EVENTS CALENDAR

Festivals and events

Embrace the eclectic energy of Nanaimo at our Bathtub Races, a thrilling tribute to our marine heritage, or get lost in the magic of our Lantern Festival, join the city in colour for our Pride Festival, Jazz fest and more. Every season brings something new and exciting, ensuring that no two visits to Nanaimo are ever the same.

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Calendar of Events

S Sun

M Mon

T Tue

W Wed

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F Fri

S Sat

1 event,

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Family Fun Day

0 events,

0 events,

0 events,

0 events,

3 events,

- Event Series

Jazz me a note

2 events,

Romp In The Swamp II

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Nanaimo Theatre Group Auditions

2 events,

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Nanaimo Curling Club Market

1 event,

Giant Fabric Sale

Event Series

1 event,

1 event,

2 events,

8th Annual Nanaimo International Jazz Festival

4 events,

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Making Waves: Indigenous Takeover

4 events,

IGNITE 2024 – Nature Nurture

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Mid-Autumn Festival

2 events,

0 events,

0 events,

0 events,

0 events,

1 event,

Vancouver island Exhibition

3 events,

- Event Series

Giant Fabric Sale

4 events,

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Community Mural with Artist Annabelle Bail

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World Rivers Day

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Community Mural: Celebrating Culture and Diversity Through Art

0 events,

0 events,

0 events,

1 event,

American Crown Circus

1 event,

1 event,

1 event,

1 event,

0 events,

0 events,

0 events,

2 events,

Toss The Boss

Toss The Boss

shnu’a’th, ᐊᑳᒥᕽ akâmihk, the other side

Event Series

0 events,

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Ongoing

8th Annual Nanaimo International Jazz Festival

Get ready, Nanaimo! The 2024 Nanaimo International Jazz Festival is back, and it's bigger, bolder, and jazzier than ever! From September 12th to 15th, downtown Nanaimo transforms into a jazz lover's paradise! Kick off the festival with our special event, "Jazz Me a Note," on Friday, September 6th at the Vancouver Island Sculpting Studio. It's a night of art, live jazz, and crazy creations! Then, join us on the Wesley Street Stage in the historic Old City Quarter for FREE performances that'll have your toes tapping and spirits soaring! And don't miss the Headliner Concert on September 14th at The Port Theatre, featuring The Canadian All Stars Sextet! With award-winning talents like Phil Dwyer and Christine Jensen, this is a show you won't want to miss! Plus, enjoy free and ticketed events of live jazz at local bars and restaurants, and join our New Orleans-style parade at Maffeo-Sutton Park on September 14th! Visit nanaimojazzfest.ca for all the details. The 8th annual Nanaimo International Jazz Festival—where the soul of jazz comes alive!

Free – $40

Nanaimo Wellness & Spirit Fair – September 14

Cavalotti Hall: 2060 E Wellington Rd, Nanaimo

SAVE the DATE PUBLIC INVITE Sat, September 14 (10am-5pm) SHARE on your social media platforms. INVITE https://www.facebook.com/share/dNwCFRwV99zDGUfX/?mibextid=9VsGKo VISIT WEBSITE https://wellnessspiritfair.com Please invite your friends and family to this FREE Admission, FREE Parking, FREE Lectures FOOD Truck on premises

Free

Mid-Autumn Festival

Maffeo Sutton Park 100 Comox Rd,, Nanaimo

Also known as the Mooncake Festival or Moon Festival, this delightful celebration will be filled with dancing, mooncakes, lanterns, and other traditional elements for all to enjoy. Enjoy a special night featuring kids' crafts, lantern decorating, lessons in art and dance, and tasty treats!

Free

IGNITE 2024 – Nature Nurture

Vancouver Island Conference Centre 101 Gordon Street, Nanaimo

Save the date for September 14, 2024, for IGNITE2024 – NatureNurture, as the Vancouver Island Conference Centre transforms into an artistic experience of charitable activity as we aim to raise $100,000 for vulnerable and at-risk youth in Nanaimo. Prepare for an evening of extraordinary performances featuring a diverse array of volunteer musicians, dancers, live art, models, drag artists, and more, all supported by local makeup artists and hairstylists. Together, we will showcase their talents in support of mental health. This year’s donor recipients for IGNITE are: Take a Hike Foundation and SD #68’s Learning Alternatives School Doors open at 6pm

$120

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All Day

Toss The Boss

Wildplay 35 Nanaimo River Rd, Nanaimo

Toss The Boss is a FUNdraising event that challenges teams to raise funds in support of the Nanaimo Brain Injury Society. We are offering you a one-of-a-kind opportunity to do something you have only ever dreamed about... TOSS YOUR BOSS OFF A BRIDGE! ... with a bungy cord attached, of course! Donation and Team Sign-up Landing Page: https://tosstheboss.ca/

shnu’a’th, ᐊᑳᒥᕽ akâmihk, the other side

Nanaimo Art Gallery 150 Commercial Street, Nanaimo

shnu’a’th, ᐊᑳᒥᕽ akâmihk, the other side is an exhibition of new photo-based artworks by Michelle Sound and Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun. The title of this exhibition, set in Hul’qumi’num, Cree, and English, suggests both geographical proximity (the other side of the river) and spiritual proximity (the afterlife). Works in the exhibition consider relations with land, family, and ancestors through interventions in the medium of photography. In our daily scroll through digital images, it is easy to forget that pictures can be tangible objects with weight and texture. When we encounter printed snapshots, we can hold them and ask: Who is this person? Where are they standing? How are we related? Who took this photo? then flip them to look for handwritten notes on the other side. Photographs of all types can spark stories, but photographs as objects can carry unique traces of the people or places they represent. Sound and White-Hill begin with this understanding, and employ sculpture and installation to bring new life to photographic images. Through cyanotypes printed on elk hide drums, torn prints that have been repaired and adorned, drawings of spirits layered on top of archival images, and spindle whorl patterns cut out from historical landscape photographs, the artists work to enact care for their families, and communities, here and on the other side. shnu’a’th, ᐊᑳᒥᕽ akâmihk, the other side is the third exhibition through which Nanaimo Art Gallery asks the question: How can we work together? Image: Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun, Squpastul (Gathering), Detail of digitally altered historical photograph, 2024

By Donation/Free for Members