Get your pirate hat on and head over to the 9th Annual Maritime Festival.
The three-day maritime-themed festival returns to the Britannia Heritage Shipyard from August 10 to 12.
Here's a sampling of what you can expect, but there are many more events, including entertainment, exhibits, and other surprises besides the boats and ships that people can tour. Everything is listed on the website.
Check the "What's On" tab at www. richmondmaritimefestival.ca/whats-on/ activities-and-attractions. A daily schedule will be available online closer to the event.
What to Expect:
On Friday night (7 to 9 p.m.), visit Zone 9 of this national historic site for live music, drumming and light refreshments. Come back on Saturday and Sunday (11 a.m. to 6 p.m.) for full-scale festival fun for all ages.
- Shipboarding (Zone 4, at dock)
A bounty of beautiful boats. Walk the 190-metre (600-foot) dock to visit wooden boats, including the tall ship Kaisei, where you will learn about her important research into the North Pacific gyre, also known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
- Fish Prints flags (Zone 3)
Using a real cast rubber fish, print onto fabric and contribute to a community wall of flags along the outside fence of the First Nations Bunkhouse.
This is a traditional Japanese art form known as Gyotaku ("gyo" means fish; "taku" means impression) mixed with contemporary textiles by local artists to create a community installation/display that will grow over the festival weekend.
- Monoprints (Zone 3)
Create your own unique monoprint using a portable printing press in this artist-led activity. An exhibition of her drawings, paintings and prints may provide inspiration!
- Giant Jigsaw Puzzles (Zone 14, Chinese Bunkhouse)
Solve over-size jigsaw puzzles to reconstruct retro Steveston canneries salmon can labels.
- Knit-In Tree Circle (Zone 3)
Join a local knitter crafting a colourful installation among the trees. Join in (learn to knit here if you don't already know how) and add your own piece to this wooly work.
- Mural box sculpture (Zone 3)
Join this freeform community mural, facilitated by a local Richmond painter. Great for all ages.
- Wish boats (Zone 6, Murakami Boatworks)
Using natural materials and wood veneers, a local artist will create an installation: a large community boat of wishes.
You are invited to make a small boat and write in your wishes and hopes for our rivers, oceans and Britannia Heritage Shipyards.
The little boats will then be sailed as they are added to the community installation.
- Shadow Puppet making and playing (Zone 14 and 16)
With a group of local artists located in the Chinese Bunkhouse, create a shadow puppet and then take it to the grassy knoll behind to explore a nautical playground made almost entirely from salvaged materials and scraps.
Swim your puppet throughout the waves and explore the whimsy of our watery world.
Peer through the scuttle of our boat theatre and play alongside our ship's crew of zany characters, who have all been at sea so long that they are part fish themselves.
