CELEBRATING SALMON

 

Set in the heritage village of Steveston, The Steveston Salmon Festival is a spirited, community affair that has transformed the roots of its prosperity into a week-long fun-filled event.

It is also one of the oldest festivals in the province, starting as a morale booster amidst the hardships of WWII and evolving into one of the region’s most talked-about Canada Day celebrations. But the festival is more than a party; it is an important fund-raiser for many of Steveston community initiatives from creating parks and community centres to baseball diamonds and tennis courts.

Since its early days, the festival has always celebrated salmon, a fish so rooted in Steveston’s livelihood that it deserves nothing less. After all, the Chinook, Chum, Coho, Sockeye and Pink once provided such bounty that Steveston boomed with 14 canneries packing 195,000 cases of salmon each year. Those were heady days and although the industry has since quieted, Steveston’s heritage is richer than ever: It is still the largest commercial fishing fleet in Canada; fishermen still crowd the docks in the summer time selling their catch; and the Salmon Festival is still a family-filled celebration, only bigger and brighter than was ever imagined.

Now, tennis tournaments, chowder contests and a Bullhead derby crowd the week preceding July 1st, a day that begins with a spectacular parade and ends with an elaborate fireworks display over Garry Point Park. And in between? A myriad of fun including a carnival that lures families and children with its rides, games and music, as well as the festival’s piece de resistance, the Salmon Bake. Imagine: fresh West Coast Salmon cooked over open wood fires - a spectacle in itself - so that the air is scented with spicy aromas while the charcoal permeates the fish with a mouth-watering smoky flavour. Mmmm Mmmm - it’s salmon at its very best which, of course, is what the Salmon Festival is all about.

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