Inside Vancouver

Free parking lot concert May 4 – The New Pornographers!

by Shawn Conner in Entertainment on May 3, 2013

Neko Case with the New Pornographers at Summer Live in Stanley Park, Vancouver, July 9 2011. Photo credit: Anja Weber

However you feel about energy drinks – vital pick-me-up or insidious marketing ploy – their parent companies certainly know a thing or two about promotion. Case in point: Red Bull, perhaps the best known of all the energy drinks, is sponsoring a series of free shows. What better way to get the brand’s name in the minds of its target demographic of music lovers with disposable income? The first in the series of what the brand is calling “the Red Bull Tour Bus Hometown Concerts” is in Vancouver tomorrow, Saturday May 4, in a parking lot at Georgia and Cambie. The band: local (never mind that at least two prominent members live in the U.S.) indie-rock heroes The New Pornographers. Continue reading:
Free parking lot concert May 4 – The New Pornographers!

Free Tickets to See Jessie Ware at the Commodore

by Remy Scalza in Entertainment on April 2, 2013

jessie-ware-2012 She’s all the rage in the UK. Her debut album was named one of the best of 2012. And she’s been hailed as “the missing link between Adele, SBTRKT and Sade.”

And now Jessie Ware is coming to Vancouver for a performance at the Commodore Ballroom, April 8. Read on for details on how to win a pair of tickets. Continue reading:
Free Tickets to See Jessie Ware at the Commodore

Vancouver St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2013

by Taraneh in Events on March 5, 2013

Photo credit: CelticFest Vancouver

Get ready to green it up, folks. The Vancouver Saint Patrick’s Day Parade 2013 will (sham)rock downtown Vancouver Sunday, March 17.

Vancouver is good at celebrating St. Patrick’s Day. We’ve got CelticFest – nine straight days of Celtic food and drink, music and dancing from March 9 to 17. Then there’s the ultimate shake-your-shamrocks St. Patrick’s Day party at the Blarney Stone in historic Gastown on March 17.

But the biggest event by far is the St. Patrick’s Day Parade which draws a crowd of 350,000+ spectators and features 2,000 participants, including Celtic and Irish dancers, award-winning pipe and drum bands, acrobats, stilt walkers, antique vehicles, the Vancouver police motorcycle drill team, and more.

The parade starts at 11am March 17. Find all the details you need on the parade route after the jump. Continue reading:
Vancouver St. Patrick’s Day Parade 2013

Top 6 Free Events at Winterruption Fest 2013 in Vancouver, Feb 22-24

by Remy Scalza in Events on February 20, 2013

Photo credit: Mazacote

February doldrums got you down? Take a break from the blahs this weekend at Winterruption, the annual music, food and cultural festival on Granville Island, Feb. 22-Feb. 24

This is the eighth instalment of Winterruption, which draws thousands of people and this year includes a special celebration of Francophone culture, an outdoor street food festival with beer, a full weekend of live music at Performance Works, a Kids Zone and more.

Here’s a list of 6 can’t-miss free happenings at this year’s Winterruption:

Free French Wine Tasting: Any event combining “free” and “French wine” has to be a winner. This tasting, part of the Francophone Festival, offers tipplers a sipping tour of France’s best, from rich Bordeaux to rustic Cotes-de-Rhones. Feb. 22, 2 p.m.-5 p.m.; Liberty Wine Merchants; free.

[ART]ifacts: The Granville Island Story: Granville Island is Vancouver’s center of artisan culture, with dozens of galleries and workshops turning out everything from fine jewelry to handmade brooms. Join this guided, walking tour for a look at some of the island’s most enduring and innovative artistic landmarks and stories about the artists behind them. Feb. 22-Feb. 24, 1 p.m. (tour is 45 minutes); starts at Kids Zone info booth; free. Continue reading:
Top 6 Free Events at Winterruption Fest 2013 in Vancouver, Feb 22-24

Win tickets to Vancouver Dine Out Fest’s wildest party – Dinner at the Birdcage, Jan 31

by Remy Scalza in Events on January 21, 2013

Combine great food and cocktails, a New Orleans-style supper club and Vancouver’s most fabulous drag queens and what do you get?

Quite possibly one of the can’t-miss events of the 2013 Dine Out Vancouver Festival (For details on how you can win free tickets, read on).

On Jan. 31 the Vancouver FanClub hosts Dinner at the Birdcage, a culinary drag spectacular starring the city’s celebrity drag queens. Over a three-course dinner and cocktails, soak up the sights and sounds of 11 outrageous performance numbers on FanClub’s stage from the likes of drag legends Joan-E, Carlotta Gurl, Coco and others.

Haven’t been to FanClub yet? The brand new venue on Granville Street brings together live music on one of the city’s best stages with a southern-style barbecue menu and great drinks. French colonial doors, wood floors and a second-floor balcony looking down on the action all lend a New Orleans music hall feel. It’s a fantastic (and still relatively undiscovered) place to grab a drink and a bite to eat and see some great live blues and jazz shows.

FanClub is serving a deluxe barbecue menu for Dine Out, the citywide restaurant festival running Jan. 18-Feb. 3 that features hundreds of discount menus, plus dozens of creative culinary events. Continue reading:
Win tickets to Vancouver Dine Out Fest’s wildest party – Dinner at the Birdcage, Jan 31