Strawberry Festival

Saanich Strawberry Festival

Join Saanich in celebrating the 58th annual Strawberry Festival. This family-friendly, fun, free event features live music, kids' activities, bouncy castles, information booths, arts and craft stations and, of course, the traditional servings of strawberries and ice cream. Scroll down to see information on vendors, music, activities and more!

When: Sunday, July 6, 2025, 11 am - 4 pm
Where: Beaver Lake Regional Park, 728 Beaver Lake Rd, main parking lot.

Strawberries and ice cream sales
The venue / How to Get Here
Activities for All Ages
Live Music
Vendors
Accessibility
Contact

Strawberries and Ice Cream - the best part of the event!

The traditional serving of strawberries and ice cream is back again! Strawberry Festival would not be complete without it. 

Sales and service: 2 - 4 pm, or until sold out
Price: $2/serving  

Did You Know:

  • We no longer do pre-sales at 11 am. Sales and service both happen promptly at 2 pm. You'll line up only once! The line moves quickly with four cashiers and multiple options to pay. 
  • We now accept payment in cash and card (debit or credit).
  • Our strawberries are from Mitchells Farm Market! They are grown, picked, sliced and processed into the delicious strawberry ice cream topping entirely at Mitchells Farm.
  • We offer a choice of Island Farms vanilla ice cream or Cold Comfort Plain Jane vegan nice cream. 
  • New this year, we're using reusable stainless steel metal bowls, diverting approximately 4,000 paper cups from the compost. Please return your bowls along with the red trays to the strawberry tent, to be washed, sanitized, and reused next year. 

The Venue / How to Get Here

Strawberry Festival is split between two connected sites - Beaver Beach, which acts as the mainstage area, and the Filter Beds site, which acts as the kids zone.  They are connected by a gravel walking path that runs along the lake.  At the mainstage, you'll find live music, sales of strawberries and ice cream, vendors, information booths, food trucks and tents,  zucchini racing, washrooms, bubble activities and more. At the kids zone, you'll find a kids stage, frozen treats and other food vendors, free art activities, ponies and pipsqueaks, bouncy castles and inflatables, a temporary tattoo station and more. 

  • Beaver Beach/Mainstage site plan - Coming soon!
  • Filter beds/kids zone site plan - Coming soon!

There are lots of ways to get here!

The event venue has three parking lots, a shuttle stop and a free bike valet by The Locker. 

Vehicle Parking:
Parking will be very tight, so please be patient if you choose to drive to the event. The main parking lot is at Beaver Beach, accessible via Elk Lake Drive near Haliburton. The secondary lot is at the Filter Beds location, accessible via the main parking lot or Beaver Lake Road off of West Saanich Road. We will also have an overflow lot in the field off of Elk Lake Drive. 

Bike Valet:
No need to carry a bike lock! The Locker will be on-site with a free bike valet. Cruise up on your E bikes, cargo bikes, tricycles, daily commuters, pennyfarthings or unicycles to get the best parking at the event. The Locker will be stationed at the mainstage venue, and will be open from 11 am - 4 pm. 

Shuttle:
Shuttles will be running continuously throughout the day from Saanich Commonwealth Place to the overflow lot to the main parking lot.  Shuttles are free and can carry up to 24 passengers at a time. 

The first shuttle trip will depart from the Commonwealth Pool at 11 am, and the final shuttle trip will depart from Beaver Beach at 4.45 pm. 

  • Shuttle stop 1 - Commonwealth Pool main entrance (at the circular pick up/drop off zone)
  • Shuttle stop 2 - At the entrance to the overflow parking lot
  • Shuttle stop 3 - at the main Beaver Beach parking lot.

Map: 2025 SF Shuttle Map.pdf [PDF - 385 KB]

BC Transit
The closest bus stops to the event venue are stop numbers 101540 (southbound) and 101538 (northbound). Buses servicing these stops include routes 35, 72 and 75. Once you disembark from the bus, simply walk down the drive into the park, or take the shuttle from Stop 2 at the overflow lot. 

You can additionally take the bus to the Royal Oak Exchange, walk to Commonwealth Pool, and take the shuttle from there. 

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Fun Activities for All Ages

There's lots to do at Strawberry Fest, no matter how young or old you are. 

FREE activities include:

  • Button-making art activity
  • Bag decorating art activity
  • Rock painting art activity
  • Inflatables and bouncy castles from Inflatafun VI
  • Temporary tattoo station
  • Giant bubble show by That Bubble Guy
  • Saanich Fire engine display
  • Saanich Police vintage police car display
  • And more!

In addition to the amazing free activities, Ponies and Pipsqueaks will be on site with a Strawberry Unicorn Photobooth! For $10, you can get a photo with a unicorn. Cash, credit and debit are all accepted.

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Live Music

Check out this year's amazing lineup of local live music and entertainment!

Mainstage: 

11.15 am - 12.00 pm: The Soul Shakers  

High energy, feel-good performances highlight a Soul Shakers show. Classic Soul, Motown, R&B, blues, pop and Soul Shakers original music are featured by this band of highly skilled, entertaining professional musicians expressing their love of music. Just a great band! Don’t miss this opportunity to catch a Soul Shakers show. Definitely “MUSIC FOR THE SOUL”!

 

 12.30 - 1.15 pm: Slim Sandy's Atomic Cocktails 

Slim Sandy’s Atomic Cocktails play swing jazz and rhythm and blues from the 30’s to the 50’s. Slim sings, plays guitar and harmonica, joined by Willa Mae on vocals, and “Big Daddy Bo” on bass, and Bryn Bad on trumpet.  Slim Sandy has been playing music for over 40 years with acts such as Ray Condo and the Crazy Rhythm Daddies.  In 2012, he co-created the Slim Sandy band with Willa Mae in Victoria!  They have played festivals in Canada, the USA, France, Spain, Germany, Belgium, and the Netherlands.  

 

 1.45 - 2.30 pm: Blasé Blasé 

Blasé Blasé, “the band so nice they named it twice”, is an eclectic group from Victoria, BC Canada featuring Daniela Jackson (vocals), Tejas Collison (bass), Gavin Rose (drums), Guillaume Richards (guitar, arrangement), Jesus Estevez (vocals, keys, production), Isaac Kwiatkowski (Saxophone), and, the unofficial 7th member, Shane Blaq (vocals). Blending elements of live jazz, rock, funk and conscious hip-hop, they have a sound as unique and diverse as its members. Their sound ranges from high-energy funk/disco songs that get the dance floor moving to slower, soulful, jazzy tunes, reminiscent of The Roots, Anderson Paak, Erykah Badu, or even the late Mac Miller. After the pandemic, Blasé Blasé hit the ground running with a string of sold-out, high-energy live performances and has been making a name for themselves ever since. 2023 was a formative year for the group. They completed the Artist Development program through Factor, had several highly acclaimed releases, and performed at shows/festivals all across the West Coast of Canada. Riding that momentum, there seems to be no stopping this talented crew of misfits; with their unique genre-bending sound and phenomenal live performances, they are a veritable tour de force.

 

3.00 - 3.45 pm: Commodores Big Band 

The band’s repertoire consists of over 1000 arrangements that include swing, Latin, rock and Dixieland. The band’s vocalist, Kim Greenwood, is accompanied by a standard big band configuration of 5 saxophones, 4 trumpets, 4 trombones and rhythm section. The Commodores Big Band members embrace a spirit of enthusiasm, drive and professionalism that has determined the band’s success, longevity and popularity with fans of all ages.

Kids Zone

11.15 am - 12.00 pm: Pico's Puppet Palace 

Pico’s Puppet Palace aims to have their shows presented to diverse audiences globally, and through puppetry, live music, and storytelling, connect audiences across generations. Each show is an episode of Pico’s adventures and introduces ecological and environmental issues, innovations and ideas.

 12.30 - 1.15 pm: Jambiguous

Jambiguous, a Victoria band composed of students from a breadth of high schools and music programs, strives to bring music of all genres closer together. Specializing in funk, soul, and jazz, Jambiguous takes a creative approach to their covers, adding unique rhythmic textures and colour to their music. With Siren Smith on vocals, Emmett Tupper maintaining both piano and guitar chords, Reagan Morley laying down the bassline, and Em Beilstein holding down the groove, the music could not be in better hands. The music of Jambiguous begs to be listened to. 

 1.45 - 2.30 pm: Madame B Musique - Pirate Party! 

Ahoy me hearties! Join Madame B as she meets a fun group of BILINGUAL PIRATES that will have the whole family dancing and singing along! This all-star band of buccaneers features MEGAN THOM on trombone, DAVE FLELLO on cornet, DAVID BOOTH on bass, KIMARA BRILLING on ukulele, and CHRIS SIVAK on drums. Come walk the plank and enjoy a show full of surprises, dance moves, monsters and sunshine. Arrrr you ready to rock and roll mateys?! 

3.00 - 3.45 pm: Peter Puffin's Whale Tales

Peter Puffin’s Whale Tales is a JUNO Award winning, guitar slinger / singer, with thousands of thrilling concerts delivered on four continents! He has shared stages with David Suzuki and Jane Goodall, Fred Penner and countless others across Canada & beyond. Peter also works in two duos, including The EnviroSongsters with Remy Rodden! He is an internationally acclaimed family entertainer who uses music, storytelling, audience volunteers on stage, and taps kid heart energy, to celebrate caring for the environment and each other, community-building, and global citizenship!

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Vendors

We are excited to announce that the following vendors will be at the 2025 Saanich Strawberry Festival! Bring a bag and an empty stomach to full up with purchases and great food. 
Please note there will be no ATM on site. Saanich will be hosting a bag decorating activity, so if you forget a reusable shopping bag we will have paper bags to take for free.

Food Vendors (hot, ready to eat) 

Food Vendors (treats and snacks)

Information Booths

Activity Booths

Sales Booths

The Call to Vendors is now CLOSED. If you are interested in being on the waitlist or receiving an email for the 2026 Saanich Strawberry Festival, please email events@saanich.ca. 

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Accessibility

Getting here: Please see the notes in the venue / how to get here section for information on parking, shuttles, buses, and bikes.

Surface conditions and grade: Saanich Strawberry Festival is at Beaver Lake Regional Park. There are gravel paths throughout the park and the rest of the surface is grass. There is a gravel walking path leading from the mainstage area to the kids zone. This path is approximately 400m between sites. 

Washrooms: Both the mainstage and the kids zone sites will have accessible toilets (a mixture of flush and portable toilets).

Noise: This event will have live, amplified music throughout the day at both sites. In between sets, there will be announcements from stage and recorded music. 

Food and beverage: Food offerings will include vegan and vegetarian foods, with gluten free options available as well. As all food will be provided by local food vendors, Saanich cannot verify or clarify specific allergen or dietary questions. Please confirm with the food vendors directly to verify.

Weather: This event is fully outdoors and will run rain or shine.

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Contact

Questions? Please email events@saanich.ca or call Sarah at 250.475.5558.
We can't wait to see you there!