Submitted by The Circle Education
International Women’s Day on Saturday, March 8 is a global day acknowledging the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women.
This year’s theme is #AccelerateAction, advancing and celebrating women’s equality worldwide. Here’s how you can participate on Salt Spring Island.
• March 8, 12:30 to 1:30 p.m.: Centennial Park. International Women’s Day 2025 Opening Ceremony, with poetry, drumming and song, organized by Peace Works! Rain or shine. Bring umbrellas or chairs if needed.
• March 8, 2 to 4 p.m. Salt Spring Public Library Program Room. The library and the Canadian Federation of University Women collaborate to show the film The Story of the Coast Salish Knitters by local producer Christine Welsh.
For almost a century, the Coast Salish knitters of southern Vancouver Island have produced Cowichan sweaters from handspun wool. These distinctive sweaters are known and loved around the world, but the Indigenous women who make them remain largely invisible. Combining rare archival footage with the voices of three generations of woolworkers, The Story of the Coast Salish Knitters tells the tale of unsung heroines — resourceful women who knit to put food on the table and keep their families alive. Written and directed by Métis filmmaker Christine Welsh, this is a story of courage and cultural transformation — a celebration of the threads that connect the past to the future. For more information, see the separate story on page 15.
• March 8, 3 to 4:30 p.m.: The Fritz Movie Theatre. The Circle Education, co-hosted by the Salt Spring Film Festival, is celebrating International Women’s Day 2025 with the screening of the documentary film The Day Iceland Stood Still.
Almost 50 years ago, on the morning of Oct. 24, 1975, 90 per cent of Iceland’s women walked off their jobs and out of their homes. Fed up with the gaping inequity between the value of women’s labour and women’s wages, female employees, wives and mothers just stopped working, cooking, cleaning and looking after their children. The country came to an abrupt standstill, but a revolution had begun.
Join us for a Saturday matinee at The Fritz to watch this gripping and gleeful story about women fighting for equality and transforming their position in society. The Day Iceland Stood Still was recently voted best documentary at the Victoria Film Festival.
Tickets ($5 and cash only) available at the door. Film rating is PG for coarse language.