September is shaping up to be very busy month in Revelstoke, with three big events taking place.
Labour Day weekend is looking quiet, but the following weekend will see a celebration of Revelstoke's heritage and sporting culture with the first Revelstoke Heritage Weekend.
The weekend sees several events that used to take place in the summer get combined for three days of events and activities from Sept. 11–13.
"The main reason behind it is just bolstering our shoulder season," said Meghan Tabor, the marketing coordinator for Revelstoke Tourism. "A lot of the events were getting overshadowed by the busy summer season and we wanted to put them all together in order to make them stronger."
The weekend was organized by a committee consisting of members from Parks Canada, Timber Days, the forestry museum, railway museum and Revelstoke Museum & Archives.
The events include the annual Little Bear Soccer Tournament —a fixture of that weekend. Joining it will be Timber Day, Railway Day, BikeFest, Celebrate the Summit and more.
"We're trying to bolster all the events by putting them together and making a weekend of it," said Tabor.
The unofficial start to the weekend will be on Thursday, Sept. 10, with a big, group mountain bike ride leaving from the community centre at 6 p.m. Bring a head lamp if you want to join in.
On Friday, the BC Interior Forestry Museum is taking centre stage with a barbecue, live music, a horse logging demonstration, kids logger relay race, a pro loggers showcase, and an antique chainsaw show off. The fun begins at 5 p.m.
"They are really taking the lead in terms of wanting to showcase their museum," said Tabor.
During the day there will be ladies mountain bike clinics put on by Shred Sisters and a downtown heritage tour hosted by Cathy English of the Revelstoke Museum & Archives.
On Saturday, the Little Bear Soccer Tournament kicks off in Centennial Park with a record 53 teams taking part. During lulls in action, kids, parents and anyone else can take in the logging sports action at Timber Day, also in Centennial Park, starting at 1 p.m.
Also taking place Saturday is a group mountain bike rideto Keystone, the Jim Ottenbreit Memorial Golf Tournament, a heritage-themed sidewalk sale and more bike clinics. The Revelstoke Museum is hosting an antique appraiser and there will be live music in Grizzly Plaza in the evening.
Parks Canada gets into the action by hosting the fun run to Eva Lake in the morning, the Mount Revelstoke Steamer hill climb in the afternoon, and an Evening With the Stars at night.
The Little Bear Soccer tournament and golf tournament continue Sunday. The big event will be Railway Day at the Revelstoke Railway Museum. For cyclists, you can take part in a group mountain bike ride on Frisby Ridge, a Gran Fondo road ride up Highway 23 North, or a bike clinic with Shred Sisters.
Tabor said the hope is that the attendance at Little Bear will spill over into the other events taking place. The weekend is being promoted around town and in the Okanagan, Shuswap and Kootenays.
"Our expectation is it's going to draw people locally and within a 1.5-2 hour driving distance," she said.
For a full event schedule visit seerevelstoke.com/event/revelstoke-heritage-weekend