Things to Do in Vancouver This Weekend

Outdoor music season is here, and this weekend you can catch symphony to swoon to, hip hop to groove to, Latin American to swing to and local music to discover in parks (and atop a mountain) throughout the Vancouver area. There’s also a dance festival and a brunch festival. That’s right – a brunch festival.

 

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing



Friday July 6

Dancing on the Edge Festival

Dancing on the Edge Festival
Where: Various locations
What: Nearly 30 performances from more than 20 companies and innovative choreographers from across Canada, in full and mixed programs as well as site-specific works.
Runs until: Saturday July 14, 2018

Indian Summer Festival

Indian Summer Festival
Where: Various locations
What: A contemporary multi-arts festival with a combination of free and ticketed events including music, writers, visual art, international visionaries and public engagement.
Runs until: Sunday July 15, 2018

Avocado Toast

Avocado Toast
Where: Vancouver Improv Centre
What: Vancouver is known internationally for its spectacular beauty, friendly citizens, and vibrant multicultural milieu. Beneath the glossy surface lies a complicated and eccentric city ripe for parody. In a series of vignettes, VTSL’s quick-witted improvisers lampoon such local stereotypes as our obsession with fitness (Grouse Grind and yoga, anyone?), quirky neighbourhoods (The Drive, Main St., Kits, Gastown), and foodie scene (coffee culture, craft breweries/distilleries, avocado toast).
Runs until: Saturday September 1, 2018

Mountain Music Series
Where: Grouse Mountain
What: Listen to music and meet other hikers, music-lovers and beer enthusiasts, or get a group of your buddies together to switch up your regular routine.
Runs until: Friday August 31, 2018 (Fridays)

Vancouver Symphony Orchestra: Harry Potter And The Order Of The Phoenix In Concert
Where: The Orpheum
What: Lord Voldemort is back, but the Ministry of Magic tries to keep a lid on the truth – including appointing a new, power-hungry Defence Against the Dark Arts professor at Hogwarts. Re-live it all through live music.

Burnt Coast Night (with puppets)
Where: The Wise Hall
What: Live Latin, African and Balkan music with puppetry, dance, and the mysterious Slavic celebration of Kupala weaving light through the darkness.

Harry Stiles

Harry Stiles
Where: Rogers Arena
What: He’s original from the boy band, One Direction and has been on his own for a while now with his own soft rock/pop.

D.O.A.

D.O.A.
Where: The Rickshaw
What: Local hardcore punk legends who are often referred to as “founders” of the genre along with Black Flag, Bad Brains, Teen Idles, and Minor Threat.

FVDED in the Park
Where:
Holland Park (Surrey, BC)
What:
An outdoor music festival featuring dance, hip hop, rap, and modern R&B – with headliner acts Future and Kygo.
Runs until: Saturday July 7, 2018

 


 

Saturday July 7

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Carnaval Del Sol

Carnaval Del Sol
Where: Concord Pacific Place
What: Two days of live music, art, dance, sports, and poetry in celebration of Latin American Culture with more than 450 artists from different Latin American countries.
Runs until: Sunday July 8, 2018

Brunch Affair Food Festival
Where: The Pipe Shop
What: A variety of food trucks and vendors serving up delicious brunch dishes, mimosas, some of the best Caesars in town, plus there’ll be live music. This is a family-friendly event so parents, bring your kids and kids, bring your parents.
Runs until: Sunday July 8, 2018

Neurosis
Where: Commodore Ballroom
What: It’s a metal show, also with Converge. Since their mid-eighties beginnings, and despite a catalog that boasts some of the most moving sounds in visceral heavy music, Neurosis have always strived to incorporate light and balance as well as aggression and venom.

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Chicago Fire

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Chicago Fire
Where: BC Place Stadium
What: It’s soccer – be a part of the chants, the scarves, the flags, the beat of the drum, and the cheers.

The Bridge

The Bridge
Where: VanCity Theatre
What: June 17th is the 60th anniversary of the collapse of the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing. The tragedy claimed the lives of 18 workers who plunged 100 ft into the waters below, and a 19th, a diver who died later during the search for the bodies. George Orr’s film is built around rediscovered, never-before-seen 16mm colour footage shot by young draftsman Peter Hall as he chronicled the construction, and includes interviews with Hall and remaining survivors.
Runs until: Thursday July 10, 2018


 

Sunday July 8

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The Really Gay History Tour
Where: Downtown Vancouver
What: Guests will visit the sites of police raids, bookstore bombings, the “kiss-ins” of Granville Street, Imperial Court coronations, and the gayest beer parlour in town. It’s a 2.5 hour long adventure into the stories of a community that fought back against oppression, police brutality and media hate campaigns to make Vancouver today one of the most queer friendly cities in North America.
Runs until: Sunday October 28, 2018

Car Free Day Commercial Drive
Where: Commercial Drive
What: 15 blocks of local artisans, musicians, community activities, food, tons of entertainment and activities for all ages. As the place that Car Free Day began, Commercial Drive stays true to its grassroots beginnings and the story behind the festival with a strong message of advocacy and activism for providing car free spaces and green culture for the community.

Symphony in the Park

Symphony in the Park
Where: Deer Lake Park
What: Come early and bring a picnic – the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra performs its annual free outdoor concert. It’s a crowd-pleasing program of light classics and popular favourites.

Design Canada

Design Canada
Where: The Cinematheque
What: A Golden Age of Canadian graphic design is explored in this new documentary, directed by Vancouver-based designer Greg Durrell, who will be in attendance. In the 1960s and 70s, cutting-edge Canadian graphic designers created a host of enduring symbols that helped create and define modern Canada: the CBC icon, the CN Rail logo, the Centennial maple leaf, the Roots beaver, the Canada wordmark, emblems for Montreal’s Expo ’67 and ’76 Olympics, and many others — including the Canadian flag.


 

Ongoing

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FVDED in the Park
Where:
Holland Park (Surrey, BC)
What:
An outdoor music festival featuring dance, hip hop, rap, and modern R&B – with headliner acts Future and Kygo.
Runs until: Saturday July 7, 2018

Carnaval Del Sol

Carnaval Del Sol
Where: Concord Pacific Place
What: Two days of live music, art, dance, sports, and poetry in celebration of Latin American Culture with more than 450 artists from different Latin American countries.
Runs until: Sunday July 8, 2018

Brunch Affair Food Festival
Where: The Pipe Shop
What: A variety of food trucks and vendors serving up delicious brunch dishes, mimosas, some of the best Caesars in town, plus there’ll be live music. This is a family-friendly event so parents, bring your kids and kids, bring your parents.
Runs until: Sunday July 8, 2018

The Bridge

The Bridge
Where: VanCity Theatre
What: June 17th is the 60th anniversary of the collapse of the Ironworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing. The tragedy claimed the lives of 18 workers who plunged 100 ft into the waters below, and a 19th, a diver who died later during the search for the bodies. George Orr’s film is built around rediscovered, never-before-seen 16mm colour footage shot by young draftsman Peter Hall as he chronicled the construction, and includes interviews with Hall and remaining survivors.
Runs until: Thursday July 10, 2018

Dancing on the Edge Festival

Dancing on the Edge Festival
Where: Various locations
What: Nearly 30 performances from more than 20 companies and innovative choreographers from across Canada, in full and mixed programs as well as site-specific works.
Runs until: Saturday July 14, 2018

Indian Summer Festival

Indian Summer Festival
Where: Various locations
What: A contemporary multi-arts festival with a combination of free and ticketed events including music, writers, visual art, international visionaries and public engagement.
Runs until: Sunday July 15, 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

Mountain Music Series
Where: Grouse Mountain
What: Listen to music and meet other hikers, music-lovers and beer enthusiasts, or get a group of your buddies together to switch up your regular routine.
Runs until: Friday August 31, 2018 (Fridays)

Avocado Toast

Avocado Toast
Where: Vancouver Improv Centre
What: Vancouver is known internationally for its spectacular beauty, friendly citizens, and vibrant multicultural milieu. Beneath the glossy surface lies a complicated and eccentric city ripe for parody. In a series of vignettes, VTSL’s quick-witted improvisers lampoon such local stereotypes as our obsession with fitness (Grouse Grind and yoga, anyone?), quirky neighbourhoods (The Drive, Main St., Kits, Gastown), and foodie scene (coffee culture, craft breweries/distilleries, avocado toast).
Runs until: Saturday September 1, 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)

The Really Gay History Tour
Where: Downtown Vancouver
What: Guests will visit the sites of police raids, bookstore bombings, the “kiss-ins” of Granville Street, Imperial Court coronations, and the gayest beer parlour in town. It’s a 2.5 hour long adventure into the stories of a community that fought back against oppression, police brutality and media hate campaigns to make Vancouver today one of the most queer friendly cities in North America.
Runs until: Sunday October 28, 2018

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

Wild Things: The Power of Nature in Our Lives

Wild Things: The Power of Nature in Our Lives
Where: Museum of Vancouver
What: This exhibition delves into the life stories of local animals and plants—how they relate to each other and how they connect people to nature in the city. Scenic design, videos, taxidermy, crowd-sourcing technologies, and the display of natural specimens breathe life into these tales of co-habitation. The immersive nature of the exhibition, including hands-on activities, encourages visitors to examine their relationship with nature, think about momentarily disconnecting from their devices, and find equilibrium with the natural world around them.
Runs until: July 2019

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

 

 


 


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