FREE FAMILY-FRIENDLY ACTIVITIES AT THE WINTER ARTS FESTIVAL VICTORIA
Winter Arts Festival is taking place this Family Day long weekend (Feb. 16 -19), with a plethora of free, family-friendly activities throughout downtown Victoria. From hands-on art crafting to immersive storytimes and interactive art installations, it’s going to be a fun time for the whole family. Grow virtual mushrooms, play oversized musical instruments, and explore over 20 new and existing art along the Art Walk. Venture into participating businesses and City Hall for a cozy break, and keep an eye out for delightful pop-up performances.
1. Unleash Your Creativity: Colouring Sheets and Lantern Making
Rewilding Colouring Contest (by Brianna Bear)
• Feb. 16 - 19 // 5:00 - 9:00 PM
• City Hall, 1 Centennial Square
This colouring contest is open to participants of all ages at the Winter Arts Festival! Five entries will be displayed in kiosks along Douglas Street later this year, selected by the artist Brianna Bear. Colouring supplies will be provided to colour on site. Entries must be submitted to Winter Arts Festival staff at City Hall by 9 p.m. on Monday, February 19. Selected artists will be notified in March.
Family Lantern Making (by Ann K. Chou)
• Feb. 19 // 5:00 - 8:00 PM
• NeighbourSpace, 709 Douglas Street
Take part in a free lantern making workshop by Ann K. Chou, the artist behind Lanterns of Light and Language that is installed in a tree in Bastion Square. Lantern-making supplies will be provided – and feel free to bring your own (i.e., paper, fabric, wire, etc.). Learn about how lanterns embody the intersection of folklore, stories and riddles, and serve as a backdrop for family and community reunions.
2. Dive into a World of Words: Power of Stories
Children’s Storytime: All Are Welcome; and
Journey of the Midnight Sun
• Feb. 17 // 5:30 - 6:00 PM
• Al-Ihsan Pop-up Library, 708 Douglas Street
Join the Al-Ihsan Library and the Literacy Project at their pop-up location to browse titles, sign up for a library card and stay for storytime and reading selections! Al-Ihsan Library is the first Islamic cultural library in all of Vancouver Island. This community library is for both the Muslim community as well as the wider Greater Victoria community; a space of connection, learning and understanding. With a wide variety of books for all ages, from kidlit to middle grade, young adult to adult fiction, history, current events and spiritual texts, there is so much for everyone to enjoy!
Our Living Languages: First Peoples’ Voices in British Columbia
• Ongoing
• Royal BC Museum, 675 Belleville Street
Learn what First Nations communities throughout B.C. are doing to help their languages survive and flourish. Walk through the colourful “language forest” and hear a greeting in one of the 34 First Nations languages. Enter into a calming cocoon woven like a cradle to listen to stories and lullabies. Marvel at three masterpieces of contemporary First Nations artwork, each interpreting the idea of language through a different lens.
Through interactive stations, original First Nations artwork, video, audio and live engagement, Our Living Languages provides visitors with the opportunity to learn more about the history of disrupted languages in B.C., the complexity of these languages, and the people – and entire communities – that are working tirelessly to document and revitalize them. (via: Royal BC Museum)
3. Explore the Future of Art and Connection through New Technologies
The Dreaming ( by MOVE37XR & Haus of Owl)
• February 16 // 5:00 - 8:00 PM
• February 17 - 19 // 5:00 - 9:00 PM
• Haus of Owl, 780 Blanshard Street (4th Floor)
Dance with the stars (the ones from space!), move with digital water particles, listen to the sounds of plants and mushrooms, and connect with friends while exploring how artists are using VR, AR, AI and sound to respond to the world around them.
Embark on a sensory journey with MOVE37XR and Haus of Owl (HOO) where art, technology, ecology, consciousness and human connections blend in a celebration of creativity and collaboration. Come by and explore more than 10 engaging artworks! Immerse yourself in a live sound performance (Hyperobject 108), interact with an artwork that tracks movement and reacts to audiences (Bardo) and adventure into virtual realms such as KraKIN VR and Kingdom of Illumination and more!
4. Rock On: Musical Machines and Glowing Hula Hoops Await Budding Musicians and Dancers
Magnificent Musical Mutant Machines (by Monkey C Interactive)
• Ongoing
• Victoria Film Festival, 1215 Blanshard Street
From the strange minds of the mostly-harmless-mad-scientists of Monkey C Interactive, experience the collection of nearly a dozen new and old wonderfully playful music-and-light-making machines and sculptures. Musical cash registers, pump organs, hundreds of knobs and dials and chunky buttons are ready to explore in a mysterious arcade.
Musical Railings (by Monkey C Interactive)
Family Hooping Zone (by Lishhoops)
• Feb. 17 // 5:00 - 6:30 PM
• Feb. 19 // 5:00 - 6:30 PM
• Bastion Square
Imagine playing a musical instrument as tall as a building while watching glowing hula hoop dancers! Monkey C Interactive recently refreshed their five-storey musical instrument located at the Bastion Square Parkade. The stairwell lights up when you play it, using sensors embedded into railings to create sounds and music loops. While you are there, grab a hula hoop to participate in the Lishhoops’ Family Hooping Zone! Bring your family and friends to see if you can get the whole stairwell playing at once!
5. Urban Nature Adventure: Grow Mushrooms and GO FISH in Unexpected Places!
Glowshrooms (by Brett Gaylor, Hololabs)
• Ongoing
• Robbins Parking, 1705 Store Street
You are walking along Store Street and notice something different about the old Volvo garage. Are those…mushrooms growing in the window? You and your friends and family get closer and notice a QR code to scan on your phone. You’re asked to join Team Grow or Team Glow – which will you choose? Together, you can make a hidden world come to life with Glowshrooms!
GO FISH (by Nettie Wild & Scott Smith)
• Ongoing
• The Fairmont Empress Hotel Library, 721 Government Street
GO FISH is a moving painting – a kaleidoscopic and immersive sound and video installation splashed across three adjacent screens. The film is set inside the annual natural phenomenon known as the Pacific herring migration, when hundreds of millions of herring return to the Salish Sea to spawn, chased by hungry birds, mammals and the fishing fleet who hunt them.
6. Artisan market and Live Performances
Winter Arts Hub
• FEB. 16 - 19 // 5:00 - 9:00 PM
• Herald Street Brew Works & Circularity Boutique, 506 Herald Street
Open daily from 5:00 PM to 9:00 PM, the Winter Arts Hub serves as a gathering spot to foster community through the celebration of art. The Winter Arts Hub features local food vendors and artisan booths curated by Make Good Party, an outdoor Kids Zone with a chalk colouring board by the WKNDRS, and live performances on the Showstream Stage.
Pop-Up Event Series
• FEB. 16 - 19 // 5:00 - 9:00 PM
• Various Locations
The Art Walk will feature our Pop-Up Event Series at select locations and storefronts across downtown. Delightful nightly live acts will showcase a diverse array of talent, including musicians, vocalists, drag artists and dancers. Expect performances at venues you know and love, as well as unusual locations you may have yet to discover! All performances are free. Find the full schedule HERE.
