Blog

What an incredibly quirky & truly coastal way to spend the afternoon...competing for the best seafood chowder recipe. The line-up of entrants was varied and wonderful, and we're getting a number of calls and email from folks wondering about the results....and here they are - drumroll please:

Judge’s Choice 

1. Wildside Grill (Tofino)
2. A tight tie between Ukee Dogs (Ucluelet) and Long Beach Lodge Resort (Tofino)
3. Weigh West Marine Resort (Tofino)

People’s Choice 

1. Weigh West Marine Resort (Tofino)
2. Wildside Grill (Tofino)
3. Offshore (Ucluelet)

Congratulations to the winners - you've earned yourself some bragging rights, and we love you & your chowders!

The Seaplane Base Rec Hall has never looked so fun, and the maritime tunes with Newfoundland Darlin' Robert Cluett had me kicking up my heels. It was a wonderful success and we're thankful to everyone who came out to support the event and to the Ucluelet Recreation Commission for keeping the tradition alive. It gets better every year!

A boatload of thanks to all of the participating restaurants for slaving over your recipes and prepping the bucketloads of chowder that fed a very happy (and record-breaking!) crowd of folks at today's event. It was a certified whale of a time!

Yes, I said whale of a time.

Our answer to this question is usually ‘EVERYTHING!’. Quite often during the festival we need button greeters, ticket takers, event calendar givers, poster sellers and/or information givers at the entrance to events. These are out front lines at presentations & talks, movies, storytelling and workshops. Usually there are 2-4 volunteers at each event.

The largest amount of volunteer energy is needed for decorating & set-up of the Tofino Community Hall on Tuesday, March 9th (12pm – 12am) and Wednesday, March 10th (12pm - 7pm) for 2 large events held there. Any length of time is massively appreciated!

We have 2 committees that require a bit more dedication: Merchandise and Signage. Ideally, 8-10 volunteers will team up to move the merchandise between a few key events throughout the week while also attending for the duration in order to pack up & move the merchandise to the next location. Sandwich boards need to be outside an event about an hour before it starts. Boards also need to have to the correct sign on them (i.e., culinary event, children’s event, fundraiser, etc.). Each town has about 4 boards and a schedule of who is picking up which and placing at what event must be created and executed by a team of 5-6 volunteers.

A security team of 6-8 volunteers will be needed at Martini Migration to rotate positions and shifts throughout the night. Upwards of 15 others will be needed throughout the night for working the door, kitchen, bussing tables, handing out glasses, collecting votes and more and more. Maritime Kids Days will also need 15-20 volunteers for the set-up of tables, operation of stations as well as tear down.

An infinity amount of volunteers are needed for the parade, beach clean-up, aerial art, Tug-o-Whale & Whale Dip. That’s a lot. So sign up and bring a friend! Then tell your friend to bring their other friend!

A longer description of volunteer opportunities can be found in the volunteer section of this site. If you would like to volunteer, check out our handy Volunteer Sign-up form.

We hear it every year. We have no idea who starts this terrible rumour but as the Volunteer Coordinator for 3 years, I can assure you that I have never had “enough volunteers” for the Pacific Rim Whale Festival. I’m no expert, but according to my research, this statement is an oxymoron and I hope we can stop it from spreading any further. The real truth is that we actually need more volunteers. Heck, I could use double the amount that I have right now! We definitely believe ‘the more, the merrier’!

For example, we need A LOT of help setting up the Tofino Community Hall for Martini Migration and Kids Days. Then we need to tear it all down. Not to mention the 15-20 volunteers we need at the events themselves! We need teams of dedicated volunteers in each town who can be responsible for moving, counting and selling the merchandise also moving our sandwich boards from one event to the next.

We also need bodies to move it, build it, cut it out, make it, serve it, sell it, help someone, laugh, learn, smile (a lot), play it, have fun, introduce it, meet new people, set it up, tear it down, participate, carry it, dance, sing, watch, eat and MORE!

If someone has any amount of time to volunteer with the festival, we would love to have you be part of our team. We would love to have your friends be on our team as well! If you would like to sign up, use our handy Volunteer Sign-up form.