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Family festival fuels fun in Saanichton

Tim Collins
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Ella Clark from Nanaimo tries on a hat during the market at a recent Saanichton Family Festival. (Steven Heywood/News staff file)

Tim Collins

News staff

The Saanichton Village Association is once again partnering with the Peninsula Country Market to host a special morning of fun and activities for he whole family.

It’s called the Central Saanich Family Festival and it takes place at the Saanich Fairgrounds on Saturday, August 19 between 9 am and 1 pm in conjunction with the Country Market.

The country market runs every Saturday between June and October at the Saanich Fairgrounds where it regularly hosts over 50 vendors offering the best in locally grown produce, crafts and more. The market also has a regular offering of live music when local musicians bring their original, and not-so-original, songs to the stage for the enjoyment of market customers, and some children’s activities for the little ones.

But once a year the Village Association teams with the Market to kick it up a notch to a full family oriented festival.

Lori Sather, a member of the Village Association said that, while the market is always a fun destination for families, the association chooses one Saturday morning to pull out all stops and create a festival atmosphere for the family.

The entertainment will feature the music of Jennifer Taylor and Ken Hall whose beautifully arranged folk harmonies are sure to delight.

For the kids there are a host of activities including face painting, an obstacle course, and inflatable castle and life sized hamster balls for a morning of laughs and tumbles.

And, should browsing the vendors, listening to the entertainment and watching the little ones play on the kids activities work up an appetite, the Sidney Lions Club will host their iconic pancake breakfast for the crowds. The 4H club food-cart will also be on site with sizzling hamburgers, hot dogs and more to feed hungry festival goers.

“This is really the best kind of local activity. It’s a chance to experience the wealth of talent and products produced right here at home,” said Sather.

It’s also a great chance to meet your neighbours in what has become a family tradition here on the peninsula. We’ve been running this family festival for seven years now and every year it just keeps getting better. I can’t wait to try out the hamster ball myself. They look like a lot of fun.”