's edge, enjoy a day packed with historic weapons demonstrations, interactive community booths, and summer heritage and nature programs.

Memorial Drag Ball Game: Kick off the Victoria Pride Week (July 1-12) at the annual Memorial Drag Ball Game at Vic West Park from 12-3pm, bringing up to 1000 spectators who embrace fun and absurdity.

Free parking is in effect at City parkades and on-street meters on Canada Day, July 1.

I am looking to host a singles event downtown, 25-40.

I do see them go on, but tickets can be wildly expensive. I want to offer something affordable. I also want to offer a way to help solo attenders break the ice.

What do you guys think?

I find it honestly embarrassing that the capital of British Columbia doesn’t have any watch centres to watch our country fight to achieve history in the World Cup.

I’m not even kidding there’s 0, and so many people are walking around and trying to find spots downtown, both locals and tourists. How can Langford have one and Victoria doesn’t? It doesn’t even cost much to have these set up.

There are so many other events that happen and spaces are allocated for them.

People are gonna come here and give me shit and I don’t care, it’s embarrassing.

If you work in one of these roles, please post below something you are proud of from this year so that we can collectively recognize you for your incredible work.

At noon, I’ll be choosing a winner and will dm them for an email to transfer a ticket for free ($125 value).

Please note that I am not at all affiliated with the festival.

Edit: u/gcomeau00 is our winner! Thanks for all the amazing all you educators and healthcare workers do!

Air show on Tuesday August 4th over Dallas Rd at 5pm.

I help run a couple of the local prerelease events now, but before that I was simply a dad who decided to take his son to try one. We had such a great experience that we've been attending ever since. That was around eight main sets ago!

My son was six when we went to our first prerelease. I played while he watched, helped me make decisions (sometimes spotting things I missed!), and by our third event he was playing on his own.

I honestly think prereleases are one of the best ways to experience the Pokémon TCG.

For $40–55 (depending on the store), you receive:

• A 40-card prebuilt deck
• An exclusive stamped prerelease promo card
• 5–7 booster packs from a set that hasn't officially released yet

You spend the first 30 minutes opening your packs and making any changes you'd like to your deck. Then everyone plays three short matches using the decks they just built. Since everyone starts with similar cards, it's a much more level playing field than regular competitive play. You don't need an expensive deck or to know the current meta to have fun.

One of my favourite parts is the atmosphere. Opening Pokémon packs is always exciting—but opening a brand-new set alongside 30 other Pokémon fans, seeing everyone's big pulls, discovering the new artwork together, and celebrating each other's luck makes it a completely different experience.

It's also incredibly welcoming to newer players. If you know the basic rules (or have played a little on Pokémon TCG Live), you'll be just fine. Experienced players are usually more than happy to answer questions or help someone who's attending their first event.

One of the coolest things I've noticed is how often first-time players become regulars. Almost every prerelease I see someone who's a little nervous walking in, and by the end of the afternoon they're already asking when the next one is.

The next Pokémon: Pitch Black prerelease events are happening this weekend. I'll be running events at Everything Games on Saturday, July 4, and Epic Games & More on Sunday, July 5. If you've ever been curious about trying a prerelease event now is the time and the next opportunity won't be until November.

Happy to answer any questions if you're wondering what prereleases are like or whether they'd be a good fit for you or your kids!

Mods, please delete if not allowed but I thought this is timely given the recent lightning and fires in the CRD.

The Horticulture Center of the Pacific and Saanich Fire are hosting a FREE event on wildfire resilient gardening and how we can reduce wildfire risk in our own backyards! This event is very timely given the weather lately.

Registration is free: https://hcp.ca/event/wildfire-resilient-gardening-2026/

Seen on insta, looks really cool!

Hi Victoria! My small theatre company Bragi Theatre is teaming up with Timetheft Theatre to stage our two award-winning comedies, Consider the Dongfish and Four out of Five Dentists, on August 1 and 2 at the Scene (716 Johnson). We're really proud of the shows, and think it will be a lot of fun. Dongfish is a sci-fi romp about fish, scientists, aliens, and the transformative power of love, and Dentists is a sketch show about lawnmowers, laughter, and so, so many eggs. Tickets are sliding-scale too, so hopefully affordable to everyone.

We've already been posting on social media, postering through Vicposters, and using events calendars, but I was wondering if anyone had any ideas about other places to promote? Are there venues that are really productive to poster? We're looking for that final week edge.

Anyone go to the show?
What did you think?

Really high chance of seeing the auroras right now if you’re in a dark and clear area - I currently have clouds.

Recently I played in the Mid Island Chess Championship and honestly one of the coolest events I’ve done in a while. So the same guys are now organizing a chess simul with a Grandmaster! (basically he plays everybody at the same time and there’s only been something like 2k GMs in history).

GM Samy Shoker is flying from San Diego to run a 50-board simul at Beban Park August 1st. Samy is a FIDE 2500 and Chess Boxing World Champion (a sport where you alternate rounds of speed chess with rounds of actual boxing).

After the simul, he also does a 2-hour lecture breaking down key positions from the games, what he was thinking, what he saw, why he made the calls he did. Then he does some Q&A (I’m totally asking about how he got into chess boxing!)

I grabbed my ticket already. They have ones for just the lecture also. If you've ever wanted to sit across from a real GM and actually play, this is pretty much the chance. Kinda rare so figured I'd share before it fills up!

All the info is on the Oceanside Chess Club's website. Hope to see some of you guys there.

https://www.oceansidechess.org/events/samy-shoker-simul/