Enjoy the official opening of the 100th annual May Days Festival at the Jon Baillie Arena – Port Coquitlam Community Centre (PCCC). It features the presentation of the 2023 May Day Royal Party, maypole dancing by local children and seniors, dance performances choreographed by 1 Vibe Entertainment, musical entertainment by Marie Hui Duo and a performance by Underground Circus. Doors open at 7pm!

Emcee: Kevin Lim
Anthem: Marie Hui

A pre-parade tradition: come enjoy a pancake breakfast! Proceeds go to the 4th PoCo Scouts. $5.

Art Focus Artists’ Association Spring Show

May 5 (9pm)
May 6 & 7 (11am-5pm)
The Outlet, Leigh Square

Drop by the Outlet in Leigh Square to see Art Focus members’ beautiful works of art at the group’s annual Spring Art Show, a May Days tradition. All are welcome!

May Days Readers & Writers Festival – TriCity Wordsmiths

May 6
10am – 5pm
Port Coquitlam Community Centre

The May Days Readers & Writers Festival features a full day of panel discussions, writing workshops, and more. Featured speakers include authors Iona Whishaw, JJ Lee, and Gisela Woldenga, slam poet Izzy Herbert, and local writers Farida Somjee, Collen VanNiekirk, and Bill Arnott. The Tri-City Wordsmiths
are presenting the festival at the Port Coquitlam Community Centre in celebration of their 10th anniversary as a writing club in The Tri-Cities, with support from the PoCo Community Foundation.

Book Fair & Market Hall

May 6
10am-4pm
Port Coquitlam Community Centre – Mabbett Hall

Stop by the Mabbett Hall for a lively Book Fair and Market. Meet local writers and explore their books, play writing games, participate in a short workshop or two, cozy up for story time, discover a new poet or local history writer, or read at the Open Mic. Have fun, play with words, and find a new story (or three) to take home with you.

Community Labyrinth

May 6-9

Join local artists Melissa Burgher and Joanne Dennis in workshops that will include tile painting on May 6, creating the labyrinth at Citadel Park on May 8, and a labyrinth walk on May 9. Pre-registration required here.

Magic Writing Tent

May 6
12-1pm or 2-3pm
Michael Wright Art Gallery

When you enter the Magic Tent, you enter a world where transformation is possible! What is fun and magical for you about spring? Pre-registration required here.

Youth Film Festival

May 9-11
Michael Wright Art Gallery

SD43 Student Art Show: Imaginings V: A Collection of Port Coquitlam Student Artwork

May 12
6pm – 8pm
Michael Wright Art Gallery

The Imaginings V Exhibition highlights the breadth, depth and possibilities of ideas made by local students of Terry Fox and Riverside Secondary Schools.

This year’s exhibition features some artworks inspired by the United Nations Global Goal #14: Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources.

Join us for the May Days Kids’ Race (formally part of the PoCo Grand Prix) as part of the 100th celebration of May Days!

The Kids’ Race will take place from 10:15-10:45am. It will be divided into three heats racing the 1.3 kilometre course: ages three to four years old at 10:15am racing 100 metres, ages 5 to 8 years old at 10:25am racing 1 kilometre and nine to 12 years old racing 1.3 kilometres at 10:35am.

Join us for the Rotary May Day Parade in downtown PoCo — one longest-running, most iconic community parades in the Lower Mainland! Enjoy vibrant floats, marching bands, and more.

Parade Marshal: Terry Fox Family
Emcee: Kevin Lim

Parade route is Shaughnessy to Elgin, Elgin to Mary Hill, Mary Hill to Hawthorne, ending on Tyner Road. Road closures go into effect at 9am.

Live Entertainment

This year’s main stage for Party in the Square will be headlined by JoJo Mason! A Canadian country music singer-songwriter, a multiple CCMA Award nominee and winner of the Entertainer of the Year award at the 2022 BCCMA awards.

Free Concert (4-10pm)

• Singer Songwriter Rounds — 4-4:45pm
• Mark Ledlin — 4:50-5:20pm
• Dane Bateman — 5:25-5:55pm
• Danielle Ryan — 6:05-6:40pm
• Don Amero — 6:50-7:45pm
• JoJo Mason — 8-9pm
• Pop/Rock Cover Band — 9-10pm

Community Performers (12-4pm)

• Choral Connections — 12-12:25pm
• Royal Academy Bhangra Dance — 12:30-12:50pm
• Etienne Siew — 1-3:3opm (at May Days Market)
• Hickelstock — 1:35-2:05pm
• Wild Moccasin Dancers— 2:10-2:40pm
• Parvaneh Belly Dance — 2:45-3pm
• Soul Survivors — 3:05-3:50pm

Emcee: Kevin Lim

Carnival Games and Rides

On Kelly Ave from 12-6pm

Food Trucks

Kelly Avenue — 12-10pm

• Camion Cafe
• Cazba Express
• Little Ooties
• Patricia’s Catering (6-10pm)
• Praguery
• Reel Mac & Cheese (6-10pm)

Terry Fox Hometown Square — 12-10pm

• Banana Bike
• Gary’s Kettle Corn
• Pizza Pietra
• Squish Juicery

May Days Market — 12-6pm

• Reel Mac & Cheese
• Mr. Taco
• Patricia’s Catering

Beverage Garden

12-10pm

May Days Market

12-6pm

Activity Schedule

• Market Music – Etienne Siew — 1pm
• Rise 21 Dance Company — 1:30pm
• Market Music – Etienne Siew — 2pm
• Mary Hill Fit Body Boot Camp — 2:30pm
• Market Music – Etienne Siew — 3pm
• Personal Best Martial Arts — 4pm
• Sadhana Yoga and Sound — 4:30pm

Vendors

Family Quiet Space

12-10pm

As part of our commitment to make events inclusive and welcoming for everyone, we have partnered with Kinsight to offer a Family Quiet Space. If you or anyone in your family would like to take a break from the excitement, please feel free to go to the Wilson Lounge inside Port Coquitlam Community Centre. This quiet space has calming activities, noise-cancelling headphones and earplugs. Supplies are a first come, first serve basis.

More Fun

• Emergency Preparedness Fair featuring Quake Cottage Earthquake Simulator — 12-6pm
• Interactive art zone with Arts & Culture, PoCo Heritage, Art Focus, and PoCo Art Council — 12-8pm
• Kids and youth zone — 12-8pm

The month of May is believed to have been named for the Roman goddess of spring and growth, Maia. The month of May heralds the awakening and flourishing of nature and the coming of spring. In the City of Port Coquitlam, this month marks the celebration of May Day.

In ancient times, May was a time for outdoor celebrations. In Rome, it was a time that was sacred to Flora, the goddess of flowers. The Romans celebrated May Day with flower-decked parades. In England, the village youth went to the woods to gather spring flowers and hawthorne branches, returning singing and dancing. The flowering boughs they gathered were used to decorate the May tree. As the white flowered hawthorne tree became the tree most often decorated, it came to be called the May tree. In more recent celebrations, the May pole, symbolic of the May tree it has replaced, has been decorated with colourful ribbons.

The City of Port Coquitlam first introduced the celebration of May in 1916 when the principal of James Park School, Mrs. Enid Cox, arranged a small celebration for her pupils. The first official community May Day was held in 1923, when James Park and Central schools combined their efforts. It was in 1923 that Miss Evelyn Mars was crowned as Port Coquitlam’s first official May Queen.

In modern times, Port Coquitlam’s May Day celebration, has a May Queen and an Ambassador, along with the Royal Party, preside over the festivities, which normally include a parade, music, entertainment and dancing around maypoles.

Back row standing: Benjamin Nicoll (Lancer), Nathan Patel (Lancer), Sudhanwa Koundinya (Lancer), Alan Shong (Lancer), Lily Muir (2022 May Queen), Maryam Dinari (1^st Princess), Natalie Willemse (2023 May Queen), Carter Wainwright (2023 Ambassador), Daniel Alvarez (Record Bearer), Javier Johnston (2022 Ambassador), Charlie Amirault (Lancer), Ryden Wu (Lancer), Brenden Lui (Lancer)

Middle row – (Princesses): Grace Zhao, Kacey Herrera, Maanya Sood, Isabelle Johnston, Cristina Hara, Claire Robbie, Lydia Alemu, Elissa Sadeghpour, Zoe Milne, Alivia Heavenor

Front row – (Flower Girls): Olivia Weisgerber, Chloe Comey, Scarlette Bower, Marwa Dinari, Audrey Osborne, Donya Soltani, Jr Lancers: Ryan Smith, Kyle Marples, Kolob Ho, Alex Wainwright, Connor Wa, Aiden Read

​