On the other side of January and this seemingly never-ending snow storm is the Family Day long weekend.
This year, a brand new festival is taking over Victoria with widespread installations in the downtown core.
From February 16th to 19th, arts, music, colour and sound will be strewn across the city in a way like never before. The festival’s installations will stretch from Hermann’s Upstairs to the Royal BC Museum (RBCM) and all along the waterfront to Herald Street.
With its heart being located at Herald Street Brew Works, the Winter Arts Festival will have 20 installations total, including six “anchor points” with massive artistic expressions created by a mix of local and touring talent.
Aside from one “After Dark” performance at Hermann’s Upstairs and the official Art Walk tours offered by Discover The Past Tours, the entire festival is free for all who wish to inject their lives with art, sound and colour as Victoria navigates its winter-time blues.
This festival has its roots embedded in the Vancouver arts scene, where its predecessor began in the pandemic as a way to engage people in outdoor spaces using art—the Vancouver Mural Festival.
Now, this iteration of the arts festival is coming to Victoria because the team behind the Vancouver Mural Festival decided to put on a similar affair in the winter. The City of Victoria saw what they were able to do throughout Vancouver and invited them to produce a similar weekend-long event here.
“The Winter Arts Festival provides a platform for artists to experiment, push boundaries, and inspire the community,” said Miriam Esquitín, VMF Executive Director.
“Whether wandering through the illuminated streets of Victoria or experiencing the festival’s return to Vancouver, Winter Arts Festival promises an enriching and immersive cultural experience.”
“We invite attendees to rediscover familiar streets and city spaces, forging connections through a diverse array of indoor and outdoor experiences,” she concluded.
The Art Walk
One of the main focuses will be the festival’s Art Walk, in which people will be able to explore existing and new art installations downtown.
People will be able to use a physical passport to keep track of all the art they are able to see as they meander along the Art Walk, which will be available for pickup at Herald Street Brew Works.
One of the artistic anchor points Winter Arts Festival has revealed will be an endeavour by local artist Lindsay Katsitsakatste Delaronde. She has created an augmented reality experience called Ode to the Queens, which is to be located at the Queen Victoria statue standing on the BC legislature grounds.
Ode to the Queens will “make visible histories of peoples and past events that continue to affect our relationships to the land and to each other,” according to the festival’s curators.
Another mainstay of the Victoria Winter Arts Festival will be by Toronto-based artist, Yam Lau who’s computer-generated artwork, Nüshu: Echo Chambers, will bring light to a script which was exclusive to women in feudal China’s Jiangyong region
“There are over 20 art installations to discover, as well as over a dozen existing pieces of public art from the City’s collection that will be highlighted along the route,” said lead curator Natalia Lebedinskaia.
“My hope is that through these artists’ voices, the Art Walk will offer a brief moment of contemplation, joy, and respite in the darkness of winter at the cusp of spring.”
The Hub
For those who want and need live music in their lives in a time when it is hard to come by with the downfall of so many music venues across town, Herald Street Brew Works will be stepping up by having daily performances in their shared parking lot with Circularity Boutique which has been dubbed the festival’s “Hub”.
From 5 p.m. to 9 p.m. every day over the Family Day long weekend, musicians will be serenading while local food trucks serve food and the bar shows off their brews.
As the festival draws nearer, Herald Street Brew Works Co-owner Mike Spence says he can’t wait to show off what the brewery can offer Victoria as a venue.
“I’m really excited about it,” Spence told Victoria Buzz. “It sure aligns with our core values and what we wanted Herald Street to be.”
He and his wife Lee Spence also own and operate The Drake in Market Square and opened the brewery in 2020 along with their partners in business who run Steel & Oak Brewing, located in New Westminster.
“We see it as an opportunity to showcase local artists and artisans, so it’s a real perfect fit,” Spence continued.
Spence said he is especially excited to see performances in the taproom on Monday, February 19th.
As a way to cap off the Winter Arts Festival, Herald Street’s usually scheduled open mic night, which happens every Monday, will have some of the city’s best and brightest performing, according to Spence.
The festival runners and Spence are both hopeful the debut Victoria Winter Arts Festival will be a success and they will be able to put it on again annually.
