Sunday, August 13, was Sandcastle Day at Smelt Bay on Cortes Island. There were about 20 entries, made by sculptors whose ages ranged anywhere from 18 months to 81 years. Some of participants live on Cortes, but others are visitors from as far away as Campbell River, Victoria, Vancouver, Langley, Quebec City or even England.
Continue reading Sandcastle Day on Cortes Island
The Southern Cortes Community Association (SCCA) estimate 500 people may have turned out for Cortes Day on Saturday, July 15, 2023.
Mike Manson, whose great uncle(1) and grandfather(2) were among the island’s first known European settler, remembers there were once two festivals.
Continue reading Cortes Day: Then and now
About 350 people* came to Squirrel Cove for Seafest on Saturday May 20. There was a flow-through crowd and not much more than a third of this number appeared to be at the six-hour long festival at any given time.
“I think Seafest is great, it brings a lot of cultures together and lots of different seafoods,” said Sharon Francis, a Squirrel Cove resident and member of the Klahoose First Nation.
Curt Cunningham, owner manager of the Squirrel Cove General Store which hosted this year’s festival, added, “They’ve done an incredible job. We’re going to have a good day, a good summer, and this is gonna kick it off!”
Continue reading Seafest 2023 At Squirrel Cove
