Back to the Future Day inspires art, fundraisers, and a DeLorean in Halifax

It was a day of "Great Scotts!" and double takes.

Hundreds of people in downtown Halifax were gleeful when a custom-designed DeLorean was parked on Barrington Street Wednesday afternoon in honour of Back to the Future Day.

The celebrations are a reference to the day Marty McFly travels to the future in the second chapter of the iconic movie trilogy: Oct. 21, 2015.

People have been marking the 1989 film in unique ways. Even Health Canada got on board, issuing a fake recall of the DeLorean.

For the past five years, Trevor MacDonald of Fall River has spent countless hours building his tribute to this day: an authentic "time-travelling" DeLorean.

"I built it all myself," he said. "The DeLorean was restored first. Then all the parts are basically years of scouring eBay and foreign sites and trying to find these obsolete parts."

Through the afternoon, MacDonald watched as crowds examined every detail of his pride and joy — from the flux capacitor (which makes time travel possible) to the hoverboard on the passenger seat.

"All the flux bands and the vents on it. Those were days and days and hours and hours, trying to get it exactly right."

The vehicle even charmed the local parking enforcement officer, who hauled out his camera instead of tickets to mark the occasion.

Inspirational event

Inside Argyle Fine Art, the significance of the day was not lost on the gallery, which was filled with pieces made in honour of the movies. Artists made Doc birthday cards in honour of Emmett "Doc" Brown (Christopher Lloyd), portraits inspired by Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox), and an old running shoe was turned into a mini DeLorean.

"Tomorrow Back to the Future will be our past," said Adriana Afford of Argyle Fine Art. "It's kind of crazy. I'm excited to see what the future will bring."

The store partnered with Giant Robot Comics to sell limited-edition comics that were released Wednesday morning. 

Future-themed fundraising

Some people were turning the event into an opportunity to help the future of others. After appearing in Halifax, the custom DeLorean was heading to Truro for a Back to the Future Magic Party for Parkinson's disease.

Meanwhile, accounting firm Swain and Associates decided to have a pub crawl to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society.

"It's something that's near and dear to our hearts," manager Cathy Giordani said of the movie and the cause. "There's been quite a bit of work into this ... there's going to be games. There's prizes involved that people who do like Back to the Future will like, but I won't give it away."

The idea was so popular they've sold out spots for the tour, with more members of the public going along than actual staff.

"I wish we all had hoverboards but I think that's out of the budget right now," joked organizer Catherine Chapman.