Fort Rodd Hill will be bringing out the big guns for the Fab Forts event on Sunday, Aug. 18.
Parks Canada sites and parks across the country will all be celebrating the same event, spotlighting the nation's military and historic forts.
At noon the 5th Regiment will join a trans-Canada 100-gun salute, which begins at Signal Hill, Newfoundland and ends at Fort Rodd Hill.
"It's a really big deal for us," said Bob Campbell, collections manager at the fort. "Being on the West Coast, and the furthest in the time zones, we are the last to do the salute."
The shot will mark the official beginning of an afternoon of live music, wartime weapons demonstrations, military and aviation displays, jeep rides, a pirate school, a bouncy castle, a scavenger hunt, water gun competitions, volleyball tournaments and food vendors.
New this year will be a white glove exhibition of the some of the fort's more rare and delicate items from the archives.
"We're going to pull some stuff out of our artifacts that normally people don't see," Campbell said. "Maybe a group of medals from a very famous soldier, maybe a uniform that belonged to somebody, maybe some personal letters that were written by somebody who was a local here in Victoria. … I have a wealth of stuff I could pull out."
The event runs from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Regular site admission fees apply. Military, veterans and their families will be admitted free.
kwells@goldstreamgazette.com