Summer has arrived – and it’s going to be a busy one on the Semiahmoo Peninsula, with many fun activities scheduled to appeal to residents of all ages.
Even though repairs to White Rock’s storm-ravaged pier won’t be complete until the end of August, there’s plenty to draw visitors down to Marine Drive during the summer months, as people start to get full value from the newly-upgraded Memorial Park, adjacent to the old station building housing White Rock Museum and Archives.
Although the White Rock Events Society was not able stage a smaller-scale revival of the Canadian Open Sandcastle competition this year, the event’s memory lives on in the museum’s current exhibit, Castles In Your Mind: The Sandcastle Phenomenon 1979-1987, which traces its history through archival photos, vintage footage and historic objects.
The show runs until Oct. 7; more information from whiterockmuseum.ca
This week marks the last in the current season of free outdoor movies at Memorial Park. Thursday, June 27 the movie – starting at sundown – will be the original 1977 Star Wars movie with Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher (now known as Episode IV – A New Hope. Arrive early – and bring chairs or cushions – for best seating.
Formally opening Memorial Park for the public, White Rock’s Canada Day by the Bay (Monday, July 1) will include live entertainment at the park’s main stage from noon; and a concluding fireworks display at 10:15 p.m.
Other activities (starting from 10 a.m.) include vendors along the West Beach promenade, and, at Bayview Park – the western-most limit of the promenade – kids zone face painting and balloon twisting with Korki the Clown, live entertainment on the community stage and the White Rock Firefighters Charity Association BBQ (11 a.m. to 3 p.m.).
Main stage entertainment will includes Group Asi Somos, Victoria Anthony, Derby Town, Alexis Lynn, Richard Tichelman, Groove Terminal, 4 Quarter Band, Daysormay and Lovecoast, with entertainment of the community stage, including Music with Marnie, XBa School of Dance, P.J. Talbot’s Rock Camp bands, plus students of the Golden Glory Fitness and Martial Arts and Duniya Dance academies.
The newly-renamed TD Concerts For The Pier series returns starting July 4 and runs to Aug. 15 with concerts alternating at Memorial Park, the Totem Park parking lot on East Beach and the Five Corners area at the foot of Johnston Road.
While the concerts are free, donations to the pier rebuilding fund will be gratefully accepted.
Headliners will include Canadian rock legends Prism and The Crash Test Dummies, blues master Jim Byrnes and tribute/nostalgia acts Kalimba (saluting Earth, Wind and Fire), The Fab Fourever, Eagle Eyes and Dr. Strangelove (for full schedule, visit whiterockbia.com).
For fans of athletic excellence, the classic Tour de White Rock event will return for two full days of exciting cycling races featuring national and international contenders, with routes covering most of the White Rock hillside.
And the City of White Rock and Semiahmoo First Nation will present the combined White Rock Sea Festival-Semiahmoo Days event Aug. 2-4, including a full schedule of entertainment on several stages, children and family-oriented activities, the famed SFN salmon BBQ, and, of course, the annual sea festival torchlight parade along Marine Drive.
Live theatre will be very much a part of the scene in August, with three exciting new productions running simultaneously.
Beach House Theatre (at its state-of-the-art tent stage at Blackie Spit, adjacent to Crescent Beach, Aug. 13-18) will present the Shakespeare classic Romeo and Juliet for evening performances at sunset, with daytime matinees of the family- friendly Love You Forever, and More Munsch.
Meanwhile, Peninsula Productions will present Thornton Wilder’s Pulitzer Prize-winning 1938 drama of small-town life, Our Town, at its newly-revamped ‘black box’ theatre space next to the arena at Centennial Park (14600 North Bluff Rd.) from Aug. 9 to 24.