Pacific Opera Victoria: Carmen

February 16, 18, 22, & 24, 8 pm
February 26, 2:30 pm

This girl is trouble - bad, beguiling, and dangerous to know, Carmen will never let herself be chained down by any one man.  When she fixes on Don Jose as her next lover, the naive but volatile young solder doesn't have a chance, and he follows her into a life of crime.  Carmen brims with fevered life: dashing toreadors, leering soldiers, free-spirited gypsies, and the dynamo that is Carmen herself.  In Carmen, the romance of the French language is coupled with sizzling Spanish dance rhythms and the erotically charged music that makes this the sexiest opera of all time.  Tickets for this Royal Theatre performance start at $37.50 and are available from the Royal box office, online, and at 250-386-6121.

www.rmts.bc.ca

Wildlife Photographer of the Year

December 16 - April 9

The wonders of nature like you've never seen them: through the lenses of prize-winning photographers from around the world.  This visually striking exhibition from the Natural History Museum showcases more than 100 photographs in 18 categories (including Young Wildlife Photographer of the Year, Endangered Wildlife, One Earth, and Photojournalist of the Year), chosen from more than 40,000 international entries.  Each photo and accompanying caption tells the inspirational, astonishing, and often humourous stories of our natural world.  Photography themed events, activities and presentations will take place through the run of this exhibition.

www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Dine Around & Stay in Town

February 17 - March 16

Tourism Victoria and the BC Restaurant & Foodservices Association (BCRFA), Victoria Branch, are once again teaming up to organize the popular Dine Around & Stay In Town event.  Participating restaurants will offer three course menus costing $20, $30, or $40 per person; accommodations will offer one night room rates of $69, $79, $99 and $129.  Downtown Victoria restaurants participating in this event include: Aura Waterfront Restaurant, Bon Rouge Bistro, Browns Socialhouse, Canoe Brewpub Marina & Restaurant, Chandler's Seafood, Fiamo Italian Kitchen, Fire & Water Fish and Chop House, Flying Otter Grill, John's Place, Keg Steakhouse, Lure Restaurant & Lounge, Milestones Restaurant, Millos Restaurant, Nautical Nellies, Pablos Dining Lounge, Pescatores Seafood Grill & Oyster Lounge, Ric's Grill Steakhouse, Sauce Restaurant & Lounge, Shima Sushi Japanese Restaurant & Sushi Bar, Smoken Bones Cookshack, Sticky Wicket Pub & Restaurant, Swans Brewpub, Swiftsure Restaurant & Lounge, The Black Olive, The Fairmont Empress, The Office Lounge, The Pacific Restaurant, The Reef, Veneto Tapa Lounge, Vic's Steakhouse & Bar, and Vista 18.  Hotels participating in downtown Victoria are: Strathcona Hotel ($69 room rate); Best Western PLUS Carlton Plaza Hotel, Harbour Towers Hotel & Suites, Queen Victoria Hotel & Suites ($79 room rate); Admiral Inn, Delta Victoria Ocean Pointe Resort & Spa, Hotel Grand Pacific, Inn at Laurel Point, Royal Scot Hotel & Suites, Swans Suite Hotel Victoria's Boutique Art Hotel, The Union Club of British Columbia, Victoria Marriott Inner Harbour ($99 room rate); and The Fairmont Empress ($129 room rate).

www.tourismvictoria.com/dinearound

Pacific Lounge: Weekend Jazz

Fridays and Saturdays, January 20 - March 17, 8 pm - 11 pm

From 8 - 11 pm each Friday and Saturday night, guests at the Pacific Lounge will enjoy performances by Ashley Wey and by Aurora Scott, two of Victoria's most respected jazz musicians.  Selected through the Victoria Jazz Society, these two will kick off the weekly jazz program with a two-month residency at the Pacific Lounge.  The lounge will also offer wine and cocktail features each night.  No cover.

www.hotelgrandpacific.com

Dinosaurs: Ancient Fossils, New Discoveries

May 17 - September 16

The Royal BC Museum hosts this blockbuster exhibition.  Imagine the thrill of discovering something new about a creature that lived millions of years ago.  Since the first dinosaur fossil was identified almost 200 years ago, people have wondered how these fascinating animals lived, moved, and behaved.  Dinosaurs explores how paleontologists today use modern technologies, along with new discoveries and ideas, to investigate and reinterpret puzzling dinosaur mysteries - such as what they really looked like, how they moved, and the hotly debated theories of why - or even whether - they became extinct.  Included with regular museum admission.

www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Celebration Exhibit

June 1 - September 3

Celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee at the Royal BC Museum.  This special exhibition of nearly 100 portraits by royal photographer Cecil Beaton (1904-80) depicts Elizabeth in her roles as princess, monarch, and mother, and will include a number of rarely-seen photographs alongside extracts from Beaton's personal diaries and letters.  Beaton's royal portraits were among the most widely published photos of the 20th century.  The exhibition explores Beaton's long relationship with Elizabeth, who was a teenage princess when he first photographed her in 1942.  The five-section exhibition charts the shift in Beaton's style from early rococo-inspired portraits to the starker images of the 1960s.  Included with regular museum admission.

www.royalbcmuseum.bc.ca

Association of BC Forest Professionals Expo For 2012

February 22 - 24

Everything to Everyone: The Art of Forestry is the ABCFP 2012 forestry conference and AGM, held at the Victoria Conference Centre.  It features a program that explores the components of professional forestry that can't be taught.  This will be a sleeves-rolled-up conference where interactive sessions draw on the wisdom of leading practitioners to illuminate the challenges that seem to be beyond scientific resolution or legislative solution. 

www.expofor.ca

Artificial Reefs: Paradise or Pollution

February 22, 7 - 9 pm

Explore the Artificial Reef Society of BC's latest project, HMCS Annapolis (the last of the great steam-driven destroyers) and discover the complexities of creating ship to reef projects.  ARSBC will also present the myriad of detailed planning needed for large complex projects and what they have produced to return to our coastal waters.  The ARSBC has become a man-made success story in Canada and around the world.  Learn more about the impact of these 'man made reefs' and how they have helped to enhance BC's marine ecology, scuba dive tourism industry, and the economic benefits to BC's coastal communities.  Tickets cost $12 ($10 for students/seniors, Maritime Museum members and children under 12 are admitted free).

www.mmbc.bc.ca

Down With Webster

February 23, 7:30 pm

Organized during a 7th grade music class assignment, the genre-bending six-piece band Down With Webster has since sold hundreds of thousands of singles, toured extensively, and built up a fervent fan base.  Before they ever had an official single or video, they were able to tour across Canada, packing sold-out clubs on the strength of social media word-of-mouth alone; their energy, excitement, passion, and ability to have fun on stage make Down With Webster a huge draw for concertgoers.  Tickets for this show at the McPherson Playhouse are $45, available online, at the box office, or by calling 250-386-6121.

www.rmts.bc.ca

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