Happy Holidays! Although the events slow down a bit this weekend, that’s not to say there’s nothing to do. There are many holiday light displays, shows, and markets for the whole family. And if the weather holds gorgeous, bundle up and head outside! Get some hot coffee to-go and a walk through one of the city’s many parks, or take a stroll through a neighborhood like Kitsilano, Commercial Drive, or the West End to see what shops and cafes are open to warm up in.
Friday December 23
The Original Ugly Sweater Christmas Party
The Original Ugly Sweater Christmas Party
Where: The Commodore Ballroom
What: A party to wear that festive sweater at. Dance, drink, and win prizes.
Ongoing
Christmas Queen 3: Bachelorette Edition (ends this weekend)
Where: The Improv Centre (Granville Island)
What: This episode of The Christmas Queen saga sees HRM (Her Royal Meanness) as the star of her own reality show. She insists that the finale be filmed and aired live on Christmas Eve and her poor, brow-beaten director Bob Matchit can’t talk her out of it. Not only will his Christmas be ruined but her plan is to ruin the Christmas of all her suitors.
Runs until: Friday December 23, 2016
The Day Before Christmas (ends this weekend)
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: Alex is a perfectionist who is desperately holding fast to her Christmas traditions. While juggling family and work—and a movie star—she loses control of her holiday plans, and her home becomes a disaster zone. Can she save the turkey from the dog and salvage a broken-down tree? Find out in this infectious comedy.
Runs until: Saturday December 24, 2016
Potted Potter (ends this weekend)
Where: The Vogue
What: Playing to sold out houses all over the world, this production takes on the ultimate challenge of condensing all seven Harry Potter books (and a real life game of Quidditch) into 70 hilarious minutes. This fantastically funny show features all your favorite characters, a special appearance from a fire-breathing dragon, endless costumes, brilliant songs, ridiculous props and a generous helping of Hogwarts magic.
Runs until: Saturday December 24, 2016
Vancouver Christmas Market
Vancouver Christmas Market
Where: Jack Poole Plaza
What: A new location this year right on the harbor front. Get in there with a mix of traditional food and beverage, wood carvings and toys, knitted goods, nutcrackers, pottery and other crafty gifts. The kids (and maybe childish adults?) can make Christmas gifts and ride a Christmas carousel.
Runs until: Saturday December 31, 2016
Enchant Christmas Light Maze
Enchant Christmas Light Maze
Where: Olympic Village
What: What may be the world’s largest Christmas light maze is made up of over 55,000 sq. ft. of illuminated sculptures arranged to create the an atmosphere of evening adventure. Along with the maze, Enchant features a market with over 40 local vendors, 12 food trucks and a licensed eating area where you can eat, drink, and get merry.
Runs until: Saturday December 31, 2016
Heritage Holiday at Fort Langley
Heritage Holiday at Fort Langley
Where: Fort Langley
What: Taste chestnuts by the open fireplace, craft a handwritten letter with pen and ink for a loved one, then relax with coffee or lunch at lelem’ at the fort Café. Watch hourly barrel-making and blacksmithing demonstrations, and at 12 pm and 2 pm, laugh along with a holiday-themed fur trade wedding.
Runs until: Saturday December 31, 2016
Avenue Q
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: The musical story of Princeton, a bright-eyed college graduate who arrives in New York City looking for love, a job, and his purpose in life. The only neighbourhood he can afford is the multicultural Avenue Q, where Sesame Street-esque puppets rub shoulders with humans. Part felt, part flesh, Avenue Q contains full puppet nudity and other vulgarities that will induce laughter.
Runs until: Saturday December 31, 2016
A Charlie Brown Christmas
Where: Carousel Theatre
What: Good grief! A lively musical adaption that also features a live jazz trio. Join Charlie Brown on his quirky journey as he tries to direct the school Christmas pageant. With some help from his friends and a ragged little tree, Charlie Brown discovers the true meaning of the season.
Runs until: Saturday December 31, 2016
Holy Mo! A Christmas Show
Where: Pacific Theatre
What: Folly, Guff, and Buffoona are back! And this time, it’s Christmas. A reverently irreverent re-imagining of the Nativity told with gusto and a questionable commitment to accuracy by Pacific Theatre’s three favourite fools.
Runs until: Saturday December 31, 2016
The Music Man
Where: Gateway Theatre
What: This beguiling and nostalgic family musical begins when fast-talking con man Harold Hill arrives in small town Iowa, singing empty promises about starting a glorious marching band to organize the local youth. Although all the townsfolk seem eager to follow his lead, the prim local librarian, Marian, threatens to reveal him as a fraud.
Runs until: Saturday December 31, 2016
East Van Panto: Little Red Riding Hood
East Van Panto: Little Red Riding Hood
Where: York Theatre
What: Little Red Riding Hood is bombing down the Adanac bike trail to deliver a basket of goodies to her sweet little granny. Cheer Little Red along as she battles everything from bike thieves to distracted drivers to The Big Bad Wolf. Suitable for kids 5 and up.
Runs until: Saturday December 31, 2016
Mary Poppins
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: Watch Mary Poppins fly over the rooftops of London, and feel like a kid again! Remember, anything can happen if you let it. This family musical featuring the unforgettable songs from the popular Disney film—A Spoonful of Sugar, Chim Chim Cher-ee, and Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious—is practically perfect in every way.
Runs until: Sunday January 1, 2017
Untangled Figures by Guillaume Leblon
Untangled Figures by Guillaume Leblon
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: Creating fictional landscapes or altering an existing space has long been Leblon’s favoured technique for fuelling uncertainty and doubt in order to undermine the stark purity and perfect finish of the museum.
Runs until: Sunday January 1, 2016
Après over the Holidays
Where: Sea to Sky Gondola
What: Wrap up a day of snowshoeing, tubing, exploring the backcountry or a headlamp hike tour by gathering with friends and family at the top of Sea to Sky Gondola for cocoa or a wintery stew as you cozy up and drink in the views from our Summit Lodge.
Runs until: Sunday January 1, 2017
Grouse Mountain Peak of Christmas
Peak of Christmas
Where: Grouse Mountain
What: It’s mountaintop holiday time. Bring your family to Santa’s workshop and meet reindeer, or take a sleigh-ride through a mystical alpine forest. You can also experience the tranquil beauty of skating on an 8,000 square foot mountaintop ice skating pond, surrounded by snow-topped trees or wander through an outdoor holiday lights display.
Runs until: Monday January 2, 2016
Christmas at Flyover
Where: Flyover Canada
What: FlyOver Canada will transform into a magical winter wonderland this Christmas season. Guests will have fun helping Santa search for his missing elves during an exhilarating flight across Canada and onto the North Pole.
Runs until: Monday January 2, 2016
Holiday Heights at the Bloedel Conservatory
Where: The Bloedel Conservatory
What: Experience a (warm) winter wonderland inside the Conservatory with lights, festive music, a holiday scavenger hunt, and more. Go to new heights with a holiday ferris wheel outside. Only $6.75 for adults, less for kids.
Runs until: Monday January 2, 2017
Canyon Lights
Canyon Lights
Where: Capilano Suspension Bridge Park
What: The suspension bridge, Treetops Adventure, Cliffwalk, the rainforest and canyon are transformed into a world of festive lights in the trees, over bridges, and in the little village. See the world’s tallest living Christmas tree (153 feet) go on a Snowy Owl Prowl, decorate gingerbread cookies and make your own Christmas card.
Runs until: Sunday January 8, 2016
All Together Now: Vancouver Collectors and Their Worlds
All Together Now: Vancouver Collectors and Their Worlds
Where: The Museum of Vancouver
What: 20 beautiful, rare, and unconventional collections, with something for everyone including corsets, prosthetics, pinball machines, taxidermy, toys, and much more. In this exhibition both collector and collected are objects of study, interaction, and delight.
Runs until: Sunday January 8, 2016
White, Steel, Slice, Mask
White, Steel, Slice, Mask
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: Working together for over a decade, the duo’s interdisciplinary practice typically instigates community-based models of participation in order to re-imagine a material record of the present. They investigate tactics of cultural representation while utilizing the methods of anthropology to examine various forms of collecting, interpretation and display.
Runs until: Sunday January 8, 2016
STOMP Out Hunger
Where: Red Truck Brewery
What: Everyone who drops off a cash or non-perishable food donation at the Red Truck Brewery before January 13th will receive a coupon good for $5 off a ticket to see the touring production of STOMP during its January 13th-15th run at Queen Elizabeth Theatre. In addition, Red Truck Beer will donate $1 from each pint of its seasonal beers sold in the Truck Stop during the month of December to the Vancouver Food Bank.
Runs until: January 13, 2016
Walker Evans: Depth of Field
Walker Evans: Depth of Field
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: The American photographer Walker Evans (1903–1975) is among the most influential artists of the 20th century. Covering the full arc of his career, Walker Evans: Depth of Field presents the most comprehensive look at Evans’ work ever mounted in Canada.
Runs until: January 22, 2017
Alexine McLeod
Alexine McLeod
Where: Monte Clark Gallery
What: The artist presents wall-mounted abstract compositions that combine everyday materials including plastic, fabric, found objects, and light.
Runs until: January 30, 2016
In the Footprint of the Crocodile Man
In the Footprint of the Crocodile Man
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: The Sepik River of Papua New Guinea is one of the largest river systems in the world, extraordinarily beautiful, but seldom visited. It is here that the Iatmul people, who live along its banks, have created internationally renowned works of art primarily inspired by stories of the majestic crocodile as the primordial creator. This unique exhibition will showcase the most comprehensive collection of contemporary Sepik art in North America for the first time. In addition to highlighting the exquisite carvings of Papua New Guinea’s latmul people, the exhibition will delve into their economic, cultural, and spiritual connections to the river system, drawing urgent attention to the logging and mining operations that pose environmental threats to the region.
Runs until: January 31, 2017
Juxtapoz x Superflat
Juxtapoz x Superflat
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: A manifesto for new creative practices that can no longer be adequately described by the traditional categories of art and production. Presenting the work of more than 30 artists from Japan, China, Korea, Europe and the United States this remarkable exhibition offers a unique insight into contemporary art and its place in cultural life.
Runs until: February 5, 2016
As Heavy as a Feather
As Heavy as a Feather
Where: Centre A
What: Indigenous Taiwanese artist Chang En Man is having her first exhibition in North America. Chang’s practice is characterized by a dynamic interplay between story, tradition, and the struggles of indigenous peoples in the face of ongoing experiences of colonization.
Runs until: February 11, 2016
Robson Square Ice Rink
Robson Square Ice Rink
Where: Robson Square
What: Ice skate for free or rent a pair for $4 on this outdoor, covered public rink right downtown.
Runs until: February 14, 2017
Judy Chartrand, What a Wonderful World
Where: The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
What: Her beautiful and provocative work presents her own personal history and insights into life in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver, and commentary on racism and post–colonial relations between Indigenous and non–Indigenous cultures.
Runs until: February 19, 2016
Layers of Influence
Layers of Influence
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: This stunning exhibition will explore clothing’s inherent evidence of human ingenuity, creativity and skill, drawing from MOA’s textile collection — the largest collection in Western Canada — to display a global range of materials, production techniques and adornments across different cultures and time frames.
Runs until: April 9, 2017
Vancouver Special
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: The first iteration of this series and it features works by 40 artists produced within the last five years—Vancouver’s post-Olympic period. The exhibition includes many emerging artists as well as those who are more established but whose ideas were prescient. Some are recent arrivals to Vancouver, while others are long-term residents who have already made significant contributions. Others are nomadic, less settled in one place and are working energetically between several locations.
Runs until: April 17, 2016
Nat Bailey Stadium Winter Farmers Market
Nat Bailey Stadium Winter Farmers Market
Where: Nat Bailey Stadium
What: Don’t fret the summers Farmers markets packing up – winter is here, and you can still shop local for fresh produce, preserves, baked goods, and crafts.
Runs until: April 22, 2017
Hastings Park Farmers Market
Hastings Park Farmers Market
Where: Hastings Park (near the PNE)
What: The Hastings Park Farmers Market features a great selection of local produce; nursery items, fish, meat & dairy; artisan prepared foods, baking and treats; local crafts, and of course, food trucks.
Runs until: April 30, 2017
What are you up to this weekend? Tell me and the rest of Vancouver in the comments below or tweet me directly at @lextacular
