Canada Day Celebrations at Nanaimo, B.C.

July 1st is Canada Day in our beautiful North American country. Citizens and tourists donned their red and white clothing, flags and decorations and headed to Maffeo Sutton park in Nanaimo to celebrate!

To encourage involvement of citizens in our small city of 106,631 (2023), the Nanaimo B.C. Transit bus system offered FREE shuttle service all day long from 2 local locations–our main shopping mall at Woodgrove located at the north side of the city, and our University of Vancouver Island campus. It was a fun option to ride the clean, efficient buses and not have to worry about locating parking space. There was also a FREE bike valet service provided at the city park location if you chose to ride down town.

When we arrived at Maffeo Sutton park there were people learning to kayak in the lagoon area while others walked along the seawall or sat and admired the beauty of our oceans and nearby islands–Protection Island & Newcastle (Saysutshun) island.

It was beautiful to observe the diversity of culture, age, religion, and unique identities all sharing a peaceful, reflective, fun experience together.

Prior to the official opening ceremonies at the Nanaimo pavilion, there was a flag bearer walk along the trail by the lagoon to the pavilion. A dance troupe sharing Chinese culture performed various times during the day.

Canada Day Flag bearer parade during opening ceremonies at Nanaimo

Following the Flag ceremony we gathered at the Maffeo Sutton Pavilion augmented by grassy open spaces, tents, healthy varieties of shade trees, and a glorious view of the Pacific ocean as we bonded together singing our national anthem… Oh Canada!

It felt so emotionally powerful to be singing our national anthem together on Canada Day — Oh Canada!
Following our anthem, a few dignitaries welcomed all Canadians and tourists to the Canada Day celebration. Speeches were given by our current mayor of Nanaimo Leonard Krog; our two government elected officials–Lisa Marie Barron & Sheila Malcolmson; and also a touching reflection from a very grateful new Canadian citizen.

After the Opening Ceremonies concluded….it was time to explore all the entertainment, booths, and activities available around this beautiful Nanaimo park.

At Maffeo Sutton park you will discover a substantial children’s play area and even a summer time zipline experience available crossing over the lagoon. Can you spot the boy on the zipline approaching the landing spot?

This is the musical section of the children’s play area. The drum kit seemed to be the favourite mode of creating music during our walk past the area.

There were many people entertaining around the park area including guys on stilts and this talented magician. In addition to random entertainers, there was also a diverse list of different cultural groups performing from Flamenco and Chinese dancers to Square dancing!

These photos show demonstrations by a martial arts troupe and square dance performers.

If you felt hungry….There were free Canada Day cupcakes! Or you could peruse the Food Truck/Cultural food area. These are only 2 of the food options available.

Or…If you prefer to enjoy the beautiful Pacific ocean surroundings, there are regular small ferries available over to nearby Protection or Saysutshun Islands. You could walk along the seawalk path, explore the wharf side markets, or just chill on a blanket on the grass.

This photo depicts the seawall path by the float planes and close to the marina area. There are several ice-cream/gelato shops along here. One shop produces homemade ice-cream including the famous Nanaimo bar flavour!

Canada Day in Nanaimo, B.C. was a ton of fun! It sure feels great to be free of the Covid masks too!

We are looking forward to next year’s events and all the upcoming Vancouver Island summer festivals!

Cheers from Vancouver Island. Have fun exploring. S