Updates from Culture & Events City of Nanaimo // MARCH 2025 | Spring & Summer Activity Guide | Registration for Spring and Summer Programs begins on Wednesday, March 12 at 6 am (swimming registration is already underway). There are three ways to register: ✅ ONLINE ✅ IN PERSON at Beban, Bowen, Oliver Woods, Nanaimo Aquatic Centre and Nanaimo Ice Centre ✅ BY PHONE by calling 250-756-5200 View your online Activity Guide today and start planning your spring and summer seasons: Activity Guide | Poetry in the Harbour with Neil Surkan and Special Guests
Wednesdays, March 12 and June 11 at 7pm
FREE | Drop-in
Vancouver Island Conference Centre Piper's Lagoon Lobby
Join Poet Laureate, Neil Surkan and special guests for an evening of poetry! Read, Reflect, and Write with Neil Surkan
Wednesdays, April 2, June 4 at 7pm
FREE | Drop-in
Harbourfront Library Meeting Room
An opportunity to develop skills as a poet and collaborate and learn from others. Learn more about our Poet Laureate program: Poet Laureate Program | | 2025 Culture Awards
FREE tickets now available! | Vibe Dance Performance, 2024 Culture Awards | 2025 Culture Awards
Wednesday, April 16 | 7pm | The Port Theatre
FREE Event | E-Ticket option now available
The City of Nanaimo is inviting you to celebrate our arts and culture community at the 2025 Culture Awards, happening at the Port Theatre on Wednesday, April 16th beginning at 7:00PM. Four extraordinarily talented Culture Award recipients will be honoured at the event. Tickets are FREE and the evening will showcase performances by Nanaimo’s very own local talent. Tickets can now be booked through the Port Theatre – don’t hesitate to snap yours up! The 2025 Culture Award Recipients: EXCELLENCE IN CULTURE 2025: Joël A. Prévost HONOUR IN CULTURE 2025: Doug Roszmann HONOUR IN CULTURE 2025: Tracey Tsatassaya White HONOUR IN HERITAGE 2025: Sophia Maher Get Your Tickets | Our popular Concerts in the Park begin this May! Join us in the city's beautiful parks for these free concerts. For more information, including updates on upcoming performers: Concerts in the Park | THANK YOU! Thank you to all who joined us for Luminous Paths: Nanaimo's 150 & Beyond! At the heart of this festival were the light-based art installations that illuminated Maffeo Sutton Park created by 5 talented artists: bailey macabre, David Martinello, Jenny Smith, Mauro Dalla Costa, and Monkey C Interactive. Thank you to these artists for giving our community an opportunity to experience these incredible artworks! And thank you to the Nanaimo Chinese Cultural Society and 7 Potatoes for the beautiful lantern display. Whether you visited the park, interacted with the artwork, performed at one of the events, provided delicious food for our festival-goers, were a Downtown business that stayed open late and/or provided an illuminated display, helped promote the arts and cultural community, or in some other way contributed, we are so grateful for your participation and we hope you enjoyed Luminous Paths as much as we did! | Photos by Sean Fenzl Photography | @fenzlstudio | We would also like to extend a thank you to our sponsors and supporters who made this festival possible. Luminous Paths was partly funded by the Government of Canada through a Canadian Heritage grant for which we are hugely thankful. Without our sponsors and supporters this festival wouldn’t have been the success it was. This includes: ABCB First Aid, Best Western Dorchester, Tourism Nanaimo, Downtown Nanaimo Business Association, Old City Quarter, Port of Nanaimo, and the HMCS Nanaimo. | | 2025 Street Banners
Designed by Aiym Samay-Sampson | The theme for the 2025 Street Banner Design Program is ‘Metamorphosis & Change’. Local artist, Aiym Samay-Sampson’s design reflects the idea of change with the image of a butterfly in an abstract, fragmented form. Vibrant shapes come together, demonstrating how change can feel both familiar and unfamiliar; seamless yet sudden. The butterfly symbolizes gradual, harmonious change while the fragmented geometric shapes, broken apart but reassembling in new form, represent the unpredictable and challenging side of transformation. Samay-Sampson’s design highlights the idea that transformation can be both constructive and deconstructive, offering new perspectives and sometimes unexpected results. The mix of visual elements mirrors the complexity of change in everyday life, encouraging viewers to reflect on their own experiences and to consider how we all might embrace transformation in our own lives. | | This spring, these vibrant street banners will be hung and on display in Nanaimo’s downtown area, including in the Arts District downtown, and along Bowen Road, Third Street and other major routes. More information on the Street Banner Design Program can be found on the city's website: Street Banners Program | The ReWilders
Temporary Public Art by Robert Turriff | Located in Colliery Dam Park, tucked into the greenery where invasive ivy grows, the two dynamic sculptures symbolize 'rewilding,' the practice of restoring natural habitats. Depicted in the act of removing invasive species and planting native plants, they represent the importance of land stewardship. The ReWilders are imaginative, sci-fi inspired creatures designed by youth from the Nanaimo community in a collaborative public engagement workshop led by artist Robert Turriff as part of the City’s Temporary Public Art Program. Additional information on the project can be found on the City’s website. | New Projects from the Urban Design Roster The Urban Design Roster offers artists and designers an opportunity to be involved in civic urban design and small-scale artwork related to city infrastructure. | Bowen Park Ground
Anaïs Lera
For this mural, found in the lower Bowen Complex (500 Bowen Rd), the artist focused on a place in Bowen park, rich in life, where animal species and plants interact and transform, at the junction where water meets the forest ground. | These three utility cabinet wraps are located on Seventh St. near Railway Ave. The design is by Roz Maclean. | This utility cabinet wrap is located at Boban Dr and Mostar Rd. The design is by Pellvetica. | Contact Us
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territory of the Snuneymuxw people | Follow us on Instagram @prc_nanaimo! Stay updated on the work of the Culture & Events team, and see how we’re building community through arts & culture by amplifying & championing local creativity #LoveArtsNanaimo Follow us! | | | | |
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