Sustainability Fair 2026 | Vic West Community Centre | Sept 19th, 10AM-3PM
Vic West’s new Sustainability Fair is a free, all-ages event that promotes community involvement in sustainable practices, environmental education, and ethical trade.
The Fair will have a free clothing swap, a repair cafe, activities for children, booths from local non-profits, and a market with food trucks. We’re excited to see you there!
Clothing Swap
The Community Centre Gym
Drop Off 8:00 – 1:00 | Swap Hours 10:00 – 2:00
Have good condition clothing, shoes, or accessories you don’t wear anymore? Bring them to our Free Clothing Swap to give them a new lease on life, and to help support a circular economy! Clothing swaps are a great way to refresh your wardrobe, save money and reduce waste.
We’ll be accepting women’s, men’s and children’s athletic, everyday and work clothes with a preference for fall/winter appropriate items. Please ensure that all items are clean and do not have rips, pills, stains or tears. Only clothing, shoes and accessories in a good state will be accepted.
We ask that you limit donations to one bag per person.
Drop off starts at 8am, and volunteers will sort donated clothing throughout the day with last drop-off at 1pm. Any items remaining at 2pm will be donated after the event. All ages, shapes, sizes and genders are welcome to participate.
Shopping begins at 10am and you don’t need to drop off in order to shop, so there’s no reason not to stop by and check it out!
Repair Cafe
The Community Centre Gym
Repair Cafe
10:00 – 2:00
Thanks to the incredible Fairfield Gonzales Repair Cafe volunteer team, we’re thrilled to invite you to bring in your household items in need of fixing.
A Repair Cafe is an initiative where skilled volunteers repair everyday items and educate the public on how these fixes are done. If you are committed to diverting waste from the landfill and extending the life of your household items, we invite you to stop by!
We will be accepting small household appliances for repair (toaster, lamp, clock, vacuum) and more types of repair may be added depending on volunteer mender availability, so check back for updates! We ask that all items are clean and that each attendee submit one item for repair at a time, and allow all other waiting repairs to be completed before submitting another.
Want to learn more about the Fairfield Gonzales Monthly Repair Cafe, what they can repair, or how to get involved? Click here!
MUSIC Society & Open Studios
10:00 – 3:00
Meet MUSIC Society, a local charity whose mission is to get instruments into the hands of school aged children and Open Studio, an all-ages creative arts hub in downtown Victoria.
MUSIC Society will be accepting donations of instruments, especially school band instruments, cash, and accessories like guitar straps, cables, amps, strings and more. MUSIC Society accepts any easy-to-carry instruments, like guitars, trumpets, ukuleles, saxophones, violins, electric keyboards and more!
Open Studios will be offering support with basic guitar maintenance, like fingerboard cleaning, re-stringing, intonation checking and more.
Please bring your own strings for re-stringing.
Market
The Community Centre & Banfield Park
From 10:00 – 3:00
Join over a dozen local businesses and non-profits in a market centering vendors with sustainable, second hand, upcycled and fair trade products.
Inside
Mayflower Textiles
Lilliana Paz Art
Gather & Stitch
Tors Thrifts
Wildflower Finds
Outside
Ette Designs
Beenoo Lab
Wilde Blu Creations
Summit to Seas Stamped Tees
Thread & Pepper
B-Bot Clothing
Wild Marigold Studio
Non-Profits & Friends
MUSIC Society + Open Studios
VWCA Food Security & Parks Committees
FED Urban Garden
Parents for Climate
Gorge Waterway Initiative / CRD Parks & Environment Team
Gorge Waterway Action Society / Nature House
Children’s Activities
The Community Centre Balcony & Banfield Park
Environmental awareness is for everyone! We are excited to be offering two Free, Drop-in activities for kids of all ages.
Soil Safari – Compost Science Workshop
free 20-minute workshops at 10:30, 11:00, & 12:30
Kids age 5-12+ are invited to join a 20 minute, hands-on Science of Compost workshop! Educator Kay from Build-a-Brain will be taking you on Soil Safari and introducing you to all the creepy crawlies that help keep the soil healthy including leggy millipedes, hungry beetles and so much more. Without them we couldn’t grow food, enjoy colourful flowers, or sit in the shade of a tree. We invite junior naturalists and their caregivers to get up close and personal with live creatures as we understand the importance of natures recyclers. Be prepared to sit in the grass and get your hands a little dirty!
Felted Flower & Woven Naturescape – Free Crafts
free crafts from 10:00 – 3:00
Friends of all ages are invited to learn about crafting from sustainable materials. Parents4Climate will be hosting a Felted Flowers crafts that uses only natural wool, water and a little soap to make a gorgeous flower! Caregivers are asked to stay with children under 14.
Volunteer With Us!
Help us make this new event a day to remember! We are looking for 20+ volunteers to staff the Kids Activities, Market, Clothing Swap and everything in between. There’s something for everyone! Click through to read position descriptions and Sign Up to see shift times and select yours.
The event runs 10am – 3pm on Sat. Sept 19th, and we need help before, during or afterwards. Most shifts are 3-4 hours, and include a short break. If you’d like to join us for the whole day, we’d love to have you! Sign up for two back to back shifts, and we’ll be sure you get a nice long break to enjoy the festival and recharge.
Email us at Events@victoriawest.ca to learn more.