Inside Vancouver

SkyTrain Halloween Party 2011 on Friday, October 28

by Dana Lynch in Events on October 27, 2011

If you want to party in your Halloween costume this weekend, there are a lot of events and nightclub blow-outs happening all over Vancouver. But there is one that stands out for its truly unusual venue: the annual SkyTrain Halloween Party, which, just like the name implies, happens on an actual SkyTrain.

Organized by the folks at the Vancouver Public Space Network (VPSN), a grassroots collective that “engages in advocacy, outreach and education on public space issues in and around Vancouver,” the SkyTrain Halloween Party is a chance for people to experience a common public space in an uncommon way. In 2008, VPSN’s Andrew Pask told The Buzzer, “People think of public spaces as a static entity, that what they’re used for is the only thing they can be used for….We encourage people to celebrate them and animate them, and these transit parties enable that.”

So how does it work?

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SkyTrain Halloween Party 2011 on Friday, October 28

Ready to Party? Vancouver’s Hottest Halloween Parties for 19+

by Dana Lynch in Events on October 24, 2011

Halloween at Republic Nightclub. Photo: Club Zone / Republic

If you’re over 19, Halloween can be the perfect excuse for a night of old-school debauchery; heck, since Halloween is on Monday this year, you can debauch yourself all weekend! Get ready to drink, dance, and party the night away with hundreds (or even thousands) at Vancouver’s hottest nightclubs and Halloween parties.

Vancouver’s Hottest Halloween 19+ Parties 2011

1. Parade of Lost Souls Dance Party – Saturday, October 29
The folks behind the Parade of Lost Souls/Secret Souls Walk are hosting a dance party/fundraiser that features DJs Timothy Wisdom, Rico Uno, Cherchez La Femme, and MY!GAY!HUSBAND!, plus elaborately-costumed professional artists and performers from Parade of Lost Souls and outdoor fire performances.

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Ready to Party? Vancouver’s Hottest Halloween Parties for 19+

Free Halloween Movies at the Vancouver Halloween Drive-In on October 28 & 29

by Dana Lynch in Entertainment on October 20, 2011

Update: After I posted this piece, I was contacted by Fresh Air Cinema and asked to remove the titles of the films being shown due to licensing restrictions. So to find out what’s playing, please visit the Halloween Drive In site.

Just in time for Halloween, Fresh Air Cinema is erecting a four-story-high drive-in movie screen at 200 West 1st Avenue, Vancouver, (just east of the Cambie Street Bridge, formerly the ‘Cavalia’ venue site) to show two classic, family-friendly Halloween movies on Friday, October 28, and Saturday, October 29.

Called the Halloween Drive In, this outdoor venue will be a traditional “drive in” movie theatre: cars will be parked in front of the screen, just as they would at any old-fashioned drive-in movie. It’s $20 per car, but the movies are FREE for anyone walking in or on their bikes. (It’s just a few blocks to the Halloween Drive-In from the Broadway-City Hall Canada Line station, so walking in will be easy!)

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Free Halloween Movies at the Vancouver Halloween Drive-In on October 28 & 29

Dunbar Haunted House Opens This Weekend

by Dana Lynch in Events on October 14, 2011

Most of Vancouver’s Top 10 Halloween Events & Attractions are put together by major institutions and businesses, like the Parks Board-run Stanley Park Ghost Train and Fright Nights at the PNE. But there is one top attraction that’s run solely by two private Vancouver families, for fun and for charity: Dunbar Haunted House.

Started in 2004 as a way to “re-kindle the Halloween spirit” for their local trick-or-treaters, two families in Vancouver’s Dunbar neighbourhood decided to turn their home into a haunted house. As their project grew—as the haunted house became more and more elaborate, eventually requiring a hundred volunteers to assemble the sophisticated props and set-ups—they began charging visitors a donation, with all proceeds benefiting local charities. In 2010, Dunbar Haunted House raised $67,000 for B.C. Professional Fire Fighters’ Burn Fund, the Vancouver Police Union Charity Foundation, and the Lower Mainland Christmas Bureau!

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Dunbar Haunted House Opens This Weekend

Vancouver Halloween Fun For Kids – Halloween Events & Free Parties for the Younger Set

by Dana Lynch in Family Friendly on October 13, 2011

Trick or Treak in Yaletown. Photo: Yaletown BIA

Costumes, candy, Trick or Treat—Halloween is a big deal when you’re a kid, and there are lots of things to do in Vancouver to celebrate the holiday for kids 10 and under.

While a few of the Top 10 Vancouver Halloween Events & Attractions are appropriate for younger kids, many aren’t (they’re genuinely scary or better for teens than toddlers), and there are other, smaller events just for kids that I didn’t include in that Top 10 list. So here’s a round-up of all the Vancouver Halloween events for the younger set:

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Vancouver Halloween Fun For Kids – Halloween Events & Free Parties for the Younger Set