39 Days of July

39 Days of July turns downtown Duncan into Vancouver Island's summer soundtrack — a free, donation-supported live music festival that runs for nearly six weeks from late June into early August. Presented by the Duncan Cowichan Festival Society, it fills the heart of the City of Totems with an astonishing amount of live music, most of it original, and almost all of it free to enjoy. For locals and visitors alike, it is the beating heart of summer in the Cowichan Valley.

The format is wonderfully simple: pull up a chair or a patch of grass and take in the show. The main stage in City Square hosts concerts throughout the run, with kids' performances in the park and the popular Blues on Tuesdays series adding to the weekly rhythm. Because the festival champions original, homegrown music, it is a fantastic way to discover Island songwriters and bands you will not hear anywhere else, all in a friendly, small-town setting where the musicians mingle with the crowd. Everything is powered by audience donations, so bringing a few dollars for the bucket keeps the music playing. Downtown Duncan's cafes, restaurants, shops and famous totem poles are right there to explore between sets, and the surrounding Cowichan Valley wineries and farms make an easy day trip. Whether you catch a single show or make a habit of it all summer, 39 Days of July is free, welcoming and quintessentially Cowichan.