As an internationally renowned resort with a stunning natural setting, moderate year-round climate, rich cultural diversity and huge folio of things to do, Tofino boasts a slate of festivals and special events impressive in both quantity and quality. And they get better with every passing year.
Every March and April, Tofino experiences the greatest whale migration on the planet, as 17 thousand Grey Whales pass en route from their winter home on Mexico's Baja Peninsula - a journey of 22,530km/14,000mi - to summer in the Arctic Ocean and Bering Sea.
The season of the whale gets off to a roaring start with the Pacific Rim Whale Festival every March, a full week of activities including a parade; ArtSplash, the annual spring art show at the Wickaninnish Interpretive Centre; Aboriginal storytelling; explorations of whale lore and science; musical performances; rainforest walks in Pacific Rim National Park; and talks on pertinent subjects such as the importance of whaling in Nuu-chah-nulth culture.
Tofino Food and Wine Festival
June's Tofino Food and Wine Festival tips its hat to culinary tourism while showcasing local product and local chefs. Events include multi-course dinners pairing food and wine, a barbecue and beer tasting and a blowout afternoon of gastronomic grazing at the Tofino Botanical Garden.
National Aboriginal Day
June 21 marks Canada's National Aboriginal Day, celebrating the near-lost cultures of First Nations peoples. In Tofino, this translates as performances of Aboriginal music and dance, artists at work, traditional Native storytelling and children's games at Pacific Rim National Park.
Pacific Rim Summer Festival
The Pacific Rim Summer Festival welcomes summer with a program featuring over 40 musicians and dancers from 4 continents. Listen for world music, jazz, classical and First Nations rhythms.
Tofino Lantern Festival
The Annual Tofino Lantern Festival takes place at the Botanical Gardens in August. Participants build their own candle lanterns, while others light up the gardens. Guests usually compliment their lanterns with costumes. Music, food and a Mardi Gras atmosphere make it memorable.
Tofino Art in the Gardens
The lovely Tofino Botanical Gardens once again provides the setting, this time for a weekend of visual and performing artists in September. The Clayoquot creative community turns out en masse. Exuberance is unrestricted.
West Coast Maritime Festival
The West Coast Maritime Festival, September, kicks off with a "Magical History Tour" and dinner cruise into Clayoquot Sound. It ends with a dance in pirate costumes, matey. And kids get to paddle traditional First Nations dugouts courtesy of Tla-ook Cultural Adventures.
Tofino Film Festival
It's not Cannes, Venice or Toronto, but the Tofino Film Festival in October, is an engaging week of screenings and movie-loving celebrations featuring Hollywood and foreign features, animations and documentaries.
Clayoquot Oyster Festival
Welcome to Tofino's annual bivalve bash, the Clayoquot Oyster Festival. It's so popular, Tofino has rejigged Nov as "Oysterember." The bivalves are farmed year-round, but boast a sharper, richer flavour in the winter months. Local chefs compete to create new oyster recipes. Take a tour of local oyster farms.
For tourist information, maps and brochures, drop by the Pacific Rim Visitor Centre at the Tofino-Ucluelet junction or the Tourism Tofino Visitor Centre at 455 Campbell St in Tofino.
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