History of the Oak Bay Tea Party

2024 celebrates the 62nd anniversary of the Oak Bay Tea Party!

The Oak Bay Tea Party began as a “one time event” in the summer of 1962 when the late Allan Cox, Q.C. was the Reeve of Oak Bay. It was so successful that it became an annual event since then. Originally, the Oak Bay Tea Party was run by a group of volunteers, most of whom were members of the Oak Bay Kiwanis Club, who called themselves “The Oak Bay Bored of Trade”. Since 1990, the Tea Party has been run by the Oak Bay Tea Party Society, a non-profit society dedicated solely to putting on the Tea Party on the first Saturday and Sunday of June each year at Willows Park.

The Tea Party Society has had four chairs: the late Fred Usher, the late Marcel Barsalou, Bill Murphy-Dyson, and the current chair, Sandy Germain. Beginning Friday at 4:00 p.m.  with amusement rides and entertainment on the stage, followed by the Oak Bay Tea Party Parade on Saturday morning from Windsor Park to Willows Park, the Tea Party is a weekend community celebration, complete with entertainment, midway, bathtub races and an air show (subject to weather).

The Society is run completely by volunteers and is proud to assist the following non-profit organizations raise funds for their worthwhile charitable causes:

• Kiwanis Club of Oak Bay
• Esquimalt Lions Club
• Saanich Lions Club
• Girl Guides of Canada
• Oak Bay Sea Rescue Society