Hyack Square, Anvil Centre part of inaugural New West event Outside/In

You don't need to leave New West to explore all the great things Canada has to offer.

The City of New Westminster will be putting on an event series that looks to celebrate a variety of regions from coast to coast to coast: Outside/In is a cross-Canada celebration that will take place over six dates. There is a theme for each one, and locals can celebrate indoors at the Anvil Theatre, or outside at Hyack Square.

"It all started from a grant opportunity through the government of Canada. They were looking for events that celebrated Canada, while also coming out of the pandemic, different ways to bring the community together through celebration," explains Lisa Kemp, who is the special events program coordinator for the city.

The grant Kemp is referring to is from the Celebration and Commemoration Program, under the Department of Canadian Heritage. Kemp says the goal is to showcase the arts and culture of various parts of the country.

"This Saturday for instance is British Columbia, and then other weeks have a different theme. We tried our best to tie in the different experiences to those themes," says Kemp.

In the case of the British Columbia event, which is happening outdoors—rain or shine—Kemp says there will be activities, vendors, and local music, with a number of them coming from the area.

"The community organizations have been vital in programming the outdoor section, so New West Craft through the Arts Council is supplying vendors, the farmers market is supporting vendors, and then the Arts Council is also supplying music. The [Downtown New West] Business Improvement Association is focusing on a contest that will help promote local vendors, as well."

The Buffalo Heart Medicine Healing Society is also serving as a partner for this first round of outdoor events; Gardens4Kids will be a part of the Prairies series on Jan. 28.

Should the inaugural events be successful, Kemp says they're hoping to take the event in the future to other parts of the city, like Sapperton or Queensborough. This time, she says they're looking to amplify how awesome Hyack Square can be.

"In the grant application, we spoke to the challenges with the construction projects, and all the impacts on local businesses, the pandemic, and all the challenges of the downtown area. ... how can we bring that positive energy to Hyack Square? Hyack Square can be a challenging area sometimes, so the question was how to activate that space positively."

The outdoors event is free for everyone to attend, however the indoors events are ticketed to make sure there is enough space for everyone. To learn more about the various festivities, be sure to visit the city's Outside/In webpage.