The public is invited to take part in a drumming session that will begin at 11:30 a.m. on the legislature lawn, and to take part in a virtual O Canada singalong at 10.
Canada’s 158th birthday celebration on Tuesday will have a rhythmic touch, with the return of the cross-country Canada Day Drumming event to the legislature lawn.
The public is invited to take part in the drumming session that will begin at 11:30 a.m. and go on for six minutes. It will be preceded by the group singing the national anthem.
Free rattle drums and miniature Canada flags will be handed out by the Wong Sheng Kung Fu Club, which is in charge of the event.
Club member Justin Lee said the event has attracted over 1,000 people in recent years, and is a great way to bring people together “especially now with all the rhetoric going on” regarding Canada and United States relations.
Canada Day Drumming was first held in 2017 to mark Canada’s 150th year as a nation.
It aims to unite communities across the country in an outburst of simultaneous drumming activity, producing what organizers call “a shared national rhythm.”
The 2021 event, held virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic, included 148 Canadian cities, 26 international cities and 13 countries.
It earned the Guinness World Records title for “Most People Performing a Drum Roll Online Simultaneously.”
Victoria resident Katharine Casey has come up with a Canada Day event of her own that she hopes will also go coast-to-coast. She’s encouraging people all over the country to sing the national anthem at 10 a.m. Pacific time.
“The idea is wherever you’re standing at the allotted time, you sing the anthem,” she said.
Casey will be at her home in Fernwood singing with her neighbours. She hopes it will be happening everywhere — much like how people banged pots and pans during COVID to show support for front-line workers.
Casey said she has sent out invitations to politicians, been handing out posters and is spreading the word on social media — and now has about 2,500 followers across Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram.
“It’s just something I thought of,” she said. “When I go to a hockey game and everybody sings the anthem at the same time, it always gives me goose pimples.”
She said people are invited to post pictures or videos of their singing on theStrong and Free Facebook page.
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