Flypast gives salute to parade
Bring your earplugs, as well sunscreen, if you’re taking in the Island Farms Victoria Day Parade on Monday.
The Greater Victoria Festival Society, the organizer of the largest and longest parade in Victoria, celebrates its 120th year with a flypast at the start of the parade by a 443 Squadron Sikorsky CH-124 Sea King helicopter and a pair of CF-18 Hornets. The aircraft will fly at a mere 152 metres above ground minutes before the start of the parade.
The parade has been a Victoria Day long-weekend staple for generations of families and visitors alike. Organizers expect about 100,000 people to line Douglas Street to watch the 95 entries and thousands of participants.
Bands from Reynolds, Spectrum and Lambrick Park high schools will be joined by others from the Lower Mainland and the United States.
Expect the return of many groups that represent the multicultural mosaic of the community, with lion dancers from Victoria’s Chinese community, and other ethnic clubs and organizations taking part.
The parade starts at 9 a.m. Monday from Mayfair Mall, Douglas and Finlayson streets. It runs along Douglas Street to the corner of Humboldt Street.
Douglas Street will be closed to traffic from Cloverdale Avenue to Belleville Street from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. The block of Finlayson Street between Blanshard and Douglas streets will also be closed. Douglas Street will reopen in sections as the parade moves toward downtown.
A 21-gun salute will take place along Belleville Street at 1 p.m.
Celebration Square, a family-friendly addition introduced last year, returns to Centennial Square, with inflatable amusements, children’s entertainment and food trucks. This year, it includes a climbing wall. The feature will run 10:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.
For more information, go to gvfs.ca.