Victoria Day Parade

The Thrifty Foods Victoria Day Parade is a large annual event in Victoria. It features a variety of floats, bands and more on the May Long Weekend.

The parade is usually presented by CHEK TV. The event celebrates its 126th year on May 18th, 2026. It’s an impressive event, and it’s free to attend.

Victoria Day Parade in Victoria

The City of Victoria commemorates Victoria Day with celebrations in honour of Queen Victoria who reigned in England from 1837 until 1901. Her birthday was on May 24th. Victoria Day itself takes place in BC on the Monday prior to May 25th each year.

In 2026 the public holiday is on Monday, May 18th. A number of special events are happen on the Victoria Day weekend each year, including the Victoria Day Parade.

There are also usually activities in front of the Legislative Building and at Centennial Square (beside Victoria City Hall), although 2026 details are to be confirmed.

The annual parade in British Columbia’s capital is organized by the Greater Victoria Festival Society and presented by CHEK TV and Thrifty Foods. The event attracts tens of thousands of people. It features over 100 decorated floats as well as marching bands, military vehicles, fire trucks, clowns and other entries.

Victoria Day Parade

The Victoria Day Parade typically starts outside Mayfair Mall and goes down Douglas Street. It finishes some 24 blocks down the road at the corner of Courtney Street and Douglas. As usual, crowds are welcome to pack the streets of the long route.

The parade begins at 9:00 am and usually concludes at around noon. The three-hour duration makes this particular Victoria Day parade one of the largest parades in Canada. It’s an impressive and fun parade.

After the parade finishes there are usually live music performances, food trucks and artisan vendors in Centennial Square until 5:00 pm. This was a fun after-party for the main parade in 2023. Hopefully the extra activities happen again this year.

Victoria Day Parade

Check out the video below for a really good idea of what to expect at the Victoria Day Parade.

The video contains scenes of the parade from a few years ago. As you’ll see, the parade features lots of marching bands as well as floats and people in costume. Although not shown in the video, there are also military vehicles, fire trucks, vintage automobiles, big trucks and VIP dignitaries waving to the crowd in convertibles and other fancy cars.

The video begins with a scene of the parade on Douglas Street in front of the Victoria Public Market (in the old Hudson’s Bay building). The walking dinosaur you’ll see is in front of City Hall a few blocks further down. Other landmark buildings you’ll see in the video are the Bay Centre Shopping Centre, St. Andrew’s Presbyterian Church and the Empress Hotel.

Other Victoria Day Activities

The parade isn’t the only thing that happens on the May long weekend in Victoria. In previous years, there have also been live performances between noon and 5:00 pm outside the Parliament Buildings. 2026 details are to be confirmed. See our article about the Victoria Day weekend to learn more about other activities.