Where listings come from
Every listing starts in one of four places. We read 25 event calendars every week, from the City of Victoria to the Sooke Country Market.
-
Public calendars
City, district and township calendars from Sidney to Sooke, and the regional markets.
-
Ticket and visitor sites
Tourism Victoria, Showpass, Eventbrite and the Royal BC Museum.
-
Venue websites
Theatres, halls and galleries we check by hand, so the date and price come from the people running it.
-
Organisers
People running something local send it to us. Listing is always free.
List it free ›
How often we check
Every Monday morning we read every source again. New things go up, changed times and prices are updated, and anything cancelled or past comes down. Every pick is checked against the organiser's own page before it goes in the email. The strip at the top of every page says when we last checked.
Last check: Monday, October 26. 82 things on this week.
How picks are chosen
Everything that checks out goes on the board. Only a few become picks in the Thursday email. Every pick is confirmed with the organiser's own page first, and it needs at least two of these four things.
- 01 Soon, rare or last chance On in the next week or two, once a year, or the final weekend.
- 02 Good value Free, cheap, or worth every dollar. We say the price up front.
- 03 Feels like here Something you could only do in Greater Victoria, not a show that plays every city.
- 04 Easy to say yes to Sensible hours, a bus or parking nearby, and tickets you can still get.
We also spread the picks around the region, so it is not all downtown.
The one rule we never bend
Nobody can pay to be in the picks.
Not sponsors, not friends, not the people who send us cookies. Sponsors can buy a labelled spot next to the picks. They cannot buy a pick, a better place in the list, or a kinder write-up.
How sponsors are labelled
Paid things always wear one of two labels, in the same place every time. If you see one, someone paid. If you do not, nobody did.
On a single paid item: an event at the top of a day, a block in the email, or a small notice.
Your business
On a whole page or section that a local business supports, like a neighbourhood page.
Spotted something wrong?
We get things wrong sometimes. Times move and venues change their minds. Every listing has a "Something wrong?" link at the bottom. We read every report within two working days and fix what we can confirm. You can also write to [email protected].