Things To Do In Vancouver This Weekend

It’s official. Summer is over. You heard it here, (probably not first) but it’s all going to be OK – the sun still warms us and the leaves are all about to get drop dead gorgeous before they drop dead. The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival has arrived, Equinox is next week, and there are celebrations for both this weekend. The final days are here to squeeze in some Playland before it turns spooky in October, catch some Bard on the Beach before the tents get packed up, or find some inspiration at the Fringe Festival.

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing

Friday September 16

Mid Autumn Moon Festival
Where: Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden, 5:30pm
What: The Mid-Autumn Moon Festival is the second largest Chinese festival of the year. Also known as the ‘festival of reunion’, it is a gathering time for family and friends, and also marks the time when crops are gathered and round foods are enjoyed. Join traditional Moon Festival celebration – play mahjong, have tea and moon cakes, watch performances, listen to stories, and of course, observe the full moon.

Bike the Night
Where: Kitsilano
What: As dusk becomes darkness on September 16th, join thousands of people on bikes and pedal the streets of Kitsilano and Shaughnessy, as well as along a section of the new Arbutus Greenway.

Arcade Party
Where: Landyachtz Arcade, 8:00pm
What: DJs all night, fooseball, goldeneye, Mario Kart 64, contests, prizes, and givaways, all as a fundraiser for The Chill Foundation – a nonprofit charity that inspires youth through board sports.

Placemaking Leadership Forum
Where: Sheraton Wall Centre
What: Building on the work of PPS’s Placemaking Leadership Council and the international Future of Places conference series, attendees will develop concrete strategies for advancing placemaking locally and globally.
Runs until: Saturday Sept 17, 2016

Daniel Caesar
Where: The Biltmore
What: Canadian indie singer/songwriter.

Band of Skulls
Where: The Vogue
What: An English rock band from Southampton.

Saturday September 17

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Sci-Fi Collector Day
Where: Museum of Vancouver
What: Come participate in a happening that combines action figure collectors, 1970s/1980s video game consoles, science fiction film props, galactic craft and rarely screened science fiction short films created by local and national video artists. Engage with action figures, build mini space ships at our Star Trek craft table, play Atari, Magnavox and Colecovision video games, and drop into the micro-cinema for a science fiction film.

Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival
Where: Slocan Park and Renfrew Park, 4:00pm
What: A harvest fair from 4-7pm at Slocan Park and then over to Renfrew Park for lantern art, music, and a fireworks finale from 7:30-9pm.

Cheese and Meat Festival
Where: Terminal City Club
What: 40+ tables showcasing cheese, meat, wine, cider, beer, coffee, and tea.

Drake (show 1 of 2)
Where: Rogers Arena
What: A Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor with hits such as “Hotline Bling” (you know, the one about someone who used to call him on his cellphone.)

Moon Festival Lantern Celebration
Where: Gordon Head Recreation Centre
What: Moon Festival is a free, family friendly event that welcomes people of all ages and cultures to share in an uplifting creative cultural celebration.The evening features live traditional Asian dance and musical performances by community groups; lantern making for children and a sampling of moon cakes and traditional green teas.

Northwest Symposium for Alternative Process Photography
Where: HR Macmillan Space Centre
What: Participate in wet plate photography, and learn about alternative photo practices you can’t get digitally (I swear, it just isn’t the same with filters). Learn about photography using hot beeswax, pigments, and texture.
Runs until: Sunday September 18, 2016

Lift Expo
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre
What: Over the course of two full days, an estimated 10,000 patients, consumers and industry professionals will meet, network and interact with exhibitors from all corners of the medical and adult use cannabis markets. From Canada’s unique Licensed Producers to cannabis startups, patient groups and networking events, the Lift Expo is a nexus of Canada’s unique federal medical program and forward-thinking cannabis culture.
Runs until: Sunday September 18, 2016

And the Monkey Flips the Switch
Where: 89 Smithe St.
What: A pop-up art and fashion show that marks the first solo exhibition of emerging artist Anthony Joseph with a fashion collaboration with designer and stylist Carolina Chan, and jewellery designer Lee Allen. Together they will be previewing a line of custom shirts, dresses, and jewellery – all developed within the same conceptual vein, and based on the showcased paintings.

Fauna Shade
Where: The Biltmore
What: Kind of like early Modest Mouse, Wolf Parade and Panda Bear.

VanChan
Where: The Fox Cabaret
What: Enjoy 10 of Vancouver’s best web series, then choose 5 to return next month at the next VanChan screening with a follow-up/sequel to their winning web short, thus creating a series of work in the progress.

Sunday September 18

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Queers and Beers: Cider Edition
Where: The Cobalt, 5:00pm
What: Queers & Beers is very excited to announce that for thier fall shindig they will be celebrating the world of Pacific Northwest craft CIDERS! Pop on your favourite plaid shirt, kick up your heels and come join us at the Cobalt for chill vibes with fellow queers at what is quickly becoming East Van’s favourite hang out party.

VOKRA Walk for the Kitties
Where: Beach Path, West of Jericho Sailing Club
What: A fundraising walk to raise money for the all-volunteer rescue group VOKRA, who is a strictly no-kill organization who utilizes a network of hundreds of foster homes rather than operating a large shelter. If there was ever a group to show your 100+ phone photos of your cat to, this is the one. Join in, raise money, get a t-shirt, and you can even bring your dog along! These cat people like all animals.

Sigur Ros
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre, 8:00pm
What: Icelandic post-rock. Dreamy, pretty, music for feeling inspired and introspective.

Shoreline Cleanup
Where: Iona Beach, 10:00am
What: Team up with YVR and the Vancouver Aquarium to clean up Iona Beach. Last year there were over 300 volunteers to help remove over 700kg of waste from the shorelines.

HikeFest
Where: Sea to Sky Gondola
What: Celebrate all things hiking with free guided hikes, backcountry education and fun, educational family activities.

Ksenija Sidorova on Accordion
Where: Vancouver Playhouse
What: Encouraged to take up the instrument by a grandmother steeped in the folk tradition of accordion playing, Ksenija started to play the instrument aged eight under the guidance of Marija Gasele in her hometown of Riga. Her quest for more exposure to both classical and contemporary repertoire took her to London where she became a prize-winning undergraduate at the Royal Academy of Music studying under Owen Murray. She subsequently received her master’s degree with distinction.

Sharon and Bram
Where: The Orpheum
What: Some of us grew up with this – indulge and make your kids a fan too. The sing-along concert – featuring favourite hits such as “Five Little Monkeys,” “Skinnamarink,” “Tingalayo” and “She’ll Be Coming Around The Mountain”. Tickets available at Tickets Tonight.

Terry Fox Run
Where: Vancouver
What: The Terry Fox Run is a non-competitive event where people get together as individuals, families, and groups to raise money for cancer research in Terry’s name. It is a day of celebrating Terry’s legacy and helping to keep alive his dream of finding a cure for cancer.

Ismaili Walk for Mental Health
Where: Stanley Park
What: A family oriented, non-competitive 5km walk around the scenic Stanley Park at Lumberman’s Arch.

Furnsss
Where: The 333
What: Garage-tinged fuzz pop.

3rd Annual Slow Fish Dinner
Where: Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts
What: The Chef’s table Society, a Vancouver-based non profit charity supporting sustainable food programs that inspire, nurture and educate chefs, producers and the local food industry is returning to the Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts with their 3rd annual Slow Fish Dinner. The event is designed to raise awareness for Slow Fish Canada (a Slow Food initiative) that focuses on finding local solutions to support better management of Canada’s freshwater and marine resources. This year, there will be 8 chefs in 8 kitchens cooking 8 sustainable local fish and seafood and pairing it with 8 salmon-safe local wines.

Vancouver Free Market
Where: Grandview Park, 12:00pm
What: Share your leftovers, preform a song, teach weaving, scribble a poem, choreograph a dance, give a tarot card reading, fix a bike, preform a skit, trade your crystals, tell a joke – give and take, it’s all free.

Drake (show 2 of 2)
Where: Rogers Arena
What: A Canadian rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor with hits such as “Hotline Bling” (you know, the one about someone who used to call him on his cellphone.)

Ongoing

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Vancouver Fringe Festival (ends this weekend)
Where: Various Vancouver locations
What: A celebration of theatre for everyone, featuring more than 800 performances by over 90 artists. The Fringe employs an “everyone welcome” selection technique—the mainstage shows are literally drawn out of a hat, giving all artists a chance to participate. There are also unique site-specific theatre where artists stage their work in the nooks and crannies of Granville Island.
Runs until: Sunday September 18, 2016

Playland at the PNE (ends this weekend)
Where: Hastings Park
What: The smell of Mini Donuts and the screams of the rickety wooden coaster are in the air! In addition to carnival games, a ton of rides for all ages, the newest ride – added last year is Canada’s most extreme pendulum ride. The Beast, which boats a one-armed pendulum, swinging 120 degrees in either direction, reaches heights of over 125 feet and speeds of more than 90 km/h.
Runs until: September 18th, 2016

Bard on the Beach: Pericles (ends this weekend)
Where: Vanier Park
What: Directed by Lois Anderson,this fast-paced, thrilling tale set in an ancient mythical world follows a prince’s arduous quest to find love and the meaning of life.
Runs until: Sunday September 18, 2016

The Girl who was Raised by Wolverine (ends this weekend)
Where: Waterfront Theatre
What: This is a story of reawakening and self identity written and directed by Deneh’Cho Thompson. By exploring the deceptive qualities of memory and the descriptive qualities of cultural identity this play hopes to uncover space to challenge prescribed identity and encourage the practice of self-identifying.
Runs until: Sunday Sept 18, 2016

Sunset Music Series (ends this weekend)
Where: Sea to Sky Gondola, 6:00pm
What: A Summit Lodge Restaurant barbeque and musical performances that offer a variety of musical guests ranging from ranging from Classic Rock, European Folk, Indie Soul, Modern-Acoustic, R&B and World Fusion every Friday.
Runs until: Friday September 16, 2016

Disciples of Maui (ends this weekend)
Where: The Beamont
What: Postmodern tiki sculptures with raw materials sourced and re-purposed from vintage furniture.
Runs until: Saturday September 17, 2016

Northwest Symposium for Alternative Process Photography
Where: HR Macmillan Space Centre
What: Participate in wet plate photography, and learn about alternative photo practices you can’t get digitally (I swear, it just isn’t the same with filters). Learn about photography using hot beeswax, pigments, and texture.
Runs until: Sunday September 18, 2016

A Dog at a Feast (ends this weekend)
Where: Carousel Theatre
What: A dark comedy thatexamines the power of the fear of judgement, and how we are all our own worst critics.
Runs until: Saturday September 17, 2016

Fiesta! (ends this weekend)
Where: Portuguese Club of Vancouver
What: An immersive experience that takes place at the Portuguese Club of Vancouver on Commercial Drive, where guests can eat, drink and take part in all the fun and drama of a Portuguese festa, alongside two actors playing all the members of a typical Portuguese family.
Runs until: Sunday September 18, 2016

Lift Expo
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre
What: Over the course of two full days, an estimated 10,000 patients, consumers and industry professionals will meet, network and interact with exhibitors from all corners of the medical and adult use cannabis markets. From Canada’s unique Licensed Producers to cannabis startups, patient groups and networking events, the Lift Expo is a nexus of Canada’s unique federal medical program and forward-thinking cannabis culture.
Runs until: Sunday September 18, 2016

Vancouver International Flamenco Festival (ends this week)
Where: Various locations
What: This year the festival celebrates flamenco’s Spanish Gypsy origins with the Vancouver premiere of Mercedes Amaya Company (Mexico/Spain), the ensemble belonging to the niece of legendary Romani dancer Carmen Amaya. Audiences can also look forward to sizzling performances by Vancouver’s own Flamenco Rosario & Toque Flamenco, Calgary’s Rosanna Terracciano, and Saskatoon-based ¡ARTE! Flamenco, among others.
Runs until: Tuesday September 20, 2016

Bard on the Beach: Romeo and Juliet
Where: Vanier Park
What: A romantic, tragic Shakespeare in a tent on the beach. Two young people who fall deeply in love in spite of the bitter feud that divides their families. The story of Romeo and Juliet has been captivating audiences for centuries because it moves and inspires us even though it breaks our hearts. This classical, sensuous production is a salute to its timeless power.
Runs until: Friday September 23, 2016

If Not For Dreams
Where: Gallery Gachet
What: Oppenheimer Park and Gallery Gachet are pleased to present an exhibition showcasing artwork from the Oppenheimer Park community. This exhibition features painting, drawing, print-making, sculpture, carving, textile, mixed media and video works. If Not For Dreams is part of Homelessness Action Week 2016 (Oct 9th–15th) a series of events to increase awareness and to address conditions impacting homelessness.
Runs until: Friday September 23, 2016

SFU MFA Graduating Class Exhibition 2016
Where: Audain Gallery
What: The exhibition features graduating projects by MFA candidates Scott Saunders, Emiliano Sepulveda and Alexandra Spence, in Simon Fraser University’s School for the Contemporary Arts.
Runs until: Saturday September 24, 2016

The Nature of Art
Where: Van Dusen Botanical Gardens
What: BC based artists Fran Alexander, AFCA, and Susie Cipolla, SFCA, invite you to an exhibit of their art.
Runs until: Thursday September 28, 2016

Shipyards Night Market
Where: Shipbuilders’ Square
What: Over 100 vendors selling fresh foods, locally-made products, crafts, and other wares. There is also a beer garden, food trucks, and boozy lemonade.
Runs until: September 30, 2016 (Fridays)

Indigenous Plant Use
Where: Stanley Park, 10:00am
What: Walk through the forest with YUXWELUPTUN’ AAT (Lauraleigh) of Coast Salish, Interior Salish, and Carrier First Nations descent and learn about the traditional and present-day Coast Salish relationships with local flora and fauna. While there will be no collecting on these tours, Stanley Park offers a perfect setting to learn about sustainable harvesting.
Runs until: Friday September 30, 2016

Cosmic Sea
Where: Hot Art Wet City (2206 Main)
What: New works from Jenn Brisson, Kristian Adam and Phresha. The nautical and metaphysical theme sets the stage for the many colourful new works by the three artists. Invisible sea creatures, extra-terrestrial ocean babes, jellypurrrs and octophants, magical coral reefs, an army of lollipop licking dolphins floating through the milky way.
Runs until: Friday September 30, 2016

Surreal
Where: Gastown
What: An interactive, roaming theatre experience that takes place in the backstreets and alleys of Gastown. Audience members follow the story and characters wherever it goes, engaging with them to help progress the story. Unlike conventional stage theatre, Surreal brings the audience face-to-face with the story and characters, creating a wholly engaging experience.
Runs until: Friday September 30, 2016 (Fridays)

Naufragio
Where: 602 E Hastings Street
What: The exhibition is the result of the conversations among three artists born “elsewhere” but who currently live in Vancouver. This city is not explicitly present in the works, but is present as a locus for the stories that brought these artists together.
Runs until: Friday September 30, 2016

Tactile Forest
Where: Cityscape Community Art Space (North Vancouver)
What: The theme of botanical life is brought into the gallery landscape. Mossy greens, golden browns, sea and sky blues mimic our natural world through acrylic and oil paints, ceramic and fibre sculpture, contemporary embroidery and unique mixed media photographic works.
Runs until: Saturday October 1, 2016

Picasso: The Artist and His Muses
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Known for his enormous contribution to the canon of great art in the 20th century, Pablo Ruiz y Picasso (1881—1973) is one of the masters of Modernism. Picasso: The Artist and His Muses will examine the significance of the six women who were most important to Picasso’s artistic development: Fernande Olivier, Olga Khokhlova, Marie-Thérèse Walter, Dora Maar, Françoise Gilot and Jacqueline Roque.
Runs until: Sunday October 2, 2016

The Seriousness of Play
Where: The Bill Reid Gallery
What: Haida Manga is a contemporary art form that offers a playful way of viewing and engaging with social issues as it seeks participation, dialogue, reflection and action. Influenced by both the tradition of Haida iconography and contemporary Asian visual culture, Michael Nicoll Yahgulanaas has created an artistic practice celebrated for its vitality and originality by an international audience engaged in issues of ethnicity, identity and relationships.
Runs until: Sunday October 2, 2016

Isabel Nolan: The Weakened Eye of Day
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: Taking its title from the English novelist and poet Thomas Hardy’s The Darkling Thrush (1899), the exhibition examines how the light of the sun, physically and symbolically, manifests or resonates in our thoughts, preoccupations and pursuits. In Hardy’s poem, the sun, described as “the weakening eye of day” is a dismal star drained of its force by a gloomy pre-centennial winter afternoon.
Runs until: Sunday October 2, 2016

Absence: David Wilson
Where: Kimoto Gallery
What: Wilson’s newest body of work explores a number of repeated images that reference specific meaningful images and symbols as he searches for new opportunities to unravel his thoughts on a given subject. Most noticeable in this exhibition is the repetitive use of umbrella imagery.
Runs until: Saturday October 8, 2016

Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: Five actors play over 40 comical characters, filling the stage with suspects, allies, and heirs in this zany whodunit based on the Arthur Conan Doyle classic. When the wealthy Henry Baskerville is threatened by the fable of a bloodthirsty hound on the moors, Holmes and Watson are on the case to sniff out the culprit.
Runs until: Sunday October 9, 2016

Bharti Kher Matter
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: The first major retrospective of New Delhi-based artist Bharti Kher’s work in North America, this exhibition explores issues around identity, aiming to bring together works that speak especially to the perceptions and realities of being female today, implicating personal, cultural and political readings put forward in various aspects of the far-reaching practice of Bharti Kher.
Runs until: Monday October 10, 2016

Richmond Night Market
Where: 8351 River Road (Richmond, BC)
What: Touted as the largest night market in North America since 2000, find all kinds of foods, trinkets, entertainment and more all weekend.
Runs until: Monday October 10, 2016

Mean Time
Where: Centre A
What: Featuring a pair of works, The Remnant of My Volition (Force Majeure) (2014) and Frustration of Having More than Two Choices to Make in Life (2013). Artist Morgan Wong currently lives and works in Hong Kong. Shortlisted for the Sovereign Art Prize and featured in Hong Kong Basel Encounters, Wong has exhibited extensively in Korea, Japan, Hong Kong, China, Australia and Europe, but this exhibition marks Wong’s North American debut.
Runs until: Saturday October 15, 2016

Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun: Unceded Territories
Where: Museum of Anthropology
What: Vancouver artist Lawrence Paul Yuxweluptun, of Coast Salish and Okanagan descent, is showcased in this provocative exhibition of works that confront the colonialist suppression of First Nations peoples and the ongoing struggle for Indigenous rights to lands, resources, and sovereignty.
Runs until: Sunday October 16, 2016

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 and preserves, stock up on free-range and organic eggs and meats, get the freshest, hard-to-find heirloom vegetables and taste the first Okanagan cherries and peaches of the season.
Runs until: Saturday October 22, 2016 (Saturdays)

West End Farmers Market
Where: Comox Street, 9:00am
What: Local produce, prepared foods and crafts, hot food and coffee. Take the dog for a walk and enjoy a market in your urban backyard.
Runs until: Saturday October 22, 2016 (Saturdays)

Kits Market
Where: Kitsilano Community Centre
What: Each week the parking lot of Kits Community Centre fills with organic and conventional product, meat, cheese, seafood and plants as well as tasty baked goods, beautiful crafts and musical entertainment by local musicians. Kids can enjoy the playground and waterpark nearby and parents will find the best selection of organic produce around. Hot coffee and hot food available on site each week.
Runs until: Sunday October 23, 2016 (Sundays)

Prohibition City Walking Tour
Where: Chinatown
What: Delve into Vancouver’s dirtiest secrets on this scandal fuelled walking tour. Starting in the world of the saloon, you trace the story of prohibition in Vancouver while winding along the city’s most storied streets. You’ll hear tales of blind pigs, corrupt mayors, and enterprising bootleggers. Plus you’ll see first hand evidence of opium dens and walk down an alleyway once teeming with over 40 “bawdy houses.”
Runs until: Saturday October 29, 2016

An Agreeable State of Uncertainty
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Comprised of photographs, drawings, prints and paintings by artists such as Weegee, Diane Arbus, Robert Frank, Leon Golub, Lewis Hine, Cindy Sherman, Nancy Spero, Jack Shadbolt and Fred Herzog, these works were selected from the Vancouver Art Gallery’s collection by artist Stephen Waddell.
Runs until: Sunday October 30, 2016

Harry Callahan: The Street
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Harry Callahan (1912–1999) was one of the most influential photographers of the 20th century. In 2013, the Vancouver Art Gallery received the extraordinary gift of almost 600 Callahan photographs from the Larry and Cookie Rossy Family Foundation.
Runs until: Sunday October 30, 2016

Stephen Waddell: Dark Matter Atlas
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Over the past two decades the Vancouver-based artist Stephen Waddell has become widely known for his photographs and paintings that address urban space, particularly his depictions of the human figure in the modern city. This exhibition will feature a recent body of photographs in which Waddell has departed dramatically from the subject matter of his previous work by focusing on underground caverns in the United States, Canada and Lebanon—spaces once inaccessible that are now open to tourists.
Runs until: Sunday October 30, 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

Fall for Arts
Where: Whistler, BC
What: Festivals, art shows, markets, movie nights, and arts events all over the city.
Runs until: December 2016

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
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

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

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