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Vancouver Island ToursBritish Columbia, Canada

Public holiday

Victoria Day long weekend and parade

The May long weekend, the Monday before 25 May, is the unofficial start of the island's summer: campgrounds open, ferries fill, and Victoria holds its annual Victoria Day parade through downtown on the Monday morning.

Annual, dates set by the organiser
When
Sat 22 – Mon 24 May 2027
Exact times set locally; all-day listing
Recurrence
The Monday before 25 May each year
Where
Downtown Victoria (parade along Douglas Street) and island-wide
Victoria
Tickets
Free to attend
Organiser
Government of British Columbia (statutory holiday); parade organised by the Greater Victoria Festival Society
Last verified
6 Sept 2026
Official source

The parade has run for well over a century and brings marching bands, many of them from Washington State, down Douglas Street. The Greater Victoria Festival Society publishes the route and time each spring on its own site.

It is also the weekend of the Swiftsure International Yacht Race, which starts off Clover Point on the Saturday; the Inner Harbour fills with boats the night before.

Around the same trip

Tours that pair well with this event

VictoriaWhales

More on the calendar

10Oct
Public holidayAnnual, dates set by the organiser

Thanksgiving long weekend

Canada's Thanksgiving falls on the second Monday of October. On the island it coincides with the salmon runs, the last grizzly departures from Campbell River and the first autumn storms on the Pacific coast; ferries and accommodation fill for the three days.

Sat 10 – Mon 12 Oct 2026
Island-wide
Free to attend

Checked 6 Sept 2026

15Oct
Wildlife & natureAnnual, dates set by the organiser

Salmon run at Goldstream Provincial Park

Every autumn tens of thousands of chum salmon return to the Goldstream River, twenty minutes from downtown Victoria, to spawn and die in the shallows beside the trail. Bald eagles follow. It is one of the most accessible salmon runs on the coast and free to watch.

Thu 15 Oct – Thu 10 Dec 2026
Victoria
Free to attend

Checked 6 Sept 2026

Full calendar