VICTORIA: The holidays aren’t over yet at the Royal BC Museum! Use your time off to take part in some festive fun, learning events and archives adventures.

Keep the holiday celebrations going with Christmas in Old Town. Enjoy Victorian-era decorations as you stroll the wood-cobbled streets of Old Town, now until Tuesday, January 9. Included with museum admission or membership.

The Royal BC Museum, BC Archives and IMAX Victoria are closed on December 25 and 26 and January 1. The Food Truck Festival in the courtyard behind the museum is closed December 24, 25, 26, 31 and January 1.

A little late writing your holiday cards? Don’t worry! We’ve got you covered with Letter Writing Week from 11:00 am to 2:00 pm Tuesday, January 2 to Sunday, January 7.  We’ve got everything you need, including paper, pens, envelopes and stamps. Included with museum admission or membership.

Learn more about the people on whose land we are situated, the Lekwungen speaking people, at Wonder Sunday: Local Land. This family program runs Sunday January 7, 14, 21 and 28 from 1:00 pm to 3:00 pm.

Dr. Joel Gibson, curator of entomology, and Dr. Henry Choong, curator of invertebrate zoology, will tell tales from their adventures aboard the Canada C3 vessel this past summer at Live at Lunch: from Haida Gwaii to the Salish Sea. This program takes place on Wednesday, January 3 from noon to 1:00 pm; admission is by donation.

Examine our troubling history of Japanese Canadian internment with a talk from distinguished oral historian Dr. Pamela Sugiman.  Sugiman will deliver her lecture, Acts of Kindness and Complicity, on Sunday, January 28 from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm; admission is by donation. 

Looking for things to do with friends and family over the holidays? Visit our feature exhibition Wildlife Photographer of the Year, open until April 2, 2018. See the 100 winning images (from almost 50,000 entries) of this annual contest. The exhibition is developed and produced by the Natural History Museum in London.

There is still one more award to be won: you are invited to vote for the 2017 People’s Choice Award. The Wildlife Photographer of the Year jury has chosen 25 of the best images from the 2017 competition as shortlisted nominees in this category.

View the nominees and vote at http://www.nhm.ac.uk/visit/wpy/community/peoples-choice/2017/index.html Voting closes on February 5, 2018. Participants are invited to share their selection with @NHM_WPY on Twitter using the hashtag #MyWPY to be eligible to win a copy of Portfolio 27, published by the Natural History Museum, London. 

Enjoying an embarrassing abundance of spare time over the holidays? Use it at the BC Archives, where you can do some digging into your family roots in BC or begin your research for that great BC historical novel you’ve been putting off writing.  You can begin your research online or visit the Reading Room to meet our staff and start your voyage in person. Visit https://royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/bc-archives/visit/hours-and-location for holiday hours.

For more information about any of these events, visit our online calendar at royalbcmuseum.bc.ca/visit/calendar.