March 27 - Phillips Backyard artists revealed

Good morning !

Phillips Backyard is returning this year with its usual two-weekend offering. This year’s lineup is a blend of hip hop, alt-pop, and indie rock, with major names and local acts alike.

— Robyn

Today’s approx. read time: 5 minutes

🌡️ Weather Forecast

Today: 🌧️  12 / 8

Tomorrow: 🌧️ 10 / 7

Day after: 🌦️ 9 / 6

NEWS

The Roots, Unknown Mortal Orchestra set to play at Phillips Backyard

Victoria’s festival season is inching closer as the weather begins to warm up, and we’ve gotten our first glimpse of the music coming to town for the two weekends of Phillips Backyard.

The backyard brewery shows have become a staple summer event for music lovers, with Tilt weekend taking place July 4-6 and Reverb happening Aug. 8-10.  

Indie rock will dominate the first two days of Tilt, with headliners Unknown Mortal Orchestra and Cold War Kids taking the stage. Day 3 will skew towards rap with G-Eazy and Northern BC duo Snotty Nose Rez Kids.

Reverb weekend will serve up some alt-pop, with Vancouver’s Peach Pit and New York’s Phantogram headlining. The summer’s lineup will cap off that weekend with legendary hip-hop group The Roots—on break from its gig as house band for the Tonight Show with Jimmy Fallon—bringing its hot-hot music to the capital. 

For Peach Pit and Snotty Nose Rez Kids, it’ll be a return to Victoria, as both played 2023’s shows. 

See the full lineup here.

⚠️ Capital Bulletin

Road paving: Eastbound lanes closure on Gorge (Rock Bay Ave to Dunedin) continues today and tomorrow, 7am-7pm. [Details]

Trump tariffs expected today on automobile industry.

NEWS

Authors’ spring fling event booked for Fernwood on Saturday

If you’re a reader—or a writer—you may want to book it to the Fernwood Community Centre the day after tomorrow. More than 40 independent Victoria writers will be there to talk about their craft and sell a few copies of their latest works.

“Come and talk to the writers and find the book that you've been looking for and have a great time,” organizer Edeana Malcolm, the author of nine books, tells Capital Daily.

It’s the first author get-together of the year, following four over the last two years that have drawn good crowds—Edeana estimates 200 came through the doors at Broad View United—and proved fulfilling for the many local authors who attend.

“The writers themselves love it,” Malcolm says. “Because they get to talk to other writers and share ideas, and they get to sell a few books.” 

One of those writers is Jane Bow, who was featured in Capital Daily in September when she was up for a literary award in the UK.

“My novella Homeless will be wearing its shiny Rubery Award shortlist sticker at the Spring Fling Book Fair,” she tells Capital Daily.

Aptly, Bow plans to donate all proceeds of the sale of her book, centred around an unhoused woman in Ontario, to Our Place Society.

She wanted us to remind readers of the good work being done at Our Place, which provides 1,400 meals a day and 500 units of housing, plus transitional shelter spaces, life skills, and more for Victoria’s homeless people.

Local fair is an affordable opportunity for writers 

Malcolm, whose latest offering, Maid of Gold, was self-published, says it’s not easy out there for authors, with few publishing houses taking in writers. 

“I thought, ‘Oh, you know, marketing and distribution is a real problem for independent book writers.’ So I thought, ‘well, I'm not the only one who has this problem.’”

The Victoria Writers Society—to which many of the authors belong—sponsored the first four events. This time Victoria’s Filidh Publishing is the lead sponsor, which has allowed Malcolm to keep table prices down (writers pay $15 to occupy half a table) and admission to the public, free.

“The profit margin on books that you produce is really, really low,” she says. 

The Spring Fling Book Fair is Sat. from 10am to 4pm at the Fernwood Neighbourhood Resource Group

COMMUNITY

Your rainbow photos from around Greater Victoria

On Friday evening, locals were treated to one of the most dazzling rainbows we've seen in some time. As the heavy rain cleared, two arcs were visible stretching across the sky. 

Over the weekend, many of you sent in your photos of the rainbows from all around the region. These shots from different locations show the light touching down on a variety of local landmarks, from the Christ Church Cathedral to Fisgard Lighthouse to South Park School. 

See some of the colourful photos submitted by readers here.

SPONSORED BY CAPITAL DAILY INSIDERS

Get your Capital Daily Insider membership

Without the support of our Insiders, this newsletter would not be possible. Insider support allows us to get this free newsletter into your inboxes every day, and also gives our team of reporters the time they need to chase the bigger stories that matter in the CRD.

Become an Insider today!

⭐️ Capital Picks

🐦 Swan Lake not just for swans: A violet-green swallow zooms through the nature reserve. [Facebook photo]

🎭 Pacific Opera Victoria presents Rigoletto - a tragic tale of love, betrayal, and revenge. April 23-29 at the Royal Theatre. Book here or call 250.385.0222*

🎶 Tutti Frutti in Victoria: See Little Richard performing at the Memorial Arena in 1957. [Facebook photo]

📬 Want to stay in the loop on all things philanthropy? Sign up for the Victoria Foundation's bi-weekly eNewsletter for foundation news, grant announcements, Vital Signs updates, and more!*

🤝 Now hiring: Payroll and Accounting Officer at The Truffles Group.

*Sponsored Listing

🗞️ In Other News

No Frills coming to Victoria Public Market space
The low-cost grocery chain, owned by Loblaw and known for carrying No Name brand items, will fill the space after the market closes. Tenants at the market were told last week they would have six months to vacate and relocate their businesses elsewhere. No Frills is expected to open early next year. [CHEK]

Alleged assault with an “edged weapon” on Langford construction site 
RCMP say they arrived shortly after a fight between two adult men and arrested one man, 54, without incident, charging him with assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm. He was released with multiple conditions and has a court order scheduled for April 3. [RCMP]

Saanich updates bylaws to allow more children in daycare units 
One way to create more child-care spaces is to increase the number of kids allowed there, and that’s what Saanich is doing. Saanich council has approved bylaw amendments that expand the number of children permitted in a home-based centre to rise to 12, from 5 in multi-unit homes and 8 in single and two-family residences. Saanich Mayor Dean Murdock said the move could help create as many as 200 new child-care spaces. [Times Colonist]

🗓️ Things to do

🎹 Michael Kaeshammer: Experience the dynamic piano mastery of Michael Kaeshammer at the Mary Winspear Centre tonight. 7:30pm. [Info]​

🎸 #1 Tribute to Tom Petty: Celebrate the legacy of Tom Petty with The Wildflowers, North America’s premier Tom tribute band, live at the McPherson Playhouse tonight 7:30pm. [Info]

🎷 Andrew Greenwood Quintet plays Eddie Harris: See the Andrew Greenwood Quintet pay tribute to saxophone great Eddie Harris at Hermann's tonight 7pm. [Info]

🎶 Glass Tiger: Catch the Canadian rockers as they bring their iconic hits and energy to the McPherson Playhouse tomorrow. 7:30pm. [Info]

😂 Troy Bond: See New York City comedian and writer Troy Bond bring his sharp crowdwork and witty impressions to the Capital Ballroom tomorrow. 8pm. [Info]

👑 The Princess Bride in Concert: Watch the beloved film The Princess Bride while the Victoria Symphony performs the unforgettable score live at the Royal Theatre. Sat. 7pm & Sun. 2:30pm. [Info]

👀 In Case You Missed It

Wednesday’s headlines: Women’s recovery centre opens in View Royal; Baby orca’s lineage goes back to darker times; Westshore girl’s medication funding extended. [Capital Daily] 

Highway barriers could limit some crashes near Thetis Lake, says fire chief. [Times Colonist]

Orange sports car clocked at 166 km/h in a 90 km/h zone; driver eludes police. [CHEK]

Squid eggs: Found on a Powell River beach and tossed back into the water to hopefully hatch. [Facebook photo]

Island FANCON is tomorrow-Sun. in Langford.

Rock rainbow: Spring showers bring out the colours of beach rocks in Sooke. [Facebook photo]