The Brant Festival is held in Parksville and Qualicum Beach in early April each year to celebrate the migratory stopover of over 20,000 Brant geese. Each spring, immense flocks of Brant geese descend on the shores of Vancouver Island for a last major food stop before continuing their amazing journey north to the Alaskan breeding grounds. The communities of Parksville and Qualicum Beach celebrate this wonderful natural event with the three-day Brant Festival that includes nature talks, guided tours of marsh, forest and seaside habitats, photography workshops and a birding competition. The Filberg Festival, reputed to be the best Arts and Crafts festival in the Pacific Northwest, offers an amazing selection of the finest quality work, from pottery to hand made toys - all produced by BC resident artists. This outdoor show and sale is displayed in the gardens of Comox Valley's historic Filberg Lodge.
Entertainment is local too, provided in many musical styles.
Men and women of all ages and backgrounds come from around the world to race across the Georgia Strait in bathtubs, from Nanaimo to Vancouver. Competitors always take the 48-km run very seriously, but the day is filled with tons of fun and laughs for both contestants and spectators alike. The northward migration of an estimated 21,000 Gray whales along the west coast of Vancouver Island has heralded the coming of spring for thousands of years. Grays travel close to shore, pausing to feed in shallow waters, and provide excellent viewing opportunities from strategic shore locations. The greatest number of whales can be seen in the spring, although many whales remain in local waters to feed until the return migration to Mexico in October.