Welcome to The Hub Nanaimo, your weekly insider guide to the best of community arts and culture. Did a friend forward this email to you? Subscribe to this newsletter.

This Tuesday, I took a road trip to traditional Quw'utsun territory (Duncan, B.C.) to help cover the annual Every Child Matters march in that community as our Cowichan Valley reporter was on vacation. 

While I have heard about the march and seen photos, it was my first time attending the event. I was impressed both by the size of the crowd and the amount of young people who attended from local middle schools and high schools.

I hope that my story and photos help capture a little bit of what it was like to be part of thousands of people wearing orange shirts and the pride that the community had in displaying their culture and resilience while remembering the survivors and victims of abuse in Canada’s Indian Residential School system. 

Thank you for reading,

Mick Sweetman

Every Child Matters march attracts thousands wearing orange on Quw'utsun lands

National Day for Truth and Reconciliation remembers Indigenous children who were sent to Indian Residential Schools in Canada and survivors.

🖊️ What you said ⌨️

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"Great variety of events! Social justice minded reporting!"

—   Casey, from our newsletter survey

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🎵 Listen 🎤

Thursday, Oct. 2, 9 p.m.: Local jazz crew Farintosh/Robertson Quintet reimagines Radiohead through a jazz lens at The Vault Cafe. Tickets cost $15. 

Friday, Oct. 3, 7:30 p.m.: Afrique En Cirque brings African-influenced circus and music to The Port Theatre. Tickets cost $70 or $40 for students. 

Friday, Oct. 3, 8 p.m.: FRANKLIN (melodic sludge) and Burnt Lung (stoner metal) are joined by Hexenbane and Iron and Rot to bring you under their veil of dark riffs and haunting hymns at The Terminal. Tickets cost $15. 

Saturday, Oct. 4, 7 p.m.: KANDLE will play with guests at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $20 in advance or $25 at the door. 

Saturday, Oct. 4, 8 p.m.: Knife Manual and Isolated Earthlings featuring Blark from the Dayglo Abortions and punk rock rippers The Sweathogz all take the stage for a Victoria invasion at The Terminal. Tickets cost $15.

Saturday, Oct. 4, 9 p.m: New Driver brings a sound that’s one part 80's pop and two parts 90's rock to The Vault Cafe. Tickets cost $15. 

Sunday, Oct. 5, 3 p.m: Eugene Smith will headline the Sunday Blues Jam at The Queen’s. Tickets cost $10 or are free for blues jammers.

Sunday, Oct. 5, 4 p.m: The NOiDZ, The Grundles and NUH-UH! will play an all-ages matinee punk show at The Globe Live Studio. Tickets cost $15. 

🎭 View 🖼️

Thursday, Oct. 2, 3 p.m.: Join Germaine Koh for a DIY making workshop on Thursday night as she turns the Nanaimo Art Gallery into an experimental arena where visitors are welcome to jump, throw, dance, run and touch — all actions that are usually frowned upon in art museums. 

Friday, Oct. 3, noon: Take a lunchtime tour of the Nanaimo Art Gallery’s current exhibition, League Nanaimo. Tickets cost $5 or are free for members.

Sunday, Oct. 5, 4 p.m and 7 p.m.:  The Nanaimo International Film Screening Society will screen Sally Aitkin’s Every Little Thing that follows author and wildlife rehabber Terry Masear’s ambitious goal to save every injured hummingbird in Los Angeles at 4 p.m. in the Vancouver Island Conference Centre’s Shaw Auditorium.

Rachel Szor’s Oscar-winning documentary about life under Israeli occupation, No Other Land, will screen at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $15 or $10 for people under 25 years of age. 

Wednesday, Oct. 7, 6 p.m. Atrocity Inc.: How Israel Sells its Destruction of Gaza by Max Blumenthal will be screened at Vancouver Island University, Building 200, Room 203 by the VIU Muslim Women’s Club and For Palestine Vancouver Island. Admission is free.

⛹️ Meet 🎲

Saturday, Oct. 4, 12:30 p.m.: Join the VIU Mariners men's and women's soccer teams for their final home weekend of the season as they take on the Langara College Falcons at Harewood Centennial Park – East Turf. The women's game is at 12:30 p.m., men’s game is at 3 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 4, 1:30 p.m.: Join Tod Maffin for the final scene in a “Super Secret Video Project” aimed at recruiting health-care professionals to Vancouver Island. Meet by the Nanaimo sign in Maffeo Sutton Park. You must RSVP and health-care workers are asked to wear scrubs while others are asked to wear red and white and bring a Canadian Flag.  

Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2 p.m: Adults and teens (16+) can attend a spooky miniatures workshop at the Nanaimo North Library led by Lorrie Joron, the creator of the dollhouse currently on display at the branch.

Wednesday, Oct. 8, noon: The Nanaimo Clippers take on the Cowichan Capitals at Frank Crane Arena. Advance tickets are $22 or $20 for seniors and $12 for children aged six to 12.

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