EVENTS

LangleyAdvance

Welcome to the Neighbourhood, 2016 A19

Heres some ideas Foods + festivals = yummy

to keep up-to-date on local events all year long.
October

The annual Fort Langley

Cranberry Festival takes place
in October. The festival is free,
drawing upwards of ten thousand visitors to the village of Fort
Langley each year for the booths,
artists, contests, live music, and
canoe regatta and of course, for
the cranberries.
www.fortlangley.com/bia/cranberryfestival

B.C. as a Crown colony under

Queen Victorias rule, and to
the pioneers who built Langley
into the thriving community that
it remains today. Fort Langley
National Historic Site opens up the
old fort free for the day, and hosts
a variety of themed activities and
re-enactments. Langley pioneers
are special guests at a banquet that
is held in their honour.
www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/bc/langley/index.aspx

December

Apple Day is held at Derby

Reach Regional Park in October
each year to celebrate local heritage, pioneer farmers, and of
course, the apples themselves. In
the park are a number of protected heritage apple trees, originally
planted by the pioneers and still
bearing fruit.

November

Lest we forget. Langley is

home to a number of annual
Remembrance Day observations
on Nov. 11. Look for a listing of
events in the Langley Advance print
edition and at langleyadvance.com.
Nowhere else in B.C. marks Nov.
19 like Langley. Thats because
Langley honours its history as the
place where British Columbia came
into being in 1858. Douglas Day
activities pay tribute to Governor
James Douglas proclamation of

Magic of Christmas Parade

The Magic of Christmas comes to
Langley City on the first Saturday
of December (Dec. 3, 2016), bringing holiday lights, music, and
merriment alive in downtown
Langley City, starting at 6 p.m. A
family favourite since it began in
2003, the parade is sandwiched
between a series of family
Country Christmas activities
nearby.
www.downtownlangley.com.
Pioneer Christmas
Explore Langley Centennial
Museums decorated galleries as a family, while enjoying a
variety of pioneer and traditional
crafts. Along with a visit from jolly
old Saint Nicholas, there will be
activities throughout the museum,
such as gingerbread cookie decorating, a colouring contest, and
shopping in the general store. It
all happens the first Saturday of
December at Langley Centennial
Museum, 9135 King St., Fort
Langley.
Christmas Light Up Parade
Aldergrove welcomes the holiday
season with its annual Christmas
Light Up Parade in downtown
Aldergrove on the second Saturday
evening of December (Dec. 10).
This year the parade starts at 6
p.m. aldergrovefestivaldays.com.
Watch for more events and activities in the Langley Advance and at
langleyadvance.com.

Fort Langley
National Historic Park

There are tasty

days ahead in the
Langleys, and local
charities are the
beneficiaries.
TROY LANDREVILLE
tlandreville@langleyadvance.com

angley is home to a
cornucopia of events
and activities, and
once the weather
warms up, the community
transforms into one of B.C.s
hot spots for mouth-watering
food festivals.
To wit: the Canadian
Festival of Chili and
Barbecue, slated for June 18
and 19 at Cascades Casino.
The festival will celebrate
its 29th year, featuring the
largest bbq contest in Western
Canada, with more than
$15,000 in cash and prizes to
give away.
The event benefits the BC
Professional Fire Fighters
Burn Fund, and will be held
in memory of firefighter and
Canadian Festival founder,
Dave Veljacic.
In the past few years over
$35,000 has been raised for
this charity.
For more on the festival
and the numerous competitions being held over the two
days, visit www.ccbbqs.com.
In September, the 11th
annual BBQ Off the Bypass
competition is expected to
draw a crowd to the Well
Seasoned Gourmet Food Store
at 20353 64th Ave.
Last September, more than
5,000 meat lovers of all ages
helped organizers mark 10
years by enjoying free samples of delicious slow-cooked
meat, purchasing take home
treats from vendors, and
participating in free activities
including face-painting, festival games and live performances by local band, The New

Langley Advance files

Ryan Lomax was among the

many attending the Fraser
Valley Wine Festival Nov. 7 and
tried a chocolate wine.
Shackeltons.
Admission was by donation, with all proceeds collected ($6,809.95) supporting
Langley-based TinyKittens
Society, a 100 per cent volunteer-run animal rescue to promote the welfare of cats.
For more the visit bbqoffthebypass.com.
If you enjoy tipping and
tasting, then circle your calendar for July 8.
Thats when Tip n Taste, a
fundraising event operated by
the Rotary Club of Langley,
Rotary Club of Langley
Central and the Rotary Club
of Langley Sunrise is scheduled to take place.
Rotary Tip n Taste is an
event organized by, and
benefiting, the Langley Rotary
Clubs Charitable Foundation.
Tickets to last years event
included five drink and
five food samples and was
held at the Coast Hotel and
Convention Centre.
Proceeds benefited the
Langley Lodge seniors care
facility.
In the same vein, since
1989, the Rotary Club of
Langley Central has hosted the Fraser Valley Wine
Festival, a celebration of
wine and food which through
the years has raised more
than $1 million for local charities and projects.
Through partnerships and
community, the festival raises

funds to help and support the

youth in our community.
The 26th annual festival,
held this past November at
the Willowbrook Shopping
Centre, sold out, with guests
sampling more than 200
wines from around the world
with several local wineries
taking part. The wines were
complemented by food from a
dozen Langley restaurants.
Funds raised from the 2015
festival were earmarked to
create a customized sensory
room for autistic kids at
Options Community Services
Langley office, as well as
provide seed money for a program called Starfish, which
helps feed needy children in
town on weekends.
Meanwhile, a wheely
unique festival is coming to
Langley City this summer.
The Fraser Valley Food
Truck Festival is coming to
Douglas Park, featuring 20
food truck, an artisan market,
live music, family friendly
entertainment.
The free event is scheduled
for Saturday, June 4 from 11
a.m. to 5 p.m.
For more about this and
other festivals coming to the
Lower Mainland from April to
September, visit www.fraservalleyfoodtruck.com.

First ever festival

or those with an appetite

for theatre, the Langley
International Film
Festival wrapped up its inaugural year in Langley.
The Langley School District
Foundation in partnership
with Langley Film Nights Shot
in the Dark and the Toronto
Film Festival (TIFF) presented
LIFF the weekend of Feb. 19
to 21.
All screenings were held at
Chief Sepass Theatre inside
Langley Fine Arts School,
9096 Trattle St.
Proceeds from ticket sales
and concession went to support art and film programs in
the Langley School District.

www.pc.gc.ca/lhn-nhs/bc/langley/index.aspx
Check the Forts website for
admission pricing and other details
on these and other family-oriented
events held in and around the historic site.

July 1 Canada Day

February Historic Half

Aug. 2-3 Brigade Days

Marathon
Thousands of runners start
and finish their historic jaunt
in the old fort.
An accompanying Boot
Camp offers tug-of-war and
Sto:lo Strength Games.

May 18 Victoria Day

10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Explore the restored fort,
feed the farm animals,
and watch historic
weapons demonstrations in a co-celebration with the rest of
Fort Langley, including the 94th Annual
Fort Langley May Day
Parade and a community
fair.

Canadas birthday party includes

a citizenship ceremony, multicultural music, cake, and family
activities.
B.C. Day celebrations include
re-enactment of the arrival of
the fur brigades.

Nov. 19 Douglas Day

Re-enactments include
James Douglass reading
of the proclamation
that created British
Columbia as a Crown
colony in 1858. Fort
Langley remained
the nominal capital
of the new colony,
until the rain let up
and the roads cleared,
allowing a move to
New Westminster.

December Old
Fashioned Musical
Christmas

Troy Landreville/Langley Advance

Steak was on the menu this past June during the annual Canadian Festival of Chili and Barbecue at
Cascades Casino.