UVic Juggling Club

Directions

Victoria is easy to get to... as long as you like multi-modal transportation. Situated on Vancouver Island (near Vancouver, which is not on the Island, confusingly enough), you will have to either fly or take a ferry of some sort to get here. Though driving is the most convenient, Victoria has a decent transit system for getting around and it is easy to get to by bus (at least from Vancouver).

To festival sites: Note that all festival sites are accessible on the #14 bus. See here for the route map and schedule; tickets cost $2.50; Central Middle School; ECS 123, UVic; Metro theatre
To Victoria: Driving; Bus/train; Border information

To Festival Sites

View festival locations in a larger map.

Central Middle School

Central Middle School is located at 2780 Richmond Rd. Don't let Google Maps fool you: it shows CMS at Yates & Fort; the Richmond location is marked Margaret Jenkins Elementary, but searching for MJES gives Richmond at Fairfield.

From Downtown: Follow Fort St. east; turn left on Richmond; CMS is the first school on your left.
From UVic: Leave campus by the South-East entrance, on Henderson Rd; turn right on Cedar Hill Cross Rd. immediately after leaving campus; at the bottom of the hill, turn left onto Richmond Rd; after passing Hillside Ave, CMS is the second school on your right.
From up-island/airport/ferries: Follow the highway south; turn left onto Hillside Ave; turn right after ~4km onto Richmond Rd; CMS is the second school on your right
By city bus: The #14 bus goes between downtown (on Fort St.) and the UVic bus loop, and passes in front of CMS. See BC Transit for maps and schedules. There is a stop immediately in front of the school in each direction, between Newton St. and Townley St.

UVic

Campus map

After reaching campus: A convenient parking lot is Lot #1, at the bottom-right corner of this map. If you entered campus from the south-west entrance (Henderson Rd/University Dr), it is the first road on your right. The bus stop is immediately after the parking lot entrance.
In front of the parking lot/bus stop, you will see a long straight road/path (one of the few on campus). ECS is the last building on your left.
From Downtown: Follow Fort St. east; turn left on Foul Bay Rd; see above for parking after reaching campus
From up-island/airport/ferries: From the highway, turn left onto McKenzie Ave; after Gordon Head Rd, turn right into campus on McGill Rd, and right again onto Ring Rd; use the second parking lot.
By city bus: UVic is the city's biggest transit hub. From downtown, take the #14 bus from Fort St. at Douglas Rd; get off at the first stop on campus. See BC Transit for schedules and more buses.

Metro theatre

The Metro Theatre is at 1411 Quadra St.

From downtown: Yates & Quadra is within easy walking distance of anywhere downtown.
From UVic: Leave campus by the south-east entrance (Henderson Rd/University Dr). Follow Henderson Rd (later Foul Bay Rd) south to Fort St; turn right on Fort. Find street parking downtown
From CMS: Follow Richmond Rd. south to Fort; turn right on Fort. Find street parking downtown
By city bus: From CMS or UVic, take the #14 south. Get off the bus just after Vancouver St. and walk the remaining half-block to Quadra, then north to Johnson

Getting to Victoria

For general information on all ferries to Victoria, see here

Driving

From Vancouver: Take the 99 south towards Seattle. Just after the George Massey tunnel under the Fraser River, take the exit for Highway #17, signed for "ferries" and "Victoria via ferries". After about five or 10 minutes, you'll hit the ferry terminal. Get into one of the lineups marked "Victoria". The ferry takes about 1 hour and 35 minutes. After you get off the ferry, follow the directions to festival sites, above.
From Seattle or further south: Take the I5 north and go across the border, take Exit 28 for Highway #17, signed for "Tsawwassen" and "Ferries". After taking the exit, keep left and turn left at the traffic light onto Highway 17. Once you're on Highway 17 heading for the ferries, follow directions as above from Vancouver. If you're really sneaky you can cut the corner and take Highway #10 from the 99 to Highway 17 in Tsawwassen - guaranteed to save you about 10 seconds, or get you lost in darkest Ladner if you aren't carrying an experienced navigator.
If you're feeling adventurous, try taking the ferry from Anacortes over to Sydney. This will be far slower than the BC ferry from Tsawwasen.

By bus/ferry

Laidlaw runs busses from the length and breadth of Vancouver Island, most of the routes will get you to Victoria, some via Nanaimo. To take long-distance busses to Victoria from the mainland, take the bus to Vancouver and from the Vancouver main bus/train station take the PCL bus to Victoria; see directions from downtown, above.

Bus destinations in U.S. and Canada:
Greyhound Bus lines 1-800-231-2222(US)
1-800-661-8747(Can)

For information on the bus to from Vancouver to Victoria, see:
http://www.pacificcoach.com/

For information on the bus to Victoria from up-island, see:
http://www.bctravel.com/transport.html
Laidlaw Coachlines 1-800-318 081

From Vancouver: Take the PCL bus from the main bus/train station or any of its various pick-up points in Vancouver to downtown Victoria (cost: $25 CDN including the ferry). From downtown Victoria, the bus terminal is right across the street from a local bus (BC Transit) stop. From that stop, take the # 4 UVic bus right to campus, which puts you at the transit exchange across the road from the SUB. Follow the directions to the SUB in "Driving: From Vancouver" if you can't find the SUB from that point!
Using BC Transit Only (the Cheapest Possible Way, besides hitching or biking): From Vancouver, take the # 601 to Ladner exchange. From there, take the # 640 to Tsawwassen ferry terminal. Walk on the ferry to Victoria. From the other side, take the # 70 to downtown Victoria. Follow directions to festival sites from downtown Victoria, above
From Seattle: You can take the Victoria Clipper foot passenger ferry service between Seattle and Victoria. This will get you from downtown Seattle to downtown Victoria in a couple of hours.
Victoria Clipper 1-206-448-5000
http://www.victoriaclipper.com/
By Train: To get to Victoria by train, take Amtrak to Vancouver and then see directions "Bus: From Vancouver" above.; Via Rail runs a daily train from Courtenay on Vancouver Island to Victoria, arriving at about 6pm each day.
For more information on the trains, see:
http://www.viarail.ca/trains/en_trai_roch_vico.html

Border Information - for US travellers

The security situation at the border is ever-changing. If you are a juggler (which presumably you are, otherwise you wouldn't be reading this), be honest about all the equipment you are bringing and why you are bringing it; but do NOT say "I am a street performer" under any circumstances. If you are performing at the festival, tell them you won't be getting money for it. Bring your passport or at the least photo ID, birth certificate, and proof of residency (a utility bill, etc).

We have extensive experience going south to attend the Portland and Seattle festivals, but little experience going north: any US jugglers reading this who know more than we do, please email us and we'll update this page.

This page gives information for non-Canadians who will be performing at the show: according to this website you will not need a work permit:
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/work/exempt-1.html

Victoria Juggling Festival