Things to Do in Vancouver This Weekend

You can start this weekend with an adult beverage in-hand at a Playland with absolutely no children to dodge, then plan to wander into a pocket of the Jazz Festival – watch for their shows and free concerts across the city. Meander along False Creek where dragon boaters will be colorfully competing to live entertainment and family-friendly activities and, to top it all off,  take your pick of a drag show for charity, two races (one up a mountain), a basketball game and/or a film festival to round out the days.

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing



Friday June 22

Vancouver Jazz Festival
Where: Various locations
What: Jazz takes over the city with international and local talent, ticketed events, free outdoor shows, and music everywhere.
Runs until: Tuesday July 3, 2018

Vancouver Dragonboat Festival

Vancouver Dragonboat Festival
Where: False Creek
What: Three days of dragonboat races, free non-stop entertainment on the main stage, food, children’s activities, art installations, interactive circus performances, and shopping along the picturesque False Creek near Science World.
Runs until: Sunday June 24, 2018

Camera Obscura (hungry ghosts)

Camera Obscura (hungry ghosts)
Where: Roundhouse Community Centre
What: Written and directed by Lesley Ewen, the story follows multi-media provocateur and Audain Prize Recipient Paul Wong who is visited by two hungry ghosts from his past. These spectres force Wong to review his past actions, in light of the intersecting and sometimes contradictory pressures on racialized minorities within Canadian colonialism, generating a new understanding in the present, the release of old grief, and a little bit of revenge.
Runs until: Saturday June 23, 2018

Playland Nights
Where: Playland
What: An adults-only night of exhilarating rides, carnival games, food, Playland-inspired cocktails, craft beer, virtual reality racing, burlesque shows, and axe-throwing while DJs spin and you wander the park – with no children.
Runs until: Friday July 27, 2018 (Fridays)

Bike to Shop Days
Where: Various locations
What: A free community event that provide tips about the gear, techniques and routes that allow participants to easily use their bicycles for shopping! This three day long event includes route maps for shopping, guided rides, discounts at local shops around Metro Vancouver and celebration stations with cycling information, snacks, and free bike tune-ups.
Runs until: Sunday June 24, 2018

Vancouver Taiwanese Film Festival
Where: VanCity Theatre
What: Vancouver Taiwanese Film Festival (TWFF), established by UBC Literature Etc. in 2007, is a non-profit, culture and arts event, presenting high-quality Taiwanese films.
Runs until: Sunday June 24, 2018

Pacific Rim Basketball Classic

Pacific Rim Basketball Classic
Where: Rogers Arena
What: Team Canada vs. Team China

Dirty Projectors

Dirty Projectors
Where: The Vogue
What: This indie rock band with R&B, orchestral flourishes, electronic experimentation and far left field avant-pop have collaborated with Björk, Solange, and David Byrne.

Post Animal

Post Animal
Where: The Fox Cabaret
What: Rock from Chicago.

Covenant Festival

Covenant Festival
Where: The Rickshaw
What: This dark metal festival features bands like Incantation, Blasphemy, and Black Witchery.
Runs until: Saturday June 23, 2018

Luxury Home and Design Show
Where: BC Place Stadium
What: Comfort and indulgence at home is what this is all about, with unique creations and artistry.
Runs until: Sunday June 24, 2018


 

Saturday June 23

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Sweet Bubbling Nights
Where: Vancouver Playhouse
What: Music, live entertainment, drag and a silent auction with 23 of the city’s most iconic musical talents, drag queens, and dancers. The night is in memorial of the Pulse Nightclub shooting in 2016 and will raise funds for LGBTI2+ youth around the globe.

National Indigenous Peoples Day at Fort Langley
Where: Fort Langley
What: Discover the Indigenous peoples’ role in Fort Langley’s history and today. Kids and adults can enjoy storytelling, drumming and weaving demonstrations – and even run a relay race.

Serpentwithfeet

Serpentwithfeet
Where: The Biltmore
What:Gospel and classically-inspired electronica.

Jazz Weekend

Downtown Jazz (day 1 of 2)
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza
What: Three stages of free music, kids’ activities, food trucks, licensed bars, bike parking, and more.

Freddie McGregor and the Big Ship Band

Freddie McGregor and the Big Ship Band
Where: Venue
What: Internationally acclaimed, Grammy-nominated singer, Freddie McGregor has been a pioneer in Reggae music since its inception and continues to be a living pillar of the scene with his conscious lyrics, Philly-Soul style, and dedication to touring for over 50 years.

Art Battle Vancouver

Art Battle Vancouver
Where: The Red Room
What: Watch some people paint and be judged. It’s at a bar, so you can drink while doing so.

Franco Escamilla

Franco Escamilla
Where: The Vogue
What: A comic entertainer from Mexico who  is a musician and comedian. People who like his hat have called him “El Diablo (the Devil)”or “El Amo del Sarcasmo (The Master of Sarcasm)”.

June Bird Walk

June Bird Walk
Where: VanDusen Gardens
What: Take a guided tour through VanDusen and learn about the native bird species that make their home in the garden.

Vancouver Retro Gaming Expo
Where: Anvil Centre (New Westminster)
What: A nostalgia-fest for console lovers.


 

Sunday June 24

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Seek the Peak
Where: Grouse Mountain
What: It’s an uphill race! And if that sounds like fun for you, this is your event. With an awe-inspiring 1400 m climb, Seek The Peak will test your fitness, stamina and overall mental toughness but the camaraderie will keep you powering onwards and upwards. Face the 13 km course alone or tackle it with a team splitting up the legs including the famous Grouse Grind.

Scotiabank Half Marathon

Scotiabank Half Marathon
Where: Starts at UBC Thunderbird Arena
What: It’s a relatively flat race! If running up Grouse Mountain looks a little daunting but you’d still like to run with a bunch of people, try this one on.

Skin & Metal
Where: Roundhouse Community Centre
What: Performed by Erato Ensemble with special guest artist Jerry Pergolesi, percussion, double bass, this concert honours seminal electro-acoustic Vancouver composer Barry Truax in a 30-year retrospective concert of his trailblazing work, breaking down barriers of gender, sexuality and technology through music.

Chris Isaak

Chris Isaak
Where: Commodore Ballroom
What: Go for Wicked Game, stay for all the rest and try out the new stuff.

Greek Day on Broadway

Greek Day on Broadway
Where: Broadway from McDonald to Blenheim
What: A laid back street party of Greek food, drink, market vendors, entertainment, and live music.

Downtown Jazz (day 2 of 2)
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery Plaza
What: Three stages of free music, kids’ activities, food trucks, licensed bars, bike parking, and more.


 

Ongoing

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Camera Obscura (hungry ghosts)

Camera Obscura (hungry ghosts)
Where: Roundhouse Community Centre
What: Written and directed by Lesley Ewen, the story follows multi-media provocateur and Audain Prize Recipient Paul Wong who is visited by two hungry ghosts from his past. These spectres force Wong to review his past actions, in light of the intersecting and sometimes contradictory pressures on racialized minorities within Canadian colonialism, generating a new understanding in the present, the release of old grief, and a little bit of revenge.
Runs until: Saturday June 23, 2018

The Blue Hour

The Blue Hour
Where: Vancouver Contemporary Art Gallery
What:Making reference to the brief period of twilight at dawn and dusk when temporal linearity appears to momentarily hover in a state of suspension, this photography exhibition presents works by five Canadian and international artists – Joi T. Arcand, Kapwani Kiwanga, Colin Miner, Grace Ndiritu, and Kara Uzelman – that collectively act as a proposition to consider the futurity of the photographic image.
Runs until: Sunday June 24, 2018

Vancouver Dragonboat Festival

Vancouver Dragonboat Festival
Where: False Creek
What: Three days of dragonboat races, free non-stop entertainment on the main stage, food, children’s activities, art installations, interactive circus performances, and shopping along the picturesque False Creek near Science World.
Runs until: Sunday June 24, 2018

Vancouver Taiwanese Film Festival
Where: VanCity Theatre
What: Vancouver Taiwanese Film Festival (TWFF), established by UBC Literature Etc. in 2007, is a non-profit, culture and arts event, presenting high-quality Taiwanese films.
Runs until: Sunday June 24, 2018

Mamma Mia!
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: Based on the Songs of ABBA, an island paradise in Greece sets the stage for the ultimate feel-good show. A daughter’s quest to find her biological father before her wedding brings together three men from her mother’s past. Who will walk her down the aisle?
Runs until: Sunday July 22, 2018

Global Soundscapes Festival
Where: Various locations
What: This year the festival showcases the instruments and traditions of the Middle East with special guest soloists from Azerbaijan, Iran, and Montreal. They’ll perform with musicians from Vancouver’s vibrant world music scene in a series of concerts and other events.
Runs until: Wednesday June 27, 2018

Queer Arts Festival

Queer Arts Festival

Queer Arts Festival
Where: Roundhouse Community Centre
What: This annual festival, which also commemorates Pride in Art’s 20th year as an artist-led organization, features a boundary-pushing, dialogue-igniting array of artistic expression that raises the voices and articulates the experiences of diverse, creators.
Runs until: Thursday June 28, 2018

Playland Nights
Where: Playland
What: An adults-only night of exhilarating rides, carnival games, food, Playland-inspired cocktails, craft beer, virtual reality racing, burlesque shows, and axe-throwing while DJs spin and you wander the park – with no children.
Runs until: Friday July 27, 2018 (Fridays)

Once
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: A Dublin street musician is struggling through heartbreak and frustrated with his songs when he chances upon a girl who challenges him to go for his dream. With a company of actors who all play instruments onstage, this theatrically breathtaking musical is a captivating love song, a foot-stomping melody, and a bittersweet duet.
Runs until: Sunday July 29, 2018

Bark: A Closer Look
Where: VanDusen Gardens
What: Three artists emphasize the amazing textures, shapes and abstractions of a tree’s bark.
Runs until: Sunday July 29, 2018

Emily Carr in Dialogue with Mattie Gunterman

Emily Carr in Dialogue with Mattie Gunterman
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: The work of two women artists practicing in British Columbia in the early twentieth century. This exhibition draws on the Vancouver Art Gallery’s deep holdings of Carr’s work to reflect her direct engagement with and great affection for British Columbia’s landscape. Like Carr, much of Gunterman’s oeuvre reflected her engagement with the wilderness around her which she documented with images of friends, campsites, trappers, prospectors, miners and the day to day of pioneer life.
Runs until: Monday September 3, 2018

Home Away from Home

Home Away from Home
Where: Bill Reid Gallery
What: In a new gallery space dedicated to highlighting community and emerging artists, this exhibit highlights stories of the Cultural Sharing Program at the Carnegie Community Centre as represented by the individuals who participate.
Runs until: Sunday September 9, 2018

David Milne: Modern Painting

David Milne: Modern Painting
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: David Milne (1882 – 1953) enjoyed a career that spanned half the twentieth century, taking him from the bustling cityscape of New York, to the battlefields of Northern France and Belgium, and back to the wilderness of the Canadian and US landscape. During his progression as a painter, he carved out a distinguished place among Canada’s most original artists.
Runs until: Sunday September 9, 2018

Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival

Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival
Where: Vanier Park
What: What do you say to watching a live production of Macbeth, Timon of Athens, As You Like It or Lysistrata in a custom-built tent on the beach while sipping wine, beer, and munching on a picnic lunch themed to the play? Yes! Right? And don’t even get us started on the amazing costumes.
Runs until: Saturday September 22, 2018

Cabin Fever | Image from the Series “Ice Huts” by Richard Johnson (cropped)

Cabin Fever
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: This exhibition traces the tradition of the cabin in Canada and the United States—from the settlement of the frontier to depictions showing how this humble architectural form has been appropriated for its symbolic value and helped shape a larger cultural identity.
Runs until: Sunday September 30, 2018

Sea Snaps
Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum
What: A display of work by Maria Steernberg. This exhibition highlights the beauty of Vancouver’s maritime setting and our beautiful coast line through a series of themes; the working waterfront, cruising, nature and disaster.
Runs until: Sunday October 7, 2018

Vancouver Farmers Market - Dude Chilling Park

Vancouver Farmers Market – Dude Chilling Park

Mount Pleasant Farmers Market
Where: Dude Chilling Park
What: Vancouver’s easy-going Sunday market located on the east side of Dude Chilling Park – the gathering place for a diverse crowd of young families, artists, dog owners, and quirky neighbourhood personalities.
Runs until: Sunday October 7, 2018

Arts of Resistance: Politics and The Past in Latin America

Arts of Resistance: Politics and The Past in Latin America
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: This premiere exhibition illustrates how Latin American communities use traditional or historic art forms to express contemporary political realities. Featuring art and multi-sensory installations from Mexico, Guatemala, Peru, Honduras, Ecuador and Chile, with special attention to marginalized communities.
Runs until: Monday October 8, 2018

Culture at the Centre

Culture at the Centre

Culture at the Centre
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: Five Indigenous-run cultural centres in BC will be showcased representing six communities: Musqueam Cultural Education and Resource Centre (Musqueam), Squamish-Lil’wat Cultural Centre (Squamish, Lil’wat), Heiltsuk Cultural Education Centre (Heiltsuk), Nisga’a Museum (Nisga’a), and Haida Gwaii Museum (Haida). Covering a wide geographic expanse from Vancouver to the Nass River Valley, this marks the first time the participating communities will come together to share their diverse cultures in one space.
Runs until: Monday October 8, 2018

Trout Lake Farmers Market
Where: Trout Lake
What: This is where you’ll find the vendors who have been doing it since the beginning; what started as 14 farmers ‘squatting’ at the Croatian Cultural Centre back in 1995 has grown into Vancouver’s most well-known and beloved market. Visitors come from near and far to sample artisan breads & preserves, stock up on free-range and organic eggs & meats, get the freshest, hard-to-find heirloom vegetables and taste the first Okanagan cherries and peaches of the season.
Runs until: Saturday October 20, 2018 (Saturdays)

Kitsilano Farmers Market
Where: Kitsilano Community Centre
What: At Kitsilano Farmers Market, shoppers will find a great selection of just-picked, seasonal fruits & vegetables, ethically raised and grass fed meat, eggs, & dairy, sustainable seafood, fresh baked bread & artisanal food, local beer, wine, & spirits, and handmade craft.
Runs until: Sunday October 21, 2018 (Sundays)

Riley Park Farmers’ Market
Where: Riley Park
What: 30+ vendors each week – a fresh selection of just-picked seasonal fruits & veggies, ethically-raised meats & sustainable seafood, artisanal bread & prepared foods, craft beer, wine, & spirits, handmade craft, and coffee & food trucks.
Runs until: Saturday October 27, 2018 (Saturdays)

Body Language: Reawakening Cultural Tattooing of the Northwest

Body Language: Reawakening Cultural Tattooing of the Northwest
Where: Bill Reid Gallery
What: Explore the rich history and artistry of Indigenous tattooing, piercing and personal adornment on the Northwest Coast. These five contemporary Indigenous artists are at the forefront of the revival of Indigenous tattooing in BC. They are reclaiming traditional techniques and traditional rights to be tattooed, and building awareness of the significance and protocols around the tattooing traditions.
Runs until: January 13, 2019

In a Different Light

In a Different Light
Where: Museum of Anthropology
What: More than 110 historical Indigenous artworks and marks the return of many important works to British Columbia. These objects are amazing artistic achievements. Yet they also transcend the idea of ‘art’ or ‘artifact’. Through the voices of contemporary First Nations artists and community members, this exhibition reflects on the roles historical artworks have today. Featuring immersive storytelling and innovative design, it explores what we can learn from these works and how they relate to Indigenous peoples’ relationships to their lands.
Runs until: Spring 2019

What are you up to this weekend? Tell me and the rest of Vancouver in the comments below.

 

 


 


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