Truck Light Convoy rolls on Saturday

A fleet of 80 festively decorated commercial trucks will once again cruise the streets of the capital region for the annual Island Equipment Owners Association’s Truck Light Convoy on Saturday.

The parade starts at Ogden Point and weaves its way through Oak Bay and downtown Victoria before continuing on to View Royal and Langford and ending up at Western Speedway.

Each big rig will be festooned with thousands of lights, and the first and last will be equipped with GPS trackers, so the procession’s progress can be monitored online in real time at ieoa.ca.

“Every year, our members pour their hearts into transforming their working trucks for the event,” said Wendy Watt, manager of the association. “The end result summarizes how much effort they take to give the community a good show — and collect food for the needy at the same time.”

While the sight of the brightly decorated trucks is the draw, the event is also an opportunity to collect about 2,500 kilograms of non-perishable food for three area food banks — the Mustard Seed, the Goldstream Food Bank and the Saanich Peninsula Lions Food Bank.

As the trucks can’t stop, people are encouraged to drop off donations at sites along the route designated for collecting food items. This year, people can also donate online.

The convoy, with Santa in the second vehicle, starts to roll from Ogden Point at 5:45 p.m. Saturday. The trucks are led by a police escort and average 15 km/h in the city. The trucks are expected to arrive at Western Speedway at 8:30 p.m., and will line the racetrack.

Admission to the speedway is by donation of a non-perishable food item or cash. Hot chocolate and hot dogs will be available by donation. For more information or food-collection locations, go to ieoa.ca.