Whether it rains, shines, or both (most likely) this weekend, the cherry blossom canopies are in full bloom and there is lots to do under them (as well as lots to do under a solid roof.) We’ve got Led Zeppelin and Nirvana cover bands, walks and a bike ride through the pinkest most flowery streets in the city, picnics, and a whole lot of art!
Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing
Friday April 10
Pi Theatre Presents: Blasted (opens tonight)
Where: Performance Works (Granville Island)
What: A play about what happens when domestic and war-related violence intersect. Are you ready to be Blasted?
Runs until: Saturday April 25, 2015
Nirvana Night (early show)
Where: Fortune Sound Club (147 East Pender)
What: Local bands flood the room with the angsty, angry, iconic lifeblood of the 90s, covering song after song of gen x gloom. Take the stage yourself as well – there’s karaoke in between sets. Presented by Cherchez La Femme & BeatRoute Magazine
Curationism: How Curating Took Over the Art World and Everything Else
Curationism: How Curating Took Over the Art World and Everything Else
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: David Balzer delivers a talk traveling through art history and around the globe to explore the cult of curation — where it began, how it came to dominate museums and galleries, and how it was co-opted at the turn of the millennium as the dominant mode of organizing.
The 8th Annual LADIES FIRST Art Show & Tour (closing reception)
Where: Hot Art Wet City (2206 Main) 7pm
What: An international pop-art show with works by women, featuring the female form or representing feminine themes. And before you go speculating what exactly is feminine, the show is wide open on what that means to each exhibiting artist.
New Works at the Ayden Gallery. This image by: Rachael Stableford
New Works by Rachel Stableford, Kevin Ledo, James Knight, Kaz Simpson, Tina Yan (opening reception at 7pm)
Where: Ayden Gallery (88 West Pender, 2nd floor)
What: A haven for both emerging and established artists, don’t miss the Ayden Gallery’s latest collection. From Stableford’s colourful pop to Ledo’s sometimes ethereal mix of graphics and realism.
Runs until: Sunday May 3, 2015
The Wacken Metal Battle Canada – BC Finals
Where: The Rickshaw Theatre
What: BC’s metal finalists thrash it out for the chance to represent our province in the Wacken Metal Battle Canada. Winners will compete against Canada’s other provinces’ finest metal bands and the winner will represent Canada in one of the largest open-air metal festivals in Germany.
Mascall Dance presents The Three Cornered Hat
Where: Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie)
What: Interconnected vignettes are stitched together by the performers as they construct worlds out of piles of red artists’ notebooks building sculptural structures imbued with multi-layered meanings. An intimate performance configuration provides the audience with close proximity to the performers and a heightened sense of the work. Tickets available at Tickets Tonight.
Runs until: Saturday April 11, 2015
Salt-Water Moon
Where: Havana Theatre (1212 Commercial Drive)
What: A theatre performance written by David French. Jacob and Mary are in love. At least they were a year ago, before Jacob up and left to Toronto without so much as a goodbye. A year later Jacob returns to try to win back his love, who is now engaged.
Salad Days: a Decade of Punk in Washington, D.C. (1980-90)
Where: The Vogue Theatre
What: A documentary screening that examines the early DIY punk scene in the Washington DC.
Saturday April 11
Gallery Hop Vancouver 2015
Where: Various locations
What: A day of art, talks and tours. Tours are available to have a closer look at galleries of many Vancouver neighborhoods, such as Downtown, Gastown/Chinatown, Main Street, and more.
Sakura Days Japan Fair
Sakura Days Japan Fair
Where: VanDusen Gardens
What: The cherry blossoms are in bloom! VanDusen Gardens hosts culinary demonstrations, “tree spirit fairies”, DIY musical instruments and kite making workshops. Come as your favourite anime character and be a part of the cosplay parade. Meet & greet with voice stars of popular anime shows including Dragonball Z, Inuyasha, Gundam Seed and Black Lagoon!
Runs until: Sunday April 12th, 2015
The Seventh Annual CARDED!
Where: Hot Art Wet City (2206 Main) 7pm
What: Buy, collect and trade the art of fifty artists reproduced on trading cards. Sold in mixed packs of five random cards for $5. Want a specific card? Trade with the other people at the party! How bad do you want it?
Zepparella – An all-female Led Zeppelin cover band
Zepparella
Where: Commodore Ballroom
What: Woah woah woah. Yes, there is an all-female tribute band to Led Zeppelin. Need I say more? Because I’ll say it again: All-female Led Zeppelin tribute band! With guests Hell’s Belles
Bike the Blossoms – photo credit: Joseph Lin
Bike The Blossoms
Where: Starts at Trout Lake at 11am (3300 Victoria Drive)
What: Bike among some of Vancouver’s most blossomed streets from Trout Lake to Queen Elizabeth Park. Be prepared for a few hills, but this is open to all cycling abilities.
Lemon Bucket Orkestra
Where: The Fox Cabaret
What: Fifteen-piece (yes, there will be fifteen people on the stage) Balkan-Klezmer-Gypsy-Punk-Super-Party band rocks horns, fiddles, vocals and more – with guests Maz from Quebec.
Mozart & Salieri
Where: Orpheum Theatre
What: Rimsky-Korsakov’s one-act, two-scene opera Mozart & Salieri follows the (almost certainly untrue) legend that Salieri poisoned Mozart (also the subject of the film Amadeus).
Little India
Where: Fortune Sound Club (147 East Pender)
What: CBC Searchlight competitors, this threesome is adorable indie pop-rock.
Mascall Dance presents The Three Cornered Hat (ends tonight)
Where: Scotiabank Dance Centre (677 Davie)
What: Interconnected vignettes are stitched together by the performers as they construct worlds out of piles of red artists’ notebooks building sculptural structures imbued with multi-layered meanings. An intimate performance configuration provides the audience with close proximity to the performers and a heightened sense of the work. Tickets available at Tickets Tonight.
Sunday April 12
Sakura Days Japan Fair
Where: VanDusen Gardens
What: The cherry blossoms are in bloom! VanDusen Gardens hosts culinary demonstrations, “tree spirit fairies”, DIY musical instruments and kite making workshops. Come as your favourite anime character and be a part of the cosplay parade. Meet & Greet with voice stars of popular anime shows including Dragonball Z, Inuyasha, Gundam Seed and Black Lagoon!
Petal Mat Picnics
Where: Various locations in Vancouver and Richmond
What: Bring your own picnic or enjoy food trucks to launch the Festival’s newly designed mini tarp, the Petal Mat, to prove “there is no stranger under the cherry tree!”
Baker’s Market 2015 (opens this weekend)
Where: Moberly Arts & Cultural Centre (7646 Prince Albert St.) 11am-3pm
What: Every Sunday, find beautifully decorated iced sugar cookies, cupcakes, French macarons, croissants, breads, scones, toffees, chocolates, marshmallows, gluten-free, organic, baked goods, and much more.
Runs until: June 14, 2015
The Original Bridal Swap
The Original Bridal Swap
Where: Croatian Cultural Centre
What: Dresses decorations, and more – there may not be something new or something borrowed, but come down to find something old (or many) for your wedding.
Ongoing
Come Fly AboveUSA! (ends this weekend)
Where: FlyOver Canada
What: A multi-sensory ride/film found right downtown! Soar over the USA and enjoy the scenery.
Runs until: Sunday April 12, 2015
Arts Club Theatre Company presents Vanya and Sonia and Masha and Spike
Where: Arts Club Theatre Company – Stanley Alliance Industrial Stage
What: Christopher Durang’s witty mash-up of Chekhov characters and smartphones for our hyperconnected era. Middle-aged siblings Vanya and Sonia live an angst-ridden, melancholic existence on their family farm until their glamorous movie-star sister, Masha, swans in for a surprise visit-along with her hunky 20-something boy toy, Spike.
Runs until: Sunday April 19, 2015
Contemporary Art Gallery Presents Jeremy Shaw – Medium-Based Time
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery, 12pm-6pm
What: This show features Berlin-based Canadian artist Jeremy Shaw, including a black and white 16mm film of transgender voguer Leiomy Maldonado, a video installation that reworks archival ethnographic film into a dystopian science fiction narrative, and a new series of light-activated UV prints.
Runs until: Sunday April 19, 2015
The Cultch presents Famous Puppet Death Scenes
Where: The Cultch (Vancouver East Cultural Centre)
What: Through the magic of puppetry and a collection of famous scenes culled from the absolute best puppet shows in history, the Old Trouts promise to cure your fear of death. They will deconstruct your traumatized psyche and reconstruct you so that death means nothing to you anymore.
Runs until: Sunday April 19, 2015
Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
Where: Various locations
What: The blossoms are in bloom and raining softly on streets all over our city! Join the celebration with events all over Vancouver.
Runs until: Wednesday April 29, 2015
Arts Club Theatre Company presents Farewell, My Lovely
Where: Arts Club Theatre Company – Granville Island Stage
What: Crooks. Dames. Smoking guns and crystal balls. More dead bodies than your average graveyard. Tickets available at Tickets Tonight
Runs until: Saturday May 2, 2015
New Works by Rachel Stableford, Kevin Ledo, James Knight, Kaz Simpson, Tina Yan
Where: Ayden Gallery (88 West Pender, 2nd floor)
What: A haven for both emerging and established artists, don’t miss the Ayden Gallery’s latest collection. From Stableford’s colourful pop to Ledo’s sometimes ethereal mix of graphics and realism.
Runs until: Sunday May 3, 2015
Capture Photography Festival Feature Exhibition: Images that Speak
Where: Satellite Gallery (560 Seymour St.)
What: The exhibition showcases ten local and international contemporary artists, many showing in Vancouver for the first time, whose works call into question how photographic images speak to us.
Runs until: Saturday May 16, 2015
Cézanne and the Modern at the Vancouver Art Gallery
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: This exhibition comprises some fifty works and includes major paintings by Edgar Degas, Amedeo Modigliani, Camille Pissarro and Vincent van Gogh among others, as well as sculpture by Paul Gauguin, Wilhelm Lembruck and Jacques Lipchitz.
Runs until: Monday May 18, 2015
Western Waters: The Royal Canadian Navy On Our Coast
Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum
What: The Royal Canadian Navy On Our Coast is a journey through the individual stories, strategic operations and accomplishments of our local RCN during the wars of the 20th century.
Runs until: Spring 2015
Material Future, The Architecture of Herzog & de Meuron and the Vancouver Art Gallery
Where: The Vancouver Art Gallery
What: An exhibition featuring the work of renowned Swiss architectural firm Herzog & de Meuron, the design architects of the new Vancouver Art Gallery building.
Runs until: Sunday October 4, 2015
Cesna?em, the City Before the City
Where: Museum of Anthropology, Musqueam Cultural Education Resource Centre, Museum of Vancouver
What: A transformative journey to explore an ancient landscape and living culture that can be found right underneath Vancouver’s nose. Tickets available at Tickets Tonight
Runs until: December 30, 2015
What are you up to this weekend? Tell me and the rest of Vancouver in the comments below.
