The city’s torch relay committee can’t wait until Monday.

The new Spirit Square and Tyee Plaza parking lot will be packed with events and activities, from an inflatable jumbotron TV to stages for live music to activities for kids. In fact, there will be so much to do that setup starts tomorrow night.

“It’s quite an extensive project,” committee chair Michelle Babchuk told council Tuesday night.

Babchuk said the committee decided to create its own event to celebrate the Olympic torch’s arrival on Monday, after learning how much it would cost in licencing and merchandising fees to bring in an official sponsored event.

She said the committee instead decided to put together something “the whole community could afford.”

And they’ve put together a program full of local artists, entertainers and musicians that will keep people busy all afternoon, for free.

The highlight of the day will be when the torch arrives downtown at 6 p.m., carried by Steve Nagle, who will use it to light the cauldron set up in the Spirit Square.

The Campbell River Children’s Choir will sing the national anthem, and the audience will be invited to light their own torches.

About 6,000 candles will be handed out to the crowd, which will be lit from person to person. Babchuk said the committee hopes it will help people catch the spirit of enthusiasm surrounding the torch’s arrival.

The committee has tried to make the event something everyone can participate in, from artists to the audience.

For example, the Shoreline Arts Society will hold a driftwood inukshuk contest, challenging amateur artists to create sculptures which look like the traditional Inuit inukshuk (a human figure) out of driftwood along the torch relay route. The society will judge the sculptures and award prizes. To enter, take a photo of your creation and send it to crtorchrelay@ourmail.com

For more information about Monday’s events, and for a detailed schedule and a site map, see the “Spirit of the Flame” special section in this newspaper.