Port Alberni celebrates Canada Day with festival at waterfront quay

Port Alberni celebrates Canada Day with festival at waterfront quay

Published 5:30 am Thursday, July 2, 2026

The Davis family, from left, Spencer, Violet, Rosetta and Tetley, enjoy Canada Day cupcakes at Celebrate PA!, a July 1, 2026 event held at Harbour Quay in Port Alberni. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Jack Bouma, left, and his brother Bodhi make friends with Pepa, a rescue dog from Mexico, while they all wait patiently in the lineup for balloon animals from Sharky Balloons, July 1, 2026 at Spirit Square in Port Alberni’s Harbour Quay. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Janis Joseph of Port Alberni hangs a heart on the Positivitree, a community-led installation at Harbour Quay. Television crew members from HGTV recorded the moment as part of Celebrate PA!, 2026 Canada Day celebrations. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Port Alberni residents festooned the ‘Positivitree’ community-led installation with positive messages about Port Alberni during Celebrate PA! Canada Day celebrations on July 1, 2026 at Harbour Quay. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Frank Holm, a conductor with the Alberni Pacific Railway, takes a break at the back of the Canadian National Railway caboose parked on Harbour Road during Canada Day celebrations, July 1, 2026 at Harbour Quay. Half of the caboose served as a mobile shop for the Alberni Valley Museum. Holm put in hundreds of hours restoring the 1909 CN caboose, which was rescued from McDonald’s in Nanaimo where it had been used to host birthday parties. Holm dedicated the caboose to his late wife, Karen. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Hazel Taylor makes a ribbon wand at the Alberni Valley Museum’s kids’ activity booth during Celebrate PA! Canada Day festivities at Harbour Quay. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Ikjot Khalsa from the Guru Nanak Sikh Society hands out sticks of cotton candy to children during Canada Day 2026 festivities at Harbour Quay. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Tristan Longman of Port Alberni sings atop a flatdeck railcar at the entrance to Harbour Quay during Canada Day celebrations on July 1, 2026. The stage and 1909 CN caboose helped block the area from vehicle traffic. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Canada Day 2026 festivities at Harbour Quay stretched from Harbour Road all the way into the quay and Spirit Square on July 1, 2026. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Young cheer team members from Phoenix Dance Co. hoist one of their own during a performance in front of the Celebrate PA! stage on July 1, 2026. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Finley Stoker, left, and Witten Lothrop fron Phoenix Dance C. in Port Alberni perform a powerhouse duet as part of Celebrate PA! events on July 1, 2026 at Harbour Quay. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

A young wheeler and dealer entices kids to come and spin the wheel to win tickets to the Rotary club’s annual Colour Fest, happening Saturday, July 18, 2026 at Blair Park. (Susie Quinn/ Alberni Valley News)

Hundreds of people descended on Harbour Quay on Wednesday to celebrate Canada Day.

Celebrate PA! festivities started with an opening welcome by members of Tseshaht and Hupacasath First Nations and City of Port Alberni officials, followed by several hours of entertainment on the stage, set up on a flat-deck rail car. The stage and 1909 CN caboose helped block traffic from entering the Quay, which was a pedestrian-only space for the morning and early afternoon. Vintage trucks from city’s collection were on display in strategic locations to bar traffic.

The Alberni Pacific Railway’s tourist train ran regularly, greeted on every run by ‘flag lady’ Sally Anderson. Open-sided tents were set up all along Harbour Quay and into Spirit Square, while bouncy castles and a giant inflated soccer target were well tied down against the wind coming off Alberni Inlet.

Vendors sold everything from fine art to 3D printed animals and crocheted items. The Alberni Valley Rock and Gem Club held a mini-show in the covered area of Spirit Square, and a few food trucks were on hand to help feed the hungry masses.

Camera crews from HGTV were at Harbour Quay filming many of the activities on Canada Day. Among those in front of the camera was Janis Joseph, who helped organize the entertainment along with her daughter Maddie Joseph.

Janis was filmed hanging a heart on the Positivitree, one of the community-led installations that will be part of the HGTV Home Town Takeover series airing in the fall.

Joseph’s late father, Winston Joseph, was a community leader known as ‘Mr. Positivity.’

Festivities wrapped up at 2 p.m.