Several local groups have joined forces to present city-wide Jane’s Walk events from Friday, May 4 to Sunday, May 6 in Abbotsford.
Jane’s Walk, held in memory of Jane Jacobs, is a series of free neighbourhood walking tours that helps put people in touch with where they live and with each other.
The idea is to bridge social and geographic gaps and creates space for cities to discover themselves.
Local partners include the Abbotsford Downtown Business Association, The Reach Gallery Museum, Heritage Abbotsford Society, Tourism Abbotsford, the City of Abbotsford and University of Fraser Valley (UFV).
Since its inception in 2007, Jane’s Walk has happened in hundreds of cities around the world.
The official global festival weekend is always the first weekend in May but many cities hold walks at other times of the year.
Jacobs believed in walkable neighbourhoods, urban literacy, and cities planned for and by people – that is, for a city to work, the people who live there must be involved in decisions about how the city grows and is run.
Abbotsford residents are encouraged to take part in this discussion by conducting or joining in on these planned walks.
A launch event takes place Friday, May 4 at 3 p.m. at Trethewey House, 2313 Ware St.
Events include an Instagram walk of downtown Abbotsford, walks at the University of the Fraser Valley, a country walk in Mt. Lehman, historic walks including a tour of Musselwhite Cemetery, and natural history hikes.
There are close to 20 walks on board this year, open to everyone.
Visit janeswalk.org/canada/abbotsford for more information.
Anyone interesting in holding a Jane’s Walk can contact Connie Hackett or Marianne Fedori at janeswalkabbotsford@gmail.com.