Feb 17 - What to do for Family Day

Good morning !

We hope you are able to enjoy the holiday and spend a relaxing Monday with loved ones. Today we look back at some of our stories of families around the region, and run down the family-friendly events happening all around the region today.

— Cam

Today’s approx. read time: 6 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌧 8 / 4

Tomorrow: 🌧 9 / 6

Day after: 🌧 8 / 3

FROM THE ARCHIVES

Our stories of Island families

Over the years, Capital Daily has gotten to tell the stories of many different Island families of all kinds. From inspiring stories to difficult ones, we’ve detailed how far locals will go for their loved ones—often literally hundreds or thousands of kilometres. 

These stories have included acclaimed books, artwork, and plays that people have made about their families. They have included practical sacrifices that people have made to try to put their families in a better position. And they’ve included the incredible things local families have created together—food, businesses, new words, and much more.

We’ve collected a bunch of them together, and this Family Day we hope you’ll be interested in reading a few.

Recent additions include stories about mothers who have fought against big institutions to get truth and accountability about their daughters' deaths, a daughter who helped her dad through his hours stuck in a clay pit, and the legacies left by a local sister and a local artist & family man.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Fog may roll in tonight.

Rain all week, with highs reaching 11C by weekend.

Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google.

EVENTS

Family Day events today around Greater Victoria

Here are some of the family-friendly public events happening all around the region today.

PlayZone Play Day: 10am-6pm‍: Enjoy free access to the PlayZone at City Centre Park, featuring a goldmine-themed indoor playground. Parents can relax in the designated area. [Free]

Board Game Fun at The Outpost Board Game Cafe: 11am-7pm. Enjoy free access today.

Family Day at the Royal BC Museum: All day. Admission by donation.

Family Day at the IMAX Victoria: All day. See any of today's docs (The Trolley, Superhuman Body: World of Medical Marvels, Arctic: Our Frozen Planet, and Space: The New Frontier) for $2.

‍Esquimalt Family Day: 10am-1pm: Swimming, skating, kinder gym, and other fun-filled activities at Esquimalt Rec Centre. 

Family Fun House: 10am-4pm: An all-ages electronic music experience at the Downbeat Event Centre, focused on education, creativity, and community. Dance workshops, face painting, silent disco, snacks, and more. [By donation]

Street Hockey Event: 11am-2pm at Veterans Memorial Park. Two hockey arenas, information booths with swag, hot dogs, chips, and juice. [By donation]

Saanich Family Arts Festival: 11am-3pm. Kids of all ages can explore activities led by Arts Centre staff and guest instructors from the region’s arts and culture community, as well as watch and listen to an array of live performances. At the Cedar Hill Arts and Recreation Centre. [Free]

Welcome Day Celebration and Newcomer Expo: 11am-4pm: Visit Saanich Commonwealth Place and experience the 11th Welcome Day Celebration and Newcomer Expo, including youth activities, a multicultural market, a newcomer expo, and a cultural showcase. [Free]

Explore & Play at the Royal Theatre: 12-3pm: Step behind the scenes at the Royal Theatre with Pacific Opera Victoria and the Victoria Symphony. Enjoy interactive stations, crafts, backstage tours, and pop-up performances. Try musical instruments, meet giant bird puppets, and make crowns and fox headbands. [Free]

Family Fun Day at Royal Bay: 12-2pm An afternoon of fun at Meadow Park. Bounzy zones, bubble dome, & family photos to capture the day. [Free]

Swim & Skate in Sidney: 1pm at Panorama Rec. Skate rentals and helmets are available. [$2]

‍Family Day Music Bingo: 2:30-4:30pm at Jubilee Hall.There will be a round of a mix of hits across all genres and a Taylor Swift round. Pre-registration required. [Free]

Family Day Weekend Storybook Walks: Enjoy reading pages from beloved books like Jamberry and Zoe & the Fawn as you stroll through any of 4 Westshore parks and Langford Station. Self-guided

Family Day free spin classes at SPINCO Westshore: Various times.

Free carousel rides (with admission) at Butchart Gardens for Family Day.

 Kids Take Over game as the Royals face powerhouse rival Everett today at Save-On for the includes a post-game skate with players.

DWTN Winter Lime: 10am-6pm. This new cultural and family-friendly event will bring a burst of Caribbean warmth to the winter season. Tasty food, a market, and live music at Ship Point in Victoria’s Inner Harbour.

FOOD

Victoria Hot Chocolate Festival runs until the end of the month

There's nothing quite like a steaming, frothy beverage to warm up in the winter, especially during the cold days we’ve had recently. Just in time to lift our winter spirits, the Victoria Hot Chocolate Festival has begun, running from February 1 to 28, featuring a variety of decadent hot chocolate creations crafted by more than 25 participating restaurants and coffee shops. The best part is that many of the offerings can be made for different dietary needs, such as gluten-free, vegan, vegetarian, nut-free, or soy-free. 

Each participating business will offer unique hot chocolate experiences, with $1 from each purchase supporting the BC SPCA Victoria Community Animal Centre. The festival aims to raise $10,000 over the course of the month for the organization that provides care for sick and neglected animals.  

The local cacao creations include

• The Empress's “Marshall’s Marshmallow Melt," inspired by Paw Patrol’s firefighting dalmatian down to the spiced dog-bone-shaped cookie

• Working Culture's passionfruit dark chocolate with a buttery shortbread cookie to dip, 

• Lure's red velvet hot chocolate with an Ooh La La cupcake on top

See more of the hot chocolates at Tasting Victoria.

SPONSORED BY BELFRY THEATRE

"An absolutely stunning play."

Audiences love Behind the Moon - both the play itself and the brilliant performances by Rizwan Manji, Anand Rajaram and Ben Yoganathan. 

Set in the Mughlai Moon restaurant in Toronto, where Ayub cooks, cleans, and waits for his future to begin.

His father’s friend, Qadir, has brought him to Canada with a promise of permanency that never seems to materialize.

A mysterious stranger brings with him the clarity that Ayub needs to free himself from the limbo in which he is suffocating.

The Belfry Theatre offers pay-what-you-want tickets to all performances.

⭐️ Capital Picks

🌅 Low winter sun over the Trial Islands lighthouse [James MacDonald photos]

🐺 Valentine's Day in the wild: Wild Wise has been posting profiles of the mating & parenting practices of Island species such as wolves & bald eagles, on its Facebook page.

🎵🏒 Do you love hockey and writing songs? Submit an original hockey-themed song and you could win $5,000 and perform at Century Celebration Music Night.*

Support local journalism by supporting Capital Daily. Become a Capital Daily Insider member today and help bring local stories to life. 

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

Hours-long Langford standoff ends in arrest
Neighbours said that as many as a dozen police cars were present yesterday at Hidden Valley Mobile Home Park, a community of mostly seniors. RCMP said that the response lasted until about 11pm but that posts online by a member of the public gave people the false impression that it ended earlier. [CHEK]

Corporate landlord granted extra rent increase for $428K roof
Capreit won an arbitration case to pass an above-guideline rent hike to its 52 units in a Cook St. Village-area building. Advocates say that these capital-expenditures increases are being sought recently by big landlords and have excessively complicated rules that make it hard for tenants to successfully dispute them. [Times Colonist]

Victoria club will represent Canada at World Jump Rope Championships
The local Island Hoppers will head to Japan starting July 27 to compete in multiple events testing how fast, how long, and how creatively they can skip. [VicNews]

Calls to Nanaimo RCMP declined in 2024
The dip continues a 5-year trend and reflected drops in most categories of crime—particularly downtown, where both property & violent crime plunged by double digits. [Nanaimo News Now]

👀 In Case You Missed It

Not smooth sailing quite yet: Shore power project has some hurdles left before cruise ships can plug in. [Capital Daily]

Best Chinese food in Victoria as voted by readers. [Tasting Victoria]

Back-to-back eastern storms: Snow buries Toronto, Montreal, and parts of Atlantic Canada. [CBC]

Protest at Langford Tesla targets company's connection to Musk. [Colin Smith photos]

Saturday news: Flag Day, Family Day, and Victoria avoiding business with US. [Feb. 15]

What sort of shark was found washed up near Tofino? [Facebook photos]

Homemade Zamboni preps Cumberland ponds for hockey. [CHEK video]