Things To Do In Vancouver This Weekend

This weekend we celebrate giant bunnies, chocolate eggs and deities returning from the dead – but there’s also a distillery festival, drag queen clowns, a car show, sports, live music, light projections on cherry blossom trees, and bowling & beering Big Lebowski-style.

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing

Friday March 25

Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival
Where: Various locations
What: It’s that time of year when the city turns all shades of pink – the cherry blossoms are in bloom! Celebrate with community picnics, fairs, blossomy bike rides, and group walks. The Blossom Barge will be at Granville Island featuring free performances.
Runs until: Sunday April 17, 2016

Mexico Noir Film Series
Where: Vancity Theatre
What: The Golden Age of Mexican cinema extended from the mid-1930s to the early 1960s, when Mexican films dominated Latin America and made significant inroads into Spanish-speaking communities throughout North America. At its height, in the decade during and following World War II, Mexican popular filmmaking achieved a level of quality comparable to Hollywood.
Runs until: Sunday April 3, 2016

Whoa-Man! A Musical! Featuring Fou Fou Ha!
Where: The Rio Theatre
What: Drag clowns preform a satirical look at the lives of four women and the tortures in trying to find perfection in a modern world. A story only clowns could tell. Shoulder pads, dick pics, original songs and dazzling dance routines will thrill and elevate you, leaving you wanting more. Did I mention it’s drag clowns?
Runs until: Saturday March 26, 2016

Doost (Friend)
Where: The Cultch Historic Theatre
What: A unique ensemble of artists and adherents of the Nimatullahi Sufi order explore the universal essence of mystic poetry including Rumi, Hafez, and Nurbakhsh. Doost is a story about heritage, compassion and community. Through dance, poetry, and music, we explore the borders between the secular and the spiritual.
Runs until: Saturday March 26, 2016

Vancouver International Auto Show
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre
What: Leading global manufacturers will be onsite showcasing the hottest designs and newest technology to hit the market this year at the most important event for the auto industry in British Columbia and the largest automotive event in Western Canada.
Runs until:Sunday March 27, 2016

Easter with Flyover Canada
Where: Flyover Canada
What: Guests soar coast-to-coast for 25% off across Canada with the Easter Bunny from 11:00 AM until 3:00 PM daily. After the ride, enjoy a festive colouring station, have your face painted and take your best guess at our jar of chocolate eggs contest, and and egg hunt on Sunday.
Runs until: Monday March 28, 2016

Canada vs. Mexico
Where: BC Place Stadium, 7:00pm
What: Canada’s Men’s National Team continues its qualification journey to the 2018 FIFA World Cup Russia as they play host to world power Mexico.

Man Up: 8 Year Anniversary
Where: The Cobalt, 9:00pm
What: This gender bending, blending, and general fabulous drag fun times has been going for 8 years – celebrate with a line up of favorites and one newcomer.

Vancouver Improvised Music Meeting
Where: Western Front, 7:30pm
What: Three nights of creative improvisation. Our finest local innovators meet guests, trumpeter, composer Lina Allemano (Toronto) and vocalist, pianist, composer Robin Holcomb (Seattle).
Runs until: Saturday March 26, 2016

Wintersleep
Where: The Commodore Ballroom
What: A Canadian indie rock band formed in 2001 in Halifax, Nova Scotia.

Just Blaze
Where: Venue (881 Granville), 9:00pm
What: Over the past 15 years, Just Blaze has become a fixture in Hip Hop music and culture. He began producing for well-known artists in the late 1990s, leading to a breakout role in producing the majority of Jay-Z’s The Dynasty: Roc La Familia and his follow-up opus The Blueprint. He’s reached international fame for his production of Cam’ron’s 2002 summer smash Oh Boy. Since then, he’s gone on to produce for Snoop Dogg, Usher, Mariah Carey, Kanye West, Talib Kweli, Busta Rhymes, Rick Ross, Drake, and more.

Saturday March 26

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Eighth Annual Great A-Mazing Easter Egg Hunt
Where: VanDusen Gardens
What: Bring kids age 2 to 10 years to for six different outdoor hunt areas, the Easter Bunny, fun activities, chocolate treats and much more. After participating in the event activities, make sure to explore the 55 acre botanical garden with your family – your egg hunt tickets include entry to the entire garden. Space is limited – purchase your tickets in advance to secure a spot for this popular event.Tickets available at Tickets Tonight.

Big Lebowski Brewery and Bowling Tour
Where: Begins at Big Rock Urban Brewery
What: Fans of the Coen Brothers’ seminal cult classic The Big Lebowski are invited to don their housecoats, shades and jelly shoes and drop in to see what condition their condition is in.

Ravens and Eagles: Athlii Gwaii: The Line at Lyell
Where: Bill Reid Gallery, 2:00pm
What: In the fall of 1985, a small but resolute troupe of Haida elders journeyed by helicopter to Athlii Gwaii (Lyell Island) to join their young counterparts in a stand against clearcutting. Industrial invasion in the remote archipelago had gone too far. Ancient cedar giants and rare spruce trees – the lifeblood of Haida art and culture – had been levelled indiscriminately for too long. Buoyed by their courageous Haida elders, protesters united in peaceful resistance.

BC Distilled Festival
Where: Croatian Cultural Centre
What: BC’s premier craft and micro-distillery festival. Its goal is to celebrate and promote British Columbia’s distilleries. The festival is the largest spirits event in Canada reserved exclusively for local distilleries.

Family Art Day
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: Join artist in residence Fabiola Carranza making fantastical shadow puppets. Create paper props and costumes then play with them in front of light whilst you draw and trace their movement. You can also have your silhouette portrait drawn using Carranza’s take on a silhouette drawing machine.

Sakura Illumination
Where: Queen Elizabeth Park
What: Stuart Ward & Ben Z Cooper from Hfour will be illuminating Queen Elizabeth Park with vibrant projections and multicoloured lanterns. The illumination will be set up for unobstructed views ideal for photography and picnicking in the spring evening under the cherry blossoms.

All Bodies Swim
Where: Britannia Pool and Gym, 8:30pm
What: Find it daunting to wear a bathing suit in public? Thinking of going to the pool but don’t want to use a gendered change room? Need the staff to know how to use the mechanical lift, and have the stairs into the pool close to the change rooms? Don’t want to have to wear a bathing suit top? Trans folk, queers, all colours, curves, scars, fur, mobility aids, inked, pierced… This is a pool party celebrating all bodies.

Sarah Neufeld
Where: The Fox Cabaret, 7:00pm
What: Canadian violist, composer, and member of Arcade Fire tours in support of her second full length album, “The Ridge”.

Second Annual Nehiyo-pasqua-itsimowan Pow-wow
Where: UBC AMS Nest, the Great Hall (6133 University Blvd)
What: Bring your friends and family and enjoy some dancing, singing, food & vendors.

Radio Radio
Where: The Biltmore, 7:00pm
What: The band whole-heartedly believes that dancing is a sacred act, and they’ve made it their mission to indoctrinate as many people as possible with their feverish live energy.

Michael Brun
Where: Venue (881 Granville), 10:00pm
What: Born to a Haitian father and Guyanese mother who valued the love of music, his musical background stretched from the percussion-heavy Rara and Afro-groove music of his native Haiti, to disco and synth pop.

August Burns Red
Where: The Vogue, 8:00pm
What: Since their formation in 2003, the local upstart from Lancaster, PA has evolved into one of the biggest names worldwide in the modern metal scene, continually growing and connecting with a legion of fans. August Burns Red has spent years skillfully crafting a balance between a heavy sound with empowering lyrical content, while showcasing a surplus of inventive guitar riffs, solos, and dynamic drumming.

Easter at the Cannery
Where: Gulf of Georgia Cannery (Richmond)
What: A fun-filled weekend with games, crafts, activities and of course, the annual Easter Salmon scavenger hunt, all inside the historic Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site.
Runs until: Sunday March 27, 2016

Easter Feast at Home
Where: Railtown Cafe and your home
What: Railtown’s Easter-To-Go package serves up a duo of hearty, handcrafted entrées, an array of seasonal side dishes and a classic homestyle dessert. Available in small (four to six servings) or large (10 to 12 servings) sizes.
Runs until: Monday March 28, 2016

Sunday March 27

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Thao & The Get Down Stay Down
Where: The Cobalt, 8:00pm
What: From California, alternative folk band tour in support of their upcoming studio release, due out Spring 2016.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Chicago Blackhawks
Where: Rogers Arena
What: Hockey players representing Vancouver face off with hockey players representing Chicago.

Dynamic Duo
Where: The Vogue, 7:00pm
What: A Korean hip hop duo that consists of Choiza and Gaeko.

Ongoing

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Little Miss Glitz (ends this weekend)
Where: PAL Studio Theatre
What: The musical sets the questionable beauty standards and parenting practices of hit reality TV’s Toddlers and Tiaras to music in a high-energy musical with a twist: there is no scripted winner. Each night, a panel of judges pulled from the audience will determine who wins, leaving the cast to improvise the end of the show.
Runs until: Saturday March 26, 2016

Whoa-Man! A Musical! Featuring Fou Fou Ha! (this weekend only)
Where: The Rio Theatre
What: Drag clowns preform a satirical look at the lives of four women and the tortures in trying to find perfection in a modern world. A story only clowns could tell. Shoulder pads, dick pics, original songs and dazzling dance routines will thrill and elevate you, leaving you wanting more. Did I mention it’s drag clowns?
Runs until: Saturday March 26, 2016

Vancouver Improvised Music Meeting (this weekend only)
Where: Western Front, 7:30pm
What: Three nights of creative improvisation. Our finest local innovators meet guests, trumpeter, composer Lina Allemano (Toronto) and vocalist, pianist, composer Robin Holcomb (Seattle).
Runs until: Saturday March 26, 2016

Gwaii Haanas: Land Sea People (ends this weekend)
Where: Bill Reid Gallery
What: Stories of the only place in Canada protected from mountaintop to seafloor. Thirty years after the Haida took a stand at Lyell Island, this unique place exists as an unprecedented example of cooperative management, between the Haida Nation and the Government of Canada.
Runs until: March 27, 2016

Spring Break at the Britannia Mine Museum (ends this weekend)
Where: Britannia Mine Museum
What: Daily hands-on activities and events featuring historical photo talks, preview demos behind the upcoming Science of Water exhibit, interactive mineral workshops, various arts and crafts and even lessons on building tetrahedron kites.
Runs until: Sunday March 27, 2016

Body Worlds: Animals Inside Out (ends this weekend)
Where: Science World
What: Body Worlds creator and anatomist, Dr Gunther von Hagens takes you on an anatomical safari. As you explore this captivating exhibition, you will experience the intricate biology, zoology and physiology of a variety of the world’s most spectacular creatures.
Runs until: Sunday March 28, 2016

Stanley Park Easter Train (ends this weekend)
Where: Stanley Park
What: Hop on the Stanley Park Train for an egg-citing Easter ride through Stanley Park. After the train ride, your kids will enjoy hunting for eggs, playing games, making bunny ears, getting their face painted, and meeting the Easter Bunny.
Runs until: Monday March 28, 2016

Nature’s Garden: Spring through mixed media & Chigiri-e (ends this week)
Where: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
What: Roxsane K. Tiernan’s “Nature’s Garden” exhibit is a beautiful combination of acrylics and Chigiri-e depicting snapshots of nature. Her mixed media approach captures and enlivens each scene offering a story of escape and peace through nature and colour. Roxsane began learning and experimenting with Chigiri-e, a Japanese torn paper collage technique in 1984.
Runs until: Wednesday March 30, 2016

Tyler Toews | Traffic (ends this week)
Where: Back Gallery Project
What: Tyler’s second show with the Back Gallery Project is giving us a fresh take on the expressionist tradition. Again his strength as a colourist is evident. His brush stroke is confident and more articulate than the past. A dynamic sense of composition using cut-up and chance elements from still life, masks and skulls nudges the mind to consider our mortality and is just enough to recognize the artists mature thought.
Runs until: Thursday March 31, 2016

EDZY EDZED 30 Year Retrospective
Where: Gallery Gachet
What: His thousands of works manifest as a personal visual meta–language that can be described as “Deconstructivism” in painting, as articulated by Jacques Derrida in The Truth in Painting (1987). This is a study of non–objective (abstract) painting in “western art history” through the filter of deconstruction in an effort to realize uninvented painting forms.
Runs until: Friday April 1, 2016

New Neighbours
Where: Kimoto Gallery
What: In this new body of work, Thomas Anfield continues his exploration of the relation between figuration and abstraction as well as image making vs. narrative. Employing the metaphor of the couple (and by extension the family) to speak of larger concerns of the human condition; As signposts to both our common social roles and our own interior lives.
Runs until: Saturday April 2, 2016

Reclaiming Hope
Where: Various Vancouver venues
What: Hope is a verb. At Reclaiming Hope events, interactive theatre becomes a laboratory for change, one voice at a time. With David Diamond aka “Joker” facilitating each event (“Joker” is a term from Augusto Boal’s Theatre of the Oppressed to describe the facilitator of the interactive theatre event) audiences with leave with a deeper knowledge of themselves and each other, armed with tools to create healthier inner worlds, families and communities – and reflecting the shifting psyche of a nation that acts, elects, and then holds government accountable.
Runs until: Saturday April 2, 2016

(In)Visable: The Spiritual World of Taiwan Through Contemporary Art
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: Against a backdrop of skyscrapers and mountains, ghosts and spirits haunt the island of Taiwan. Taiwan’s urban and rural life cycles are filled with rituals and ceremonies of various faiths ranging from Buddhism, Daoism and Confucianism to Christianity, Chinese folk religions and animistic beliefs of Taiwan’s Aboriginal peoples. While religion affects, challenges and intermingles with the secular world, myths, legends and fairytales add other layers to the spiritual world of Taiwan.
Runs until: Sunday April 3, 2016

Ghost Passages of the McKenzie Shipyard
Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum
What: Through a varied collection of painting, photography and sculpture, Vancouver-based artist Tracy McMenemy seduces the viewer into endless and ongoing passage of time in her latest series, Ghost Passages of the McKenzie Shipyard. McKenzie Barge and Marineways was a landmark along the Burrard Inlet in Deep Cove, BC; an epicenter of industrial development in the North Vancouver community since 1932.
Runs until: Sunday April 3, 2016

Mexico Noir Film Series
Where: Vancity Theatre
What: The Golden Age of Mexican cinema extended from the mid-1930s to the early 1960s, when Mexican films dominated Latin America and made significant inroads into Spanish-speaking communities throughout North America. At its height, in the decade during and following World War II, Mexican popular filmmaking achieved a level of quality comparable to Hollywood.
Runs until: Sunday April 3, 2016

The Crowd
Where: Studio 58
What: A wedding. An arrest. A celebration. A snitch. A little gang warfare. Beyonce’s greatest hits. A storm. The apocalypse? Is there any room for love? We find Tina and Bobby in deep trouble and it’s anyone’s guess how they’ll get out of it this time. The beloved young couple from Tough! and Moss Park continue the struggle to find their place in the world. With help from friends Jill, Sandy and Ricky, and a surprise visit from an undercover cop, they might figure it out this time. Tickets available at Tickets Tonight.
Runs until: Sunday April 3, 2016

Botany Inspired Stitches
Where: VanDusen Gardens
What: The Fraser Valley Quilters Guild has curated a vivid showcase of quilts inspired by their garden delights, finely crafted by the guild artisans.
Runs until:Sunday April 3, 2016

Cold Friends, Warm Cash: An Exhibition and Print Shop for Kids
Where: Western Front
What: Using the physical space of the institution and its supporting infrastructure, Phillips will turn the gallery into a simple screen printing studio which will serve as a place for discussion mediated through the process of making things together. All kids printing sessions are free including all supplies and materials. Advance booking is essential.
Runs until: Saturday April 23, 2016

Group Exhibition from the Rennie Collection
Where: 51 East Pender
What: Bringing together a variety of practices and media, this survey aims to reveal the chaos of the world by addressing enduringly pertinent issues, from migratory displacement to an in-depth examination of identity and history.
Runs until: Saturday April 23, 2016

Winter Farmers Market
Where: Nat Bailey Stadium
What: Each week you can look forward to finding locally grown vegetables and fruit, meat and seafood from local ranchers and fishermen, artisan cheese and bread, herbs and seasonal nursery items, baked goods, prepared foods and artisanal craft.
Runs until: Saturday April 23, 2016 (Saturdays)

I Didn’t Know I Didn’t Know It
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: The first solo exhibition in Canada by British artist duo John Wood and Paul Harrison. Their practice unfolds as a way of observing the human condition, an ongoing investigation into the world that surrounds us, the objects we encounter and use daily, and our fundamental engagement with the physical universe in all its sometime or seemingly futile existence.
Runs until: Sunday April 24, 2016

Bulaklak ng Paraiso (Flower of Paradise)
Where: Centre A
What: Filipino-Canadian artist Patrick Cruz will transform the main gallery space of Centre A into an elaborate immersive environment that blends personal, political and historical narratives in order to meditate on the conditions and processes of displacement, cultural hybridity and the material excesses of our globalised world.
Runs until: Saturday May 7, 2016

Your Future Home: Creating a New Vancouver
Where: Museum of Vancouver
What: In response to mounting concern about a rapidly changing region, this exhibit will immerse visitors in an experience that spotlights 20 visions for tomorrow’s city, while focusing on four topical issues: housing affordability, residential density, ease of transportation, and quality of public space.
Runs until: Sunday May 15, 2016

MashUp
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Exploring how artists incorporate found images, objects, sounds and words into their work, starting with the movement’s emergence at the turn of the twentieth century and showing how it has become a dominant force in our world today. It will feature 371 works by 156 artists, filmmakers, architects, musicians and designers, such as Pablo Picasso, Marcel Duchamp, Juan Gris, Hannah Höch, Joseph Cornell, Andy Warhol, Robert Rauschenberg, Nam June Paik, Jean-Luc Goddard, Frank Gehry, Dara Birnbaum, Stan Douglas, Hito Steyerl, Isa Genzken, DJ Spooky and Tobias Wong, among many others.
Runs until: Sunday June 12, 2016

From Meadows Woodlands Far and Near
Where: Beaty Biodiversity Museum
What: Delicate watercolours and striking woodcuts inspired by plants from the landscapes of Germany and Canada. Art by Brigitte Potter-Mael.
Runs until: Sunday September 4, 2016

Across The Top: The Quest for the Northwest Passage
Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum
What: This exhibit will transport you to the Arctic where you will learn about its environment and people; the many voyages of discovery; the search for John Franklin’s lost expedition (both historical and modern), and the ultimate discovery of HMS Erebus by Parks Canada.
Runs until: November 2016

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

What are you up to this weekend? Tell me and the rest of Vancouver in the comments below or tweet me directly at @lextacular