If you’re a fan of juicy B.C. spot prawns, rugby and fiddles — there’s a festival coming up this month in Victoria that’s just for you.
The James Bay Athletic Association is hosting its first annual Spot Prawn and Fiddle Fest Sunday, June 12 in James Bay, with three unusual worlds colliding to create what will surely be an unforgettable experience.
The inaugural festival, produced by CCGF Event Services Inc. — the same company that put on this year’s Cook Street Village Block Party — runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. in MacDonald Park and will feature rugby exhibitions, kids play area, a fiddle contest, and a flatbed truck full of B.C. spot prawns called the “prawn spa.”
The event is free to attend and licensed, meaning attendees can visit the beer garden while snacking on spot prawns. Proceeds will benefit youth programs at the James Bay Rugby Club.
Event producer Glenn Barlow, who also coaches junior rugby, says the idea for the festival was hatched before the pandemic in a bid to promote rugby as a sport.
Organizers then came around to wanting to feature spot prawns and fiddle music, two unique offerings in Victoria’s current festival landscape.
“I kind of wanted to, if we were gonna do the event, tie it into a couple of other cultural things,” said Barlow. “Spot prawns are a delectable delight from the sea that are pretty short lived, we get seven to eight weeks of it…I think it captures one’s imagination and it’s three odd fellows joining together to have some synergy.”
Those coming for B.C. spot prawns, sponsored by James Bay’s Finest at Sea, can either enjoy a “peel and eat extravaganza” at the festival or buy some to take home and eat later.
For those picky eaters who love the taste of seafood but hate de-shelling it, there will even be volunteers from local rugby groups who will peel prawns by donation.
“The freshness, the juiciness…they’re spectacular,” said Barlow.
MacDonald Park will play host to four rugby sevens games, and there will also be a “skills and drills” area where Canada Rugby 7s players will coach youths on how to play.
As for the fiddles, organizers says there will be an “incredible range” of performances curated by Daniel Lapp, including the city’s “first fiddle contest in recent memory.”
For more information on the first annual Spot Prawn and Fiddle Fest or to volunteer, contact Barlow at [email protected]
Jeff Lawrence
