As much as Riverview Hospital is known as a place of healing, its grounds are known as a place of nature featuring lush lawns and a collection of trees unique in Canada.
The latter will be the focus on Saturday, Sept. 14 as site is location of the 20th annual Treefest.
Running from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., this free event is a celebration of trees. Activities include: arborist-led tree tours every hour from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.; children's crafts and activities; a children's tree walk at noon; community and artist displays; music; history bus tours; a blackberry tea in the Serenity Garden from 12:30 to 4 p.m.; and a heritage building tour at 1 p.m.
The festival site is located on the Riverview Hospital grounds outside the Industrial Services Building. Access the site via Lougheed Highway from either the Orchid Drive entrance or Colony Farm Road/Holly Drive entrance. Once you enter the grounds, follow the festival signs and arrows to the Industrial Services Building.
There is plenty of free on-site parking. Visitors are urged not to wear open-toed footwear to this event as many areas will have long grass and uneven terrain.
Treefest is presented by the Riverview Horticultural Centre Society, the city of Coquitlam and the Burke Mountain Naturalists. For more information, visit www.coquitlam.ca or telephone 604-290-9910.
As well, Coast Mental Health, which cares for some people living with mental health issues, will host an open house during Treefest.
Some background from Treefest organizers:
"Originally landscaped to be a Victorian English 'fantasy garden' in the grand style of Kew Gardens in London, the lush, giant trees at the Riverview Hospital Grounds create a unique, stately and majestically whimsical parkland forest."
