BC Youth Week, a provincial celebration of youth, gets cooking from May 1 to May 7, and CVRD Recreation in partnership with Vancouver Regional Island Library, Cowichan Valley Arts Council, and Cowichan Performing Arts Centre has a lot on the menu.
Kicking the festivities off on Thursday, May 1 is a youth barbecue at Quw’utsun Secondary School from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The good times keep going after school’s out for the day with the Let Them Cook: A Gen Z Variety Show at the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre from 4 to 6 p.m. This variety show encourages young performers of all varieties to showcase their talents from rappers to poets, musicians, dancers, and stand-up comics. In between acts Doom City Records will be providing music for the event. Youth who want to brave the stage and show off their hidden talents can sign up to perform and pre-register at reccowichan.ca, Use the code 95018 — drop-ins on the night of the event will also be welcome.
Youth are invited to get fit for free on Friday with the Youth Sports Drop-in on May 2 from 3:30 to 5 p.m. There will be plenty of sport and games for all inside the Cowichan Community Centre multipurpose hall.
Youth can wake up raring to participate in the Amazing Race which begins inside the Cowichan Library meeting room on May 3 at 1:30 p.m. The two-hour event in partnership with the library and the community centre will be an afternoon of solving clues and puzzles while completing challenges. There will be some snacks, while teams hunger to see which one will be the victor. Pre-registration is appreciated and drop-ins are welcome.
Drop the puck, and take your best shot with Youth Ball Hockey on May 4 inside the arena from 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.
Young creatives can chill with the first ever CVAC Art and Chill Cafe on May 5 inside the Koksilah Room from 3:15 to 5 p.m. They can come with their friends, and will be sure to want to make a stop at the “Art Supply Bar” to select from a variety of artistic materials of their choice from acrylic paint, paper, pencils, pencil crayons, magazines, and more. Preregistration is appreciated; those attending will need to use the code 93975, and drop-ins are also welcome.
It’s all fun and games to winds down the week with another Youth Sports Drop-in on May 6 from 3:30 to 5 p.m., and night of Board Games and Snacks inside the community centre on James Street from 3:30 to 5 p.m., on May 7.
This week of events is open to all youth ages 13 to 18 in the Cowichan Valley at no cost. For more details or to pre-register visit www.cvrd.ca/3403/youth-week or call 250-746-7529.
“The goal of Youth Week, for the CPAC, is to take spaces that are shared or often dominated by adults, like a performing arts venue, and give it over to young people to experience as their own, removing any financial barriers, in hopes that it sparks connection to these community spaces and with each other,” said CPAC theatre marketing specialist Janelle Escott. “It’s a pleasure to organize these events for youth and hand them the keys to the spaces they inherently belong to as much as adults and others do.”