Please note: The events listed below are from the 2010 Festival, and remain posted as an example of the kind of program that can be anticipated. Please check back often for updates on our exciting line-up for 2011 as it all comes together...
Pacific Rim Whale Festival Events: March 9, 2010
This icon signifies a Button Event.
Show your 2010 Pacific Rim Whale Festival button for free admission to the events marked with this icon. Buttons are available for $2 each at most events, and can also be bought at local Visitor Info Centres or at most whale watching companies. Visit our buttons page for more information!
B-Bop Fitness and Wild Pacific Trail Discovery Walk
with Oyster Jim
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 8:30 am - 9:30 am
Meet at He-Tin-Kis Park - Wild Pacific Trail, Ucluelet
Meet 'Oyster Jim' Martin who will take you on a guided walk on & off the Wild Pacific Trail each day. Hikers from last year’s B-Bop Walks came away with wonderful footage spotting migrating whales from the trail. This is a once-a-year opportunity to experience the trail with the visionary behind its existence!
Whales & Tales: An Adventure by Boat!
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 10 am or 1 pm
with naturalist Peter Shulze of Strawberry Island Marine Research Society
Ocean Outfitters, Tofino
(12 spaces/boat) $79 / To reserve 250-725-2866
Come onboard for an exciting 2.5 hour adventure where our captain & guide takes you into Clayoquot Sound in search wildlife which could include whales, black bears, seals, sea lions, puffins, sea otters, bald eagles (aerie too!) and inevitably miles of gorgeous coastline and beaches. An amazing daytrip for all ages with an informative and engaging guide! Partial proceeds to local research efforts. Thanks to Ocean Outfitters for continued Festival support!
Button Artist Recognition Celebration with artist Roy Henry Vickers
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 10 am
Eagle Aerie Gallery, Tofino
Come join Roy Henry Vickers in recognizing and celebrating the young local artists behind this year’s Festival Buttons! View Button Collections of past years and celebrate our local budding talent. Storytelling event will follow.
All of the 2010 button artists, their family & friends, as well as the public are invited to join in this special event in Roy's spectacularly built longhouse venue, The Eagle Aerie Gallery. This is a magical space! Hope you can join us.
ArtSplash! Pacific Rim Arts Society’s Annual Spring Art Show
Daily: 10 am - 6 pm
Harbour Lounge - Weigh West Marine Resort, Tofino
The Pacific Rim Arts Society’s annual community art show is back! Local artists working in mediums from painting to fibre works, photography to clay and wood to silver are set to exhibit their wares. Come and view original artworks and purchase a favorite piece to take with you. Thanks to the Pacific Rim Arts Society.
Jamie’s Whaling Station’s Westcoast Passport to Adventure Contest
Daily
Passports available at any Info Centre or
either Jamie’s Whaling Station & Adventure Centre
On your own time all throughout Whale Festival, visit participating locations to answer quirky & educational interpretive questions and collect PRWFS Stamps to enter the draw for GREAT prizes. Complete your Answer Sheet and enter the draw to win a grand prize at Closing Day Celebrations! Thank you Jamie’s for organizing this annual educational & interactive Festival activity!
Media Lounge: Interactive Multi-media Gallery & Coastal Sensory Experience
Sundays - Thursdays, 10 am - 6 pm
The Shore/Ocean Outfitters, Tofino
Time to press the rewind, pause, or play buttons @ the Media Lounge. Listen to the whales, watch Canadiana short-films, indulge your senses in the works of world-class artists, or just put up your feet and catch a breath from the festival fury. Maybe you want to be more active and shoot your own movie, sound or photo and upload it to the festival’s Youtube and Flickr websites accessible here? But don’t forget... the Feature Presentation “LIVE” is on Thurs Night (7-10:30pm), where you can experience the behind-the-scene adventures of photographer, Matt Maran, be part of Randy Celebrini’s live painting, and listen to Esther Celebrini ’s live jazz performance. Official Whale Festival Merchandise available here too!
Ucluelet Aquarium: Up Close & Personal!
Daily 10 am - 6 pm
Ucluelet Mini Aquarium
Waterfront Promenade, Ucluelet
$5 adults / $3 kids (4-16 yrs) / free under 4 yrs
Get your hands wet in the touch tanks with hungry seastars, sideways sand dollars, bright sea anemones, cool crabs, incredible fish and more! Guest interpreters and special activities! Visit with the undersea critters of Clayoquot Sound & Barkley Sound (including a giant pacific octopus!), which are exhibited - and then later released - back into the wild; all from our own backyard! Curiosity welcome & questions encouraged, for ages 1-101! Open daily 10am-6pm from now on for the season!
Storytelling with artist Roy Henry Vickers
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 11 am
Eagle Aerie Gallery, Tofino
Renowned First Nation artist Roy Henry Vickers intimately shares personal stories of coastal life and inspirations, in his own longhouse gallery. He will be releasing Limited Edition prints and Roy will be available for signing following the storytelling. Everyone welcome! Thanks to Eagle Aerie Gallery for years of Whale Festival support.
Marine Documentary Film Screenings
Daily: 10:15 am & 2 pm
Remote Passages Marine Excursions - at the boathouse, Tofino
Marine-based, educational and documentary films suitable for all ages. Daily screenings schedule at www.remotepassages.com Thank you Remote Passages for years of dedicated support.
Jewels of the Emerald Sea
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 11 am
Green Point Campground Theatre, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
with Parks Canada marine biologist Jenn Yakimishyn
Dive into the Emerald Sea to learn more about the diversity of fish and invertebrates that live in the coastal Pacific Rim and how Parks Canada monitors this subtidal realm.
Sand Dune Safari
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 1 pm
Wickaninnish Beach - Parking lot C, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
Come walk into a world you may have never seen on the west coast of Vancouver Island. You thought the drive here to the coast was wild, now try the moonscape of the Pacific Rim National park Reserve sand dunes. Learn about the history of the dunes, their formation and the hardy inhabitants that call the dunes home. There are tracks from animals that live there, from rodents to bears to wolves. You’ll see plants that have adapted to fight for survival in some of the harshest conditions around, and see what Parks Canada and volunteers are doing for an ecosystem that is threatened by the invasion of aliens! You may even spot whale spouts from shore too!
Mudflat Interpretive Walk
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 2 pm – 3 pm
Meet at Darwin’s Café - Tofino Botanical Gardens, Tofino
Participation fee: $10 adult / $6 students / free kids 12 & under
(includes 3-day Tofino Botanical Gardens Pass)
The Tofino Mudflats are more than just mud; they’re one of the little-known jewels of Clayoquot Sound. Thousands of migrating shorebirds depend on these mudflats, and migrating grey whales use them too! Come down to the Tofino Botanical Gardens and join marine biologist Josie Osborne for a 60 minute exploration of the Tofino Mudflats. Great for families, kids and mud-enthusiasts of all ages. Sturdy shoes are recommended; gumboots are not necessary as we will walk next to the mud but not on the mud. Thanks to the Tofino Botanical Gardens Foundation.
Sea Creature Cookie Creators
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 2 pm - 4 pm
Common Loaf Bakeshop, Tofino
Kids accompanied by the young at heart; come down to the bakeshop and decorate your own sea creature cookies to take home and show off…or gobble up! Professional icing tips from bakeshop staff! Thanks again to Common Loaf!
Fantastic Flippers! Sea Lions of the Pacific Northwest
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 3 pm
with marine mammal biologist Wendy Szaniszlo
Green Point Campground Theatre, Pacific Rim National Park Reserve
Local marine mammal biologist Wendy Szaniszlo will be giving a talk on sea lions of Barkley and Clayoquot Sounds including an overview of sea lion research she’s been involved in during recent years. Curious about what those critters eat and how much? Come learn why local waters are so important for Steller sea lions.
Solitude: Seeking Wisdom in Extremes
Slideshow & Stories on a year alone in the Patagonia wilderness
Tuesday, March 9, 2010: 7 pm
with author Bob Kull
Wild Heather Books, Ucluelet
In 2001 the author began an intense vision quest in deep wilderness solitude on the remote Pacific coast of southern Chile. Through masterful storytelling, beautiful photographic images, humor, and fierce honesty, Bob shares his journey of wilderness survival and spiritual transformation. But this is more than a travelogue. Bob’s words and images not only portray his own experience; they evoke in others a shift of consciousness into the spacious stillness of deep wilderness solitude.
5th Annual WhaleFest Literary Spout-off
Tuesday, March 9, 7 pm doors, 7:30 pm - 9 pm
This year’s theme: Water
Darwin’s Café, Tofino Botanical Gardens, Tofino
The 5th annual WhaleFest Literary Spout-Off, featuring story, poem, rumination and rant as West Coast authors expound upon this year's theme: Water. Open mic as time allows. Tea, coffee and edible wonders available from the café - come early and enjoy the special menu after 5pm! Presented by the Clayoquot Writers Group and Darwin's Cafe.
