Ask anything on Vancouver Island
Fri, Oct 23 – Sun, Oct 25 · 150 events, each with a page of its own:
The weekend window
Everything on the island this weekend
Picked in the weekend digest
Shack of Screams - Tofino's Haunted House
Oct 23 – Oct 246:00 PM
Tofino$12+
Ready to be scared - while supporting a local cause? Enter the Shack of Screams….if you dare.
Tickets available
Picked in the weekend digest
Step Aboard the Historic Argonaut II in a Guided Tour
Fri, Oct 239:30 AM
Inner Harbour$10-$20
Discover 104 years of Pacific Northwest maritime history aboard Argonaut II, a historic 73-foot wooden vessel opening to the public for two days of…
Tickets available
Picked in the weekend digest
Half Dozen Hellraisers
Sat, Oct 241:00 PM
Nanaimo$20
21 Nicol St. Six of the best bands in Nanaimo have come together for one show. Come eat, drink, and have fun!
Tickets available
Picked in the weekend digest
POIESIS STRING QUARTET
Fri, Oct 237:30 PM
ArtSpring$10-$45
Winner of the 2025 Banff International String Quartet Competition. Derived from ancient Greek, the word Poiesis means ‘to make’; specifically, to…
Picked in the weekend digest
The Improvisers
Fri, Oct 237:30 PM
Cowichan Performing Arts Centre$39
Senior $33 | Student $18 Recommended 18+ THE IMPROVISERS, some of Canada’s best improvisational comedians, take on your suggestions and create…
Tickets available
Picked in the weekend digest
Improv Comedy Rumble
Sat, Oct 247:30 PM
Tidemark Theatre$49
The 5-Star Rated Comedy Department has been wowing audiences at sold-out shows across Vancouver and the Lower Mainland – now they’re bringing their…
Picked in the weekend digest
Forest Bathing in the Gardens
Sat, Oct 245:15 PM
Victoria Butterfly Gardens$40-$55
Step away from the everyday and experience the peaceful beauty of Victoria Butterfly Gardens after hours.
Tickets available
Picked in the weekend digest
Danny Bhoy - Dear World...
Oct 25 – Oct 267:00 PM
McPherson Playhouse$67.75
Outback Presents is proud to announce that internationally acclaimed Scottish comedian Danny Bhoy is returning to Canada with his brand-new show Dear…
Tickets available
Picked in the weekend digest
Annual Mid-Island Mushroom & Nature Festival
Sun, Oct 2511:00 AM
Qualicum Beach Civic Centre$5
Discover the fascinating world of fungi at the Annual Mid Island Mushroom and Nature Festival, hosted by the Arrowsmith Naturalists. Browse a huge display of.
Tickets available
Picked in the weekend digest
Arbutus Meadows Fall Barn Dance
Fri, Oct 237:00 PM
Arbutus Meadows Farm$20
Join us for a fun, family-friendly Barn Dance at Arbutus Meadows! Enjoy live music from the Nanaimo Fiddle Society and a caller leading the dances.
Tickets available
150 things to do from Friday through Sunday night. See them all on this weekend.
Before you pick a weekend
What the island actually is
Rainforest on one coast, a rain shadow on the other, and a mountain range deciding which you get.
Two coasts, and they are not the same trip
The ranges running the length of the island take the weather out of the Pacific before it reaches the far side. The outside coast gets the rainforest, the open beach and the winter swell people now travel here in January to stand and watch; the inside coast gets the rain shadow, the sheltered bays and the only water warm enough to want to be in. Pick the coast before you pick the town.
You do not need a boat to see a whale
Orca can turn up in any month, grey whales move up the outer coast on the spring migration, and humpbacks are most reliable from midsummer into autumn. A boat gets you closer and no honest operator will promise you an animal. A headland, binoculars and an hour of patience costs nothing at all.
It is First Nations territory, and not as a footnote
The island is the territory of many First Nations, each with its own language, protocols and history — and the best way to learn any of it is from the people whose story it is. The cultural centres, galleries and Nation-led tours in this directory are listed ahead of anyone else telling it for them.
Everything takes longer than the map says
Two-lane roads, one main highway, and a ferry or a float plane at either end of the journey — there is no bridge. Distances here run about half again as long as they look. Plan fewer stops than you want to and you will enjoy all of them.
Worth planning for
Further out
· 3:00 PM
Monday Board Game Night at the Bear Bierhaus
Tofino
· 6:00 PM
Craft Rave at Beehive Fibre Arts Centre
Beehive Fibre Arts Centre$20
This October Craft Rave returns, brought to you by Beehive Wool Shop! Expect a night of community, crafting, and music with high energy and excellent…
Tickets available
· 6:30 PM
NAMESAKE
The Vic Theatre
Vic Theatre. Reciprocity Trusts presents this screening of NAMESAKE, a Tla'amin Nation film about place, memory, and what it means to live together.
Free
· 7:00 PM
Reel Alternatives: Tuner
Cowichan Performing Arts Centre$17
The Cowichan Hospice Society presents Subscribe to all 5 shows for $70! Subscriptions can be purchased by phone or in-person only.
EXPER¡MENTAL: A Group show dedicated to pushing artistic limits.
Gage Gallery
Join 10 Gage artists as they push through their boundaries and explore the space(s) beyond their usual artistic practices.
The Belfry Theatre - Betrayal
Belfry TheatrePay what you can
Nobel Prize winner Harold Pinter is renowned for his distinctive dramatic style: economy of language, potent pauses, and an undercurrent of menace.
Tickets available
· 9:00 AM
Fleet Forward on Vancouver Island: Showcasing Zero Emission Fleet Vehicles
Vancouver Island University
Learn about medium and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles and speak with peers and experts about opportunities and challenges.
Free
Thursday, every week
The shortlist, before the weekend starts
One email on Thursday with what’s actually worth going to on Vancouver Island — picked from the same listings as this page. No account, no password.
We send one confirmation email, then one digest a week. Unsubscribe from any of them.
One from each town
Places worth the drive
Tours & Activities
Eagle Wing Whale & Wildlife Tours
Victoria
4.9(3,093)Rated 4.9 out of 5 from 3093 reviewsBrett Soberg and Don Stewart started this whale-watching operation in Victoria in 2005; it bills itself as Canada's first carbon-neutral whale-watching company. Half-day…
Tours & Activities
The Whale Centre
Tofino
4.9(1,591)Rated 4.9 out of 5 from 1591 reviewsMore than forty years of tours out of Campbell Street in Tofino: whales, coastal black bears, sea otters, and the run up Clayoquot Sound to Hot Springs Cove, where the…
Brewery & Winery
Rusted Rake Brewing
Parksville
4.7(1,036)Rated 4.7 out of 5 from 1036 reviewsA farm brewery on Northwest Bay Road in Nanoose Bay that grows its own brewing barley alongside beehives, berries, garlic, rhubarb, herbs and flowers, and runs a…
Brewery & Winery
Merridale Cidery & Distillery
Duncan
4.4(1,033)Rated 4.4 out of 5 from 1033 reviewsA working farm at Cobble Hill that presses cider and distils spirits on the same site — Cowichan Dry and Scrumpy ciders, and gin, vodka and rum under the Cowichan label.
Brewery & Winery
Sea Cider Farm & Ciderhouse
Sidney
4.6(956)Rated 4.6 out of 5 from 956 reviewsAn organic cider orchard on Mt St Michael Road in Saanichton, with a tasting room and kitchen looking over the trees to the Salish Sea. The sparkling ciders — Kings &…
Tours & Activities
Prince of Whales - Whale & Marine Wildlife Adventures Telegraph Cove
Port McNeill
4.8(782)Rated 4.8 out of 5 from 782 reviewsFamily-owned and operated since day one, Prince of Whales offers whale-watching tours in Vancouver, Victoria and Telegraph Cove. The Telegraph Cove packages are the…
Tours & Activities
Tourism Nanaimo Visitor Centre
Nanaimo
4.3(417)Rated 4.3 out of 5 from 417 reviewsTours & Activities
Coastal Wilderness Adventures Sportfishing
Campbell River
5.0(357)Rated 5 out of 5 from 357 reviewsSalmon charters out of Campbell River on 25- to 28-foot covered and heated boats with marine heads, and freshwater trips that use 13-foot self-bailing rafts on rivers…
Brewery & Winery
Coastal Black Estate Winery
Comox Valley
4.5(185)Rated 4.5 out of 5 from 185 reviewsCoastal Black's family farm produces fruit wines, meads, ciders and raw honey in Black Creek. Visit the tasting room or buy wines and ciders online or at the winery. The…
Tours & Activities
Lady Rose Marine Services
Port Alberni
4.8(182)Rated 4.8 out of 5 from 182 reviewsThe MV Frances Barkley is a 36-metre ship built in Norway in 1958, still working as a packet freighter out of Argyle Street in Port Alberni with room for 144 passengers…
Brewery & Winery
Sea Star Vineyards and Winery
Salt Spring Island
4.7(105)Rated 4.7 out of 5 from 105 reviewsSea Star’s 26-acre terraced vineyard stretches to the summit of Mount Menzies on Pender Island. The tasting room is open 12pm-5pm, Thursday–Sunday, with no appointment…
One from each town, and every one worth setting out for. The whole directory is on all places.
Where to point the car
Towns and communities
Each town page carries its own venues, its own events and the practical detail — where to eat, what is open, and what is on while you are there.
By the kind of day you want
