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Bring the family to Sidney for Canada Day celebrations

Peninsula town offers its own flavour of July 1 celebrations
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Saanich Peninsula Hospital Foundation executive director Karen Morgan clowns around during the 2010 Sidney Days parade.

You’re in for a fantastic program of fun and exciting events in Sidney on Canada Day.

For more than 25 years, the community and the Peninsula Celebrations Society have staged Sidney Days – our big Canada Day party.

This year’s events kick off Thursday, June 30 with a community dinner from 4:30 to 6 p.m. on the patio of the Mary Winspear Centre (2243 Beacon Ave.).

From 8 to 10 p.m. R & B band Soul 62 will serve up dance music on the lawn at Beacon Park, located at the waterfront end of Beacon Avenue. Grab a piece of the special Canada Day birthday cake while you’re there.

Visitors will want to get down to the waterfront early to save a spot for the fireworks extravaganza, which starts at 10 p.m.

Canada Day celebrations begin early Friday with the Peninsula Track and Field club’s 5K Run and Walk and 2K Youth Run, starting at the corner of Bevan Avenue and Seventh Street. Registration begins at 6:45 a.m. at the Winspear Centre.

Bulk up for a big day at the Kiwanis Pancake Breakfast also at the centre, starting at 9 a.m.

The Sidney Canada Day Parade begins at Beacon Avenue and Resthaven Drive at 11 a.m. The route continues along Beacon, down Second Street to Ocean Avenue.

Following the parade, from noon to 4 p.m. check out the Family Fun Fair all afternoon in Tulista Park, near the corner of Fifth Street and Ocean Avenue. You can participate in the dog look-a-like contest, check out a Sea King helicopter, and enjoy other family entertainment from face painting to a petting zoo.

Some unique boats will be constructed in Beacon Park during the day, as part of the Build-a-Quick-Boat race happening at 4:45 p.m. on the waterfront.

For more information, visit www.peninsulacelebrations.ca/events/sidney-days/.

reporter@peninsulanewsreview.com

Early kickoff

• Celebrate Canada week begins Monday (June 27) with Multiculturalism Day, featuring music and dance starting at 2 p.m. at the Mary Winspear Centre. Town Crier Kenny Podmore will open the event with a proclamation. The afternoon ends with a traditional English tea. Cost is $6.95.