For fans of literary readings, live music, car cruises, farmers markets, and other festivals and events, Sechelt burgeons with options from spring to fall each year. The largest community on the Sunshine Coast is also one of the most welcoming.
Arts Festivals
August is a great month for festival lovers in Sechelt. It starts with the Sechelt Arts Festival, which offers a week of dance workshops, painting seminars, and acting courses with experienced teachers. Next comes the Festival of the Rolling Arts, where car buffs show off their wheels at a "show and shine" event and participate in drag racing. The two-day Hackett Park Craft Fair brings together more than 100 artists and artisans, plus shoppers and live performers from around the Pacific Northwest. A major August highlight is the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Written Arts, which features readings and book signings by authors as illustrious as Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient), Margaret Atwood (The Handmaid's Tale), and Ronald Wright (A Scientific Romance).
Sechelt also co-hosts the Sunshine Coast Festival of the Performing Arts (April-May). It shows off the talents of young musicians in piano, strings, and choral vocals at the Sechelt Arts Centre (5714 Medusa at Trail Ave.). Admission is by donation.
Other Sechelt Festivals and Events
For a day of affordable family fun, head to the Canada Day (July 1) celebrations at Hackett Park, highlighted by a parade, balloons for kids, artisans hawking their creations, and a posse of picnickers. The Sechelt Farmers Market operates Saturdays from April to October in the parking lot of the Raven's Cry Theatre (5559 Sunshine Coast Hwy.). Buy farm-fresh fruits and vegetables, sample homemade baking and jams, and pick up artisans' wares.
Sunshine Coast Festivals and Events
In other Sunshine Coast communities near Sechelt, more festivals and events beckon. Just up Highway 101, enjoy the sounds of top-flight Canadian and international musicians at the Pender Harbour Blues Festival (June), the Pender Harbour Chamber Music Festival (August), and the Pender Harbour Jazz Festival (September). In Egmont, a village nestled next to the world-famous Skookumchuck Narrows, come celebrate Egmont Day (June) with a fishing derby, canoe races, and family dance. For more details on festivals and events in Sechelt and the rest of the Sunshine Coast pick up a Sunshine Coast Tourist Guide at the Visitor Centre.