Nine things to do in the Fraser Valley this September

For many people, September marks the return to routine. The end of lazy summer days and the beginning of school, work, and responsibilities.

But that doesn’t mean there aren’t activities to shake up the month. From a Great Gatsby themed swing dance to a celebration of resiliency to the crowning of corn royalty, there are a lot of events going on in the Fraser Valley.

September will also give locals a chance to think about Canada’s relationship with Indigenous nations. The National Day of Truth and Reconciliation, also known as Orange Shirt Day, happens on Sept. 30, giving non-Indigenous people a chance to learn more about Stó:lō culture and providing an opportunity for everyone to better understand what reconciliation could look like in the Fraser Valley.

Langley

This month in Langley, residents will get a chance to swing, celebrate, and read.

Great Gatsby Swing Dance Ball

Langley’s Rock Step Swing Dance Society is taking dancers back in time to the roaring twenties with their annual Great Gatsby Swing Dance Ball. The ball is geared towards swing dancers of all ages, and will include a free beginner lesson at the beginning of the evening. The rest of the night will be dedicated to the elegance and liveliness of the ’20s, featuring the 18-piece big band The Moonlighters.

The dance will take place at Murrayville Community Memorial Hall on Friday, Sept. 6. Doors open at 7pm, with the beginner swing lesson starting at 7:30pm. Tickets are available online in advance or at the door.

Stɑl̓əw̓ Powwow

From Friday, Sept. 13 to Sunday, Sept. 15, the Langley Events Centre will host the third annual Stɑl̓əw̓ Powwow to celebrate Indigenous culture, traditions, music, regalia, and art. The powwow opens on Friday with a 7pm Grand Entry and traditional welcome. Competitions begin that night and continue until Sunday evening. Powwows are community gatherings to which everyone is welcome.

The dances and regalia competitions will be in a variety of different styles, with a special category for tiny tots under six. The powwow will also include a red dress dance, honouring missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls, and an orange shirt special, honouring residential school survivors. The powwow will also include a drumming contest, a pageant, intertribal singing, and speeches from chiefs of the Matsqui First Nation, Kwantlen First Nation, and Semiahmoo First Nation.

The powwow opens at 5pm on Friday, Sept. 13, and closes on Sunday, Sept. 15 with the closing of colours at 5:30pm and the payout to the champions at 6pm. The Current interviewed Chilliwack fashion designer Rebecca Baker-Grenier about regalia, and how it connects to both fashion and art earlier this year.

Langley Literacy Fair

Langley is set to celebrate Literacy Month with its Literacy fair at Timms Community Centre on Friday, Sept. 20. The literacy fair will include information on local literacy programs, as well as details on volunteer opportunities. But it won’t just be an information session. The fair will also include physical activities, a story walk of the book Sweetgrass, craft activities for kids, and a take-a-book, leave-a-book table.

The literacy fair is hosted by the Langley Literacy Network. It will take place from 10am to 2pm on Friday, Sept. 20 at the Timms Community Centre in Langley City.

Abbotsford-Mission

In Abbotsford and Mission, this month’s events are focused on celebrating resilience, championing the arts, and supporting mental health.

Fraser Valley Recovery Day

On Saturday, Sept. 14, Abbotsford will celebrate the strength and resilience of the people who have overcome addictions to harmful substances during Fraser Valley Recovery Day. The day will be a family-oriented celebration, with music, a family photo booth, kid-friendly games, food trucks, and free hot dogs. It will also feature stories of recovery from people who have overcome addiction, and information from local support services.

The celebration will take place at Mill Lake Park, near the Bevan entrance, on Saturday Sept. 14 from 11am to 3pm.

Arts Alive

The Mission Arts Council is once again hosting Arts Alive, its multi-location outdoor art market and exhibit, on Saturday, Sept. 21. The market and festival will feature art exhibits and vendors, but also pottery demonstrations, Indigenous basketry sessions, circus performances, and more.

The main outdoor art market will be located near Mission Clay Worx on Hurd Street, and feature a pottery mug making class, painting in the park, and clay demonstrations. An indoor art market will take place at X̱áy:tem Longhouse Interpretive Center with demonstrations of Salish weaving and pine needle basket making. The Mission Arts Cenre will feature a solo exhibition by Chelsea Isbister, while the Harbour House will host an eight-artist exhibit.

The festival is happening throughout Mission on Saturday, Sept. 21 from 10am to 4pm. Participants can fill out a passport by visiting all the locations to win prizes like a six-week clay workshop, an acrobatics birthday party for six, or an original painting.

Hawaiian Shirt Gala

For the third year in a row, the BeMorr Society is hosting its Hawaiian Shirt Gala in honor of Brook Morrison. The gala will take place on Saturday, Sept. 21 at the Ledgeview Golf Club, and include a full dinner, entertainment, guest speakers, a silent auction, and a raffle.

The gala is in memory of 26-year-old Brook Morrison, who passed away from suicide in 2020 after years of struggling with depression, anxiety, and PTSD. (We wrote about Brook Morrison and the BeMorr Society in our very first edition of the Fraser Valley Current.) He used to throw Hawaiian shirt parties for his friends, and the BeMorr Society established by his family is continuing the tradition to help raise funds for mental wellness, counselling, peer support, and more.

The gala begins at 5:30pm on Saturday, Sept. 21. Tickets are available online.

Eastern Fraser Valley

In Chilliwack and beyond, this month’s events are about celebrating local harvests and extreme athleticism.

Agassiz Fall Fair and Corn Festival

A century-old tradition is returning to Agassiz on Friday, Sept. 13 and Saturday, Sept. 14. The Agassiz Fall Fair will once again take over the community’s Agricultural Hall and fairgrounds. Although the fair opens on Friday, it really kicks off with the parade on Saturday morning, featuring floats from local organizations and often the incoming graduating class. Inside the fair, there are home and garden exhibits, 4-H shows, zucchini car races, a celebrity milking competition, and the ever-popular midway.

The weekend is also host to the Corn Festival, which will be celebrating its 76th year. The incoming Corn King or Queen will be crowned for their superiority in corn-growing at the opening ceremonies of the fair. Last year, Don Vander Wyk was crowned. Although he was a first-time king, his family had held the crown a total of 13 times in the festival’s history.

Tickets for the Agassiz Fall Fair and Corn Festival are available at the gate, although home-and-garden entries need to be submitted by Sept. 5. (You can read more about entering in the home and garden section of a fair in our story from August.)

Cultus Lake Triathlon

Athletes get ready: the Cultus Lake triathlon is returning to the popular waterfront on Sunday, Sept. 15. The triathlon is held at Cultus Lake each year, and includes different styles of biking, swimming, and running for athletes to choose from. There is both a sprint course, which takes on average two hours to complete, and a standard course, which takes roughly three hours. Participants can also choose the aquabike option instead, which includes only the swim and bike sections, but is the same distance as the full triathlon.

The race begins at 7am at Cultus Lake Park, with the swim section taking place in Cultus Lake itself, and the final leg of the run course bringing athletes along the lakeshore towards Main Beach. The Cultus Lake Triathlon is one of the last of the season, and aims to bring a fun and casual vibe to the intense sport.

Athletes should register in advance, and people who are not members of Triathlon BC will need to purchase day-of-race insurance or a membership before the race.

Stinking Rose Garlic Festival

Half harvest festival, half music festival, and a lot of odiferous bulbs, the first ever Stinking Rose Garlic Festival is coming to Chilliwack’s Fantasy Farms on the weekend of Sept. 21 and 22. The festival will include a garlic market, with local farmers showcasing their harvest, and food vendors providing an assortment of garlicky treats on both Saturday and Sunday. (Sunday also includes a garlic pancake breakfast.)

On Saturday evening, the garlic harvest turns into a music celebration, with a four-act concert featuring Joe Matheson, the Unbranded, Molten Blues, and the Maybelles. The concert is for all ages, although Old Yale Brewing will be on site to provide alcoholic beverages and some non-alcoholic options as well.

Festival-goers can choose to purchase tickets for the whole event, or get discounted tickets for just the garlic harvest or just the music festival.

National Day of Truth and Reconciliation

On Sept. 30, people across Canada will take the time to remember what happened to Indigenous children in the country’s residential schools. The day, known as the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation or Orange Shirt Day, had its start in BC, when residential school survivor Phyllis Webstad shared her story about attending the St. Joseph Mission Residential School and having her orange shirt taken away.

In the Fraser Valley, there are traditionally a number of events held by local First Nations and other community organizations. The events listed below have been planned in advance, but more are expected to pop up as the day gets closer.

Orange Shirt Day Powwow

On Friday, Sept. 27 and Saturday, Sept. 28, Chilliwack Secondary School will host its third annual Orange Shirt Day Powwow. The powwow is free and open to the public, and will include dancing, singing, drumming, and a number of special dances. The grand entry, which opens the event, will take place on Friday, Sept. 27, at 7pm. The powwow will also include more than 70 vendors and a feast on Saturday at 5pm.

Stetís ímexstowx Gathering

The Stetís ímexstowx gathering will be taking place at Abbotsford’s Civic Plaza on Monday, Sept. 30 from 10am to 2pm to bring the public together to learn about Indigenous history and share insights on reconciliation. The name of the event means “walk beside us” in Halq’eméylem. The event will include drumming, art from Robert Bateman Secondary’s Lex̱éywa Art Activism class, Halq’eméylem storytelling, and a performance of Luminous Waters, a puppet show about Sumas Lake.

Truth and Reconciliation Day community event

Wilma’s Transition Society in Chilliwack is hosting a Truth and Reconciliation Day community event at Sardis Park on Monday, Sept. 30. The event will take place from 11:30am to 3:30pm, and include a cultural opening, food trucks, and local vendors.

NCTR Lunch and Learns

For people who might not be able to make it out to an event for Orange Shirt Day, the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation is holding a week of online lunch and learns from Sept. 23 to Sept. 27. Each session will be around two hours, and focus on a different topic related to Indigenous reconciliation. Interested participants can register online for talks on the health impacts of residential schools, allyship, Indigenous identity fraud, community perspectives on UNDRIP, and barriers to reconciliation.

People wanting to learn more about the Indigenous experience under Canada can read the National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation reports online, including the NCTR’s 94 calls to action. You can also read our stories on how British Columbia and the Fraser Valley have responded to those calls to action.