Design Victoria returns to celebrate island’s growing design community
Design Victoria, a four day festival celebrating the City of Victoria and the island’s growing design community, is making a comeback this spring.
The festival, organized by Design Victoria’s partners, will take place from May 1 to 4, 2025, and feature events across the city and beyond including special installations, exhibitions, events, open houses, tours and workshops, and the official launch party.
Launched in May 2023 with the hope of bringing together a handful of events, Design Victoria is the first festival to celebrate Greater Victoria’s growing design community, and one of the first of its kind in BC.
At the time, the festival worked collaboratively with designers and design businesses to generate ideas for special installations, exhibitions, events, open houses, tours and workshops, which resulted in a variety of programming that reflected the expertise, innovation and unique style of individual designers. The inaugural festival exceeded expectations with 3,000 attendees to 35 individual events.
Design Victoria was conceived by Carla Sorrell, director of Design Victoria, and Will Sorrell, director of the the Interior Design Show. Both were involved in the UK’s creative sector before moving to Victoria in 2020.
The following is a lineup of events revolving around interior design that will be taking place at Design Victoria this year.
On Friday May 2, 2025, at 1:00 p.m., attendees will have the opportunity to join Floform for an interactive design event in the showroom, featuring multiple demonstration stations showcasing various Wilsonart countertop and vertical surface applications.
Attendees will be able to explore quartz, porcelain, laminate, and solid surface materials while engaging with hands-on displays. Participants will enjoy drinks and apitizers, while seeing firsthand how fabrication, seams, repairs, and installs are done, gaining insight into industry techniques.
Talk: Montauk with Karl Lohnes
On May 2 at 2:00 p.m., home and design expert Karl Lohnes will discuss the perception (and practicality) of luxury in a fast-paced world. Lohnes is an editor at Style At Home magazine, an interior and product designer, artist and brand consultant. He also frequently appears on television and radio and is the Design Ambassador for Montauk Sofa, a sustainable and luxury sofa company.
Talk & Drinks: Lighting Design with Matthew Mccormick
On May 2 at 4:00 p.m., Matthew Mccormick will share his personal journey from founding Matthew McCormick Studio as a solo entrepreneur, to building a values-led company. He will detail the introspective journey to articulate his “why,” which draws a parallel to how he sees the world and collects inspiration.
Workshop: Floral Design & Colour
On May 4 at 1:00 p.m., attendees will have the opportunity to get inspired by Benjamin Moore’s 2025 colour trends in a way they can take home. In this workshop, they’ll be able to build their own flower bouquet using blossoms in colours from the 2025 trends palette.
A Lifetime is an immersive vignette by Pamela Billinghurst and Renske Werner that aims to blend design with storytelling. At its heart is a dining table, the central piece of the installation, around which unfolds the narrative of a family’s life journey. Through hand-drawn illustrations projected onto the table, the story captures the intimate occasions, everyday rituals, and significant milestones that define life at home.