Steveston Salmon Festival

Wow this event lives up to its byline «Canada’s biggest little birthday party since 1945!»
The Steveston Salmon festival is one the the best organized Canada Day events in the Lower Mainland. It’s not one of those «free events» where you leave feeling, wow that was really dull and a waste of my time. There is a huge children’s area (based in the Steveston Park Playground) along with child-​centred entertainment, an excellent variety of non-​profit based food vendors (super yummy Filipino BBQ, the aforementioned salmon bake of course, and deliciousJapanese curry!), Arts and Crafts Fair, Japanese martial arts, horticulture and mini historical museum displays. A well, there is an entertainment stage that showcased local professional as well as amateur performances. A few for profit and non-​profit organizations were on hand to hand out samples or do some promotion. PLUS, there is historical Steveston and all it’s stores, and restaurants to visit. I liked how they closed off the main part of Moncton Street to let it be pedestrian only. To top it off there was also a free tall ship visit on the Steveston harbour. The City of Richmond is doing many things right, putting back into the community a free event that is engaging, playful and interesting. I was also impressed with the volunteers on hand who were stationed at all the garbage/​recycling spots to make sure things that could be recycled were and a large dedicated bike rack area to encourage cycling.
Excellent way to spend the day as a family or with friends: lots of variety for all age groups. If you’re into parades, they kick-​off the event with one. This is how the 2010 Olympics should have been: grassroots based and focused on the participants, not some vapid marketing ploy for corporations!