Hornby Island: Mecca of culture and recreation

For such a small community, Hornby Island is an astonishingly chic little spot. Located close to Vancouver Island and renowned for its excellent outdoor recreation, Hornby also has a rich cultural life. Visual art, crafts, music, wine, festivals and even fashion - Hornby has it all, in surprisingly high quantities and quality.

For such a small community, Hornby Island is an astonishingly chic little spot. Located close to Vancouver Island and renowned for its excellent outdoor recreation, Hornby also has a rich cultural life. Visual art, crafts, music, wine, festivals and even fashion - Hornby has it all, in surprisingly high quantities and quality.

Justly renowned for its natural beauty and outdoor recreation opportunities, Hornby Island has more parkland than any other Gulf Island. Verdant areas include 749-acre Mt. Geoffrey Regional Park, crisscrossed with hiking and mountain-biking trails; Tribune Bay Provincial Park, reputed to have the warmest saltwater beach in BC; and Helliwell Provincial Park, perched high on the bluffs, offering jaw-dropping views of the Georgia Strait.

Kayakers and canoeists love the island for its quiet, secluded shores and ample opportunities to see bald eagles, seals, otters, sea lions, and the occasional whale. For divers, there are underwater gardens, caves, and the elusive six-gilled shark. It’s a great place to sail, fish and just hang out on the beach.

Horseback riding near Heron Rock (Photo by Joanne Ovitsland)However, there’s more to Hornby Island than outdoor recreation. The island’s cultural life is as abundant and rich as its natural gifts. Visual art, crafts, music, wine, festivals and even fashion—Hornby has it all, in surprisingly high quantities and quality for a little community of 900 permanent residents. In the summer, that number swells to over 8,000.

Once the territory of the Pentlatch people, in 1850 Hornby Island was officially named after Rear Admiral Phipps Hornby, at that time Commander of the Pacific Station. Largely unpopulated for decades during the late 1800s, by the turn of the century the Island became a thriving farming community. Breathtaking view of Hornby Island
(Photo by Tourism British Columbia)In the 1970s, farming, fishing and forestry occupations began to be replaced by arts and crafts. Today Hornby, along with neighbouring Denman Island, has the third highest concentration of artists in Canada. And—perhaps because it’s a hike from the ‘big city’—the island’s vibrant cultural life is relaxed and accessible in a way that urban arts scenes rarely are.

Visual art by locals hangs above the produce in the Hornby Coop, the Island’s shopping and social hub. The woman packing your groceries is likely to be an award-winning potter and the guy jamming with a friend on the front steps might be a critically acclaimed jazz musician. You can rent bicycles or mopeds and take an art tour of the island—it would take several days to visit all the galleries and open artists’ studios. Along the way, stop in at one of Hornby’s three wineries for a tour and a tasting (www.hornbywine.com, www.middlemountainmead.com, www.carbreavineyard.com). Then, spend the evening listening to jazz at the Thatch Pub, enjoying a classical concert at the Community Hall, or dancing to blues, funk or techno at the Joe King Ball Park Clubhouse.

Horseback riding near Heron Rock
(Photo by Joanne Ovitsland)Hornby Islanders have a huge appetite for organizing cultural events. The Hornby Festival (www.hornbyfestival.bc.ca) is a 10-day summer extravaganza featuring internationally recognized classical and world music, dance and theatre in various indoor and outdoor venues. Hornby also hosts a blues festival, a film festival, a Celtic festival, fiddle camp, Lantern Walk...and many more events.

Hornby is a mecca for the healing arts. You can sign up for a silent meditation retreat, attend any number of yoga, tai chi and dance classes, or book a massage, Ayurveda or Reiki session.

Get a great taste of Hornby culture by visiting the Hornby Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning. As well as delicious local organic produce and homemade snacks, the market showcases local arts and crafts. Get your tarot cards read, sign up for a chair massage and buy locally made teas, cosmetics and clothes. And then you can spend the afternoon enjoying Hornby’s great outdoors!