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Top 5 things to do in Burnaby this weekend

The Scandinavian Midsummer Festival is on all weekend at the Scandinavian Community Centre in Burnaby.
Scandinavian Festival
The annual Scandinavian Midsummer Festival is on this weekend and includes the wife-carrying contest.
  1. The Scandinavian Midsummer Festival is on all weekend at the Scandinavian Community Centre in Burnaby. The annual event includes a Viking Village, a beer garden, traditional Scandinavian food, music, dancing and the popular wife-carrying contest, where the winners receive the wife’s weight in beer. On Saturday, the family festival runs from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., followed by a bonfire dance until 11 p.m. On Sunday, the event runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., and the wife-carrying contest is at 2 p.m. Day passes are $10, and children 16 or younger get in for free. The centre is at 6540 Thomas St., and parking is free.
  2. Join the annual Father’s Day Run fundraiser for the Prostate Canada Foundation B.C. this Sunday, June 21 at Burnaby Lake. There are routes of varying lengths and paces: two kilometres strolling, five km walking, or 10-km running. Participants are encouraged to wear blue, and there will be a costume contest for the best-dressed. Registration is at 8 a.m. at the Burnaby Lake Rowing Pavilion at 6871 Roberts St. Registration is $35, but if you raise at least $125, entrance is free. Money raised goes to Prostate Cancer Foundation B.C. to help pay for support groups, research and awareness campaigns related to prostate cancer, the most common form of cancer for men. Info: www.thefathersdayrun.ca.
  3. Celebrate Father’s Day at the Burnaby Village Museum with a classic car and motorcycle show and parade.The show is on from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m., followed by the vehicle parade. There will also be an indigenous flora and fauna walking tour, a scavenger hunt and, as always, carousel rides. Entrance to the museum grounds is free, but you have to buy tickets for the carousel. The museum is at 6501 Deer Lake Ave.
  4. The Canadian Mental Health Association is hosting Canada’s largest community bike ride for mental health this Sunday, June 21, and Burnaby is one of the many cross-country locations. One in five Canadians experiences mental illnesses in any given year, but only one-third seek help because of associated discrimination, according to the the Canadian Mental Health Association. The goal of Ride Don’t Hide is to challenge that stigma and raise money for the association, which helps people struggling with mental illnesseses. Ride Don’t Hide starts at Burnaby’s Swangard Stadium and includes three routes: 10, 20 or 60 kilometres. The 10-km route is for families and beginner cyclists, while 20 km is considered intermediate, and 60 km is for advanced riders. The event is on from 7 a.m. to 2 p.m. Ride Don’t Hide takes place in 27 Canadian cities. For more info or to register, visit ridedonthide.com/bc.
  5. Help Mother Nature this Sunday, June 21, by volunteering with the Weedbusters program at Burnaby Lake Regional Park from 1 to 4 p.m. You can help remove invasive plants that threaten to overtake and choke native species. Meet in the Glencarin parking lot. Info: 604-432-6359.