South Cowichan Community Policing Advisory Society will be closed Monday October 2nd to honour Indigenous Residential School System survivors and their families, to reflect on the lasting impacts of the system, and remember the children who never made it home.

Wear your orange shirt Saturday September 30 & Monday October 2! Events will be happening all long weekend.

Community Events:

Every Child Matters March

Monday October 2 at 9:30am. Si’em Lelum Soccer Fields on River Rd.
Speakers, Tzinquaw Performance, Show Case, Food Trucks, Vendors.

Residential School Survivors Art Project by Quamichan School

If you have been affected by Residential Schools, please take a battery operated terracotta candle.
Candles left under the trees at Cowichan Tribes Administration Building on Friday, September 29th.

Free Public Events in Nanaimo 

Free public eventsfocused on community well-being with gymnasium sports and games, family play room, bouncy castles, arts and crafts, interactive booths and a Hul’q’umi’num’ StoryWalk.

Where: Oliver Woods Community Centre

When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (food trucks onsite)

Free skating and Stick ‘n’ Puck sessions

• Where: Nanaimo Ice Centre
• When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (concession open)

Free swimming and weight room entry

• Where: Nanaimo Aquatic Centre
• When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. (food trucks onsite)
• Note: Session limits are in effect for the pool.

South Island Powwow

• Songhees Nation
• Where: Royal Athletic Park, 1014 Caledonia Ave., Victoria
• When: Gates will open at 10 a.m. with colours retiring at midnight.
• The event honours and recognizes survivors of residential and day schools and their families, the Sixties Scoop and the children who never made it home. It features Indigenous cultural performances, song and dance with two host drums, Sage Hills and Blackfish, along with guest speakers.
  Free admission. There will be two traditional grand entries of First Nations — at noon and 6 p.m.

Truth and Reconciliation Day Ride 

• Organizer: Capital Bike (Victoria)
• When: 9:15 a.m.
• Where: The ride begins at Songhees Park, near the Johnson Street bridge.
• A free nine-kilometre bike ride through downtown Victoria, along Dallas Road and up Vancouver Street to Royal Athletic Park to join the powwow at 11:30. Police will close intersections along the route. Diane Sam, a member of the Songhees First Nation, will open the ride.

Orange Day in the Bay

• Organizers: Peter Hudson and Tyler Bob
• Where: Huddlestone Park, Lantzville
• When: 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Orange Day in the Bay 2023 will feature speakers, ceremony, live music, comedy, food and vendors. The lineup includes performances by James Vickers, Aspects, Sirreal, Myc Sharratt, Whirly Bird and Tzinquaw Dancers. Comedy acts include performances by Keith Martin Nahanee, Patti Savard and Ryan Lachance. Entry is by donation (suggested: $20 per family) to the tthuw mukw’mulstimuxw (Setut) group, which focuses on language classes, art, history and sports.