Celebrate Our Local Waterways
World Rivers Day celebrations return to the Burnaby Village Museum on Sunday, September 25, 2016 from 11:00am to 4:30pm with entertainment, demonstrations, displays, tours, plus lots of activities for children and adults.

Children’s entertainers include the vibrant and fun ventriloquist Kellie Haines with her menagerie of puppets. Her engaging style and antics are fun for all ages. The Nylon Zoo will be back with their brightly coloured costumes and stories in the ‘whale’. Their high energy parades are always a hit with kids and their parents. Watch for Squiddy, a friendly giant squid roaming the village singing his fishy songs. Be here early to start your day with a giggle. The Stories on Wheels first set is at 11:15am.

The Kerplunks, multi-award winning children entertainers, headline this year’s musical program. This talented foursome has a wide variety of musical styles that appeal to multi-generational audiences. Be prepared to participate! The all-day fun also includes face-painting at the Volunteer Burnaby tent, button-making with the Burnaby Public Library folks, and completing the World Rivers Day Passport activities.

Over 25 environmental exhibitors with hand-on activities, demonstrations, and educational sessions will be on-site. Evergreen BC has great information on caring for urban streams and watersheds. Again this year, they will be leading small groups to help remove invasive ivy growing on the banks of Deer Lake Brook. Interested volunteers should ‘bring your boots’. Join an Aboriginal Medicinal Plant tour lead by Coast Salish educators. There are a variety of plants that have grown naturally in the area for millennia. Learn how to identify these plants and how they have traditionally been used. The Britannia Creek Clean Up’s lego model of the creek and their water cleaning demonstrations are always popular. Check out the displays from Reptile Rescue, O.W.L. Orphaned Wildlife, and the Northwest Wildlife Preservation Society.

Be sure to pause on the bridge that crosses Deer Lake Brook to take in the beauty of this ecologically significant waterway that runs through the village site. For the past two years, Coho salmon have been returning to this brook.

Leave time to stroll through the Village and into Burnaby’s past. Explore the interurban tram, chat with the clerk at the General Store, watch the blacksmith demonstrations at the forge and hear the printer working the Platen Press. Grab a seat in the Central Park Theatre where a special rivers day themed documentary will be screened and a take spin on the vintage C.W. Parker Carousel. (Rides are only $2.60 each.)

World Rivers Day is celebrated by millions of people around the globe. The event was created by Burnaby resident and internationally renowned conservationist, Mark Angelo. Mark will be onsite and speaking during the ‘Welcoming Remarks’ at 1:00pm. In 1993, the City of Burnaby was the first municipality in BC to proclaim BC Rivers Day.
Special thanks to our event sponsors: CIBC Metrotown and the Pacific Salmon Foundation.
More event details are available on our website.