“Though thy beginning was small, yet thy latter end should greatly increase.” Seeing the amount of vendors and attendees at previous years of the Victoria Tea Festival, you just might be reminded of this phrase from the Bible. It sounds dramatic, but the fest has seen dramatic growth: it started very small and is now the largest tea exhibition in North America.
Lisa Stekelenburg, Victoria Tea Festival chair, says that the festival was started back in 2007 as a fundraiser for Camosun’s child care services, where she also works as manager.
“If we have to replace our equipment or do something out in the yards, we don’t have that kind of money,” she says. “A lot of things cost a lot of money in child care.”
So a tea fest was born. When they created the festival, they had no idea that it would be as successful as it is now. They expect around 3,000 people to attend this year.
A big reason the festival became successful is that the tea industry is growing up in North America; just look at all the specialty tea stores in Victoria. Despite the increasing competition, the festival has the leading edge that helped take it to a new level.
“The unique thing about this festival is that it is very intimate, in the sense that exhibitors are either selling or demonstrating whatever they have, and do a lot to engage with attendees,” says Stekelenburg.
Exhibitors at the festival will talk about a variety of aspects of tea: why their green tea is important, how many different antioxidants are available, where they can get their green tea from, how you prepare tea, and how different ceremonial aspects of each country are, according to Stekelenburg.
Stekelenburg mentions that as well as the educational presentations, Spinnakers will be at the festival, blending tea in beer to create a craft beer tea ale. Also, festival-goers will have the chance to taste mystery chocolate infused with tea and to indulge in various forms of tea that are combined with different foods or drinks.
The fest has taken on a life of its own, and now serves many causes. It’s somewhere for lovers of tea to meet up; it’s a fundraiser; it’s bringing people to Victoria.
“We wanted to create a fundraiser that was significant enough to raise significant dollars,” says Stekelenburg, “as well as to be a destination for the city of Victoria.”
The Victoria Tea Festival
Saturday, February 9
Crystal Garden (713 Douglas)
victoriateafestival.com