Things to Do in Vancouver this Weekend: August 3, 2017

It’s Pride weekend and there is so much going on that I can’t possibly list it all, but expect a celebration in nearly every venue in the city and especially around Davie Street! In addition to rainbows, parties and marches, there’s also two Japanese festivals (one centered on anime, and one on broader arts and culture) film noir, and fireworks.

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing

Friday August 4

Anime Revolution
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre
What: Get your cosplay on! This event is to spread love and appreciation for anime and Japanese culture, Anime Revolution offers three fun-filled days of art, animation, comics, contests, costumes, cultural displays, dance, games, and musical performances.
Runs until: Sunday August 6, 2017

Davie Street Party
Where: Davie Street
What: Eight DJs and a ChillZone that will showcase many fabulous bands, poets, and other performers.

REQUIOS, Okinawan Kodama: A Celebration of the Heart, Soul and Spirit
Where: Vancouver Playhouse
What: An Okinawan performing group known for its dynamic and original presentations, is inspired by traditional folk tales and music. A non-profit society that has travelled to over a dozen countries worldwide in last 20 years, REQUIOS’ mission is to share this unique style of drum-dancing, Eisa and their Okinawan heritage.

Film Noir
Where: The Cinematheque
What: The Cinematheque’s annual foray into the dark, desperate world of American film noir returns with eleven lurid classics from noir’s hard-boiled heyday.
Runs until: Thursday August 24, 2017

Vancouver Pride with Queer as Funk
Where: Commodore Ballroom
What: Local soul/dance/motown/funk.

Tim and Eric 10 Year Anniversary Awesome Tour
Where: The Orpheum
What: Tim and Eric are putting on an awesome show where they will talk about things and do a great job at humour.

Vancouver Bach Festival
Where: Christ Church Cathedral
What: Fourteen concerts that features guest artists from all over the world. Highlight concerts include Matt Haimovitz’s new perspective on Bach’s Cello Suites in Overtures to Bach; the Vancouver premiere of The Fountains of Israel, a relatively unknown masterpiece by composer Johann Schein; and a stirring finale of Bach’s monumental St. John Passion.
Runs until: Friday August 11, 2017

Tinder Tales
Where: The Fox
What: Professional and amateur daters, storytellers, comedians & everyday people confess their most outrageous and hilarious Tinder tales and other online dating stories live on stage.

Alternative Pride Festival 2017
Where: Various locations
What: Nine events over three days that are community-supported and artist-run with no corporate or government sponsorship that ensures full artistic freedom and autonomy, while offering fair compensation to artists.
Runs until: Sunday August 6, 2017

Handel in Italy: Virtuosic Cantatas
Where: Christ Church Cathedral
What: For this program, two of Europe’s most accomplished young Baroque vocalists, Terry Wey and Jenny Hogstrom, perform virtuosic cantatas and fiery love duets by Handel from his early Italian period as well as a duet by one of his mentors, Agostino Steffani.

Chicks Ahoy Lesbian/Queer Boat Cruise
Where: On the water
What: Two floors, two pumping lounges, and an outdoor deck seemingly designed for viewing Vancouver’s spectacular mountain and cityscapes, and definitely big enough for a naval dance-off.

Game of Thrones Live: Hodor Rises
Where: The Rio
What: A night of fire and blood, massive sword fights, burlesque, comedy and live medieval music.
Runs until: Saturday August 5, 2017

Man Up Pride: The Gender Adventure
Where: The Cobalt
What: The daring drag dreamers of Vancouver bring you another broad-spectrum spectacle of epically sexy proportions.

Harmony Arts Festival
Where: Park Place Mall (North Vancouver)
What: A family-friendly festival that celebrates the arts with indoor and outdoor activities day and night including concerts and outdoor cinema. There’s a free shuttle departing from Canada Place at select times – see the website for details.
Runs until: Sunday August 13, 2017

Saturday August 5

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Powell Street Festival
Where: Powell Street
What: Vancouver’s largest festival of Japanese arts and culture celebrates 41 years with a weekend full of live performances, martial arts, crafts, and Japanese food. This year includes an interactive installation, a panel with two of Haruki Murakami’s top translators, and a performance by a Japanese blues cowboy and Tsugaru samisen player from Melbourne, Australia.
Runs until: Sunday August 6, 2017

Celebration of Light: Team Canada
Where: English Bay
What: Don’t miss the grand finale of the Honda Celebration of Light International Fireworks Competition with team Royal Pyrotechnie from Canada. 

Vancouver Dyke March
Where: From McSpadden Park to Grandview Park
What: A march in celebration and in protest centered around those in the LGBTQ2+ community whose gender identity intersects with sexual orientation to further marginalize them. All are welcome, including allies.

BC Lions vs. Saskatchewan Roughriders
Where: BC Place Stadium
What: Football time. Paint your face and/or body and do some yelling for the team you like.

Bard-B-Q and Fireworks
Where: Bard on the Beach – Vanier Park
What: See Much Ado About Nothing or The Two Gentlemen of Verona followed by a salmon barbecue from Emelle’s Catering with all the fixings, delicious desserts and an entire evening of entertainment including a private view of the spectacular Celebration of Light fireworks.

Fire & Light
Where: The Maritime Museum
What: The 2017 Honda Celebration of Light from the Vancouver Maritime Museum’s patio with an evening of food, wine, fireworks and a band, ‘The Rain City 6″.

Untoxicated Pride Party
Where: Davie and Bute
What: A sober party – featuring Rupaul’s Star Katya and Dj Nina Flowers, plus Raye Sunshine, Mayhem Miller, Trinna Modele, Brat Pack, Jane Smoker, Alma Bitches, Jaylene Tyme, MC Crystal Clearly and country singer Jaimie Wilson.

Pride Cruises
Where: On the water
What: Choose from three pride cruises (Saturday or Sunday for the parties, or Monday for a chiller, more laid back time to recover from the weekend.
Runs until: Monday August 7, 2017

Jazz up your Pride
Where: XY
What: A night of jazz including standards and selections from the Great Canadian Songbook‘s swinging versions of hits like Justin Bieber’s Baby.

Sunday August 6

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39th Annual Pride Parade and Festival
Where: West End
What: The Vancouver Pride Society brings together members of the LGBTQ2+ community and their allies to celebrate the unique spirit and culture of the rainbow community by producing quality, inclusive events. Join in for one of the most beautiful and diverse parades in the world, and a festival on the beach.

Social Sundays
Where: VanDusen Gardens
What: Summer sounds, signature cocktails, and lawn games.
Runs until: Sunday August 27, 2017

Vancouver City Archives Walking Tour of Vancouver’s Chinatown
Where: Chinese Cultural Centre
What: The tour will be led by John Atkin and Bob Sung. John is a civic historian who has explored the origins of Vancouver’s Chinatown and looked at the forces that created and shaped this important part of the city. Bob is a third-generation Chinese Canadian, and a graduate of the Dubrulle Culinary Institute. Share John’s insights of the architecture, and history, and Bob’s experience of the culinary & cultural elements of Chinatown.

O Pride with Lady Bunny
Where: The Odyssey
What: The fierce, outspoken, and outrageous Lady Bunny will be performing The Odyssey stage and then spinning the night away till 4am!

Ongoing

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Anime Revolution
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre
What: Get your cosplay on! This event is to spread love and appreciation for anime and Japanese culture, Anime Revolution offers three fun-filled days of art, animation, comics, contests, costumes, cultural displays, dance, games, and musical performances.
Runs until: Sunday August 6, 2017

Game of Thrones Live: Hodor Rises
Where: The Rio
What: A night of fire and blood, massive sword fights, burlesque, comedy and live medieval music.
Runs until: Saturday August 5, 2017

Alternative Pride Festival 2017
Where: Various locations
What: Nine events over three days that are community-supported and artist-run with no corporate or government sponsorship that ensures full artistic freedom and autonomy, while offering fair compensation to artists.
Runs until: Sunday August 6, 2017

Pride Cruises
Where: On the water
What: Choose from three pride cruises (Saturday or Sunday for the parties, or Monday for a chiller, more laid back time to recover from the weekend.
Runs until: Monday August 7, 2017

Vancouver Bach Festival
Where: Christ Church Cathedral
What: Fourteen concerts that features guest artists from all over the world. Highlight concerts include Matt Haimovitz’s new perspective on Bach’s Cello Suites in Overtures to Bach; the Vancouver premiere of The Fountains of Israel, a relatively unknown masterpiece by composer Johann Schein; and a stirring finale of Bach’s monumental St. John Passion.
Runs until: Friday August 11, 2017

The Teen Shakespeare Program presents Romeo and Juliet
Where: Carousel Theatre
What: The annual Teen Shakespeare Program stages outdoor, all ages productions on Granville Island with a festival-style village, concession, and activities for the kids. Admission is free but seating is limited, with premium seating available in advance for $5 per seat.
Runs until: Saturday August 12, 2017

Robson Square Salsa
Where: Robson Square
What: An annual series of free outdoor salsa dances. Learn, have fun, and show off your moves.
Runs until: Sunday August 13, 2017

Harmony Arts Festival
Where: Park Place Mall (North Vancouver)
What: A family-friendly festival that celebrates the arts with indoor and outdoor activities day and night including concerts and outdoor cinema. There’s a free shuttle departing from Canada Place at select times – see the website for details.
Runs until: Sunday August 13, 2017

Ensemble Theatre Festival
Where: Jericho Arts Centre
What: Featuring a cast of emerging and established actors performing In the Next Room, A Prayer for Owen Meany, and Master Class, by directors new and returning to the festival: Keltie Forsyth, Ian Farthing, and Evan Frayne.
Runs until: Friday August 18, 2017

Oh, Canada – The True North Strong and Funny
Where: The Improv Centre on Granville Island
What: Based on audience suggestions, the cast lampoon such Canadian ‘institutions’ as Heritage Minutes, the Mounties, winter, our hunky Prime Minister, hockey, and lumberjacks or other endless possibilities. As this is improv and the show is made up on the spot, no two shows are ever the same. Join us for some distinctively Canadian laughs. You’ll be nicer for it.
Runs until: Saturday August 19, 2017

Kitsilano Showboat
Where: Kits beach
What: Almost anything can happen at this family friendly showcase of amateur talent dating back to 1935.
Runs until: Saturday August 19, 2017

Live Carving of Stó:lō Welcome Figures
Where: Tourism Chilliwack Visitor Centre (Chilliwack, BC)
What: Terry Horne, artist and Chief from Yakweakwioose
band, is carving two Stó:lō Welcome Figures at the Chilliwack Visitor Centre.
Runs until: August 2017

Film Noir
Where: The Cinematheque
What: The Cinematheque’s annual foray into the dark, desperate world of American film noir returns with eleven lurid classics from noir’s hard-boiled heyday.
Runs until: Thursday August 24, 2017

Indigenous Plant Use
Where: Stanley Park
What: Walk through the forest with an experienced guide of Coast Salish descent and learn about the traditional and present-day Indigenous 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 August 25, 2017 (Fridays)

Theatre Under the Stars
Where: Stanley Park
What: Enjoy a delightful dose of entertainment this summer with two Broadway musicals. Mary Poppins and The Drowsy Chaperone will be performed live at the Malkin Bowl. A beloved Vancouver tradition since 1940, TUTS 2017 season promises song & dance in two family-friendly productions celebrating love and imagination.
Runs until: Saturday August 26, 2017

Story Walks
Where: The Shipyards and in Lynn Canyon Park
What: Free drop-in walks at The Shipyards are offered Saturdays and Sundays at 11 am and 1:30 pm. Meet at Lonsdale Ave. and Victory Ship Way. Free drop-in walks in Lynn Canyon Park are offered Wednesdays and Thursdays from July 6th to August 24th at 11 am and 1:30 pm. Meet across from the Lynn Canyon Café.
Runs until: Sunday August 27, 2017

Peak Yoga on Grouse Mountain
Where: Grouse Mountain
What: Enjoy 60 minute yoga classes led by YYoga instructors, every Saturday and Sunday from 10:00-11:00 am. Whether you need a great post-Grind cool down or would just love to experience a different yoga venue at one of the city’s most spectacular locations, these 60-minute class are bound to enhance your physical well-being and kick start your weekend.
Runs until: Sunday August 27, 2017

Social Sundays
Where: VanDusen Gardens
What: Summer sounds, signature cocktails, and lawn games.
Runs until: Sunday August 27, 2017

Dance in Transit
Where: Various outdoor locations
What: A continuous supply of dancing during the warm months —at no cost. Watch it, try it, and see if you love it.
Runs until: Sunday August 27th, 2017

Xi Xanya Dzam – Those Who Are Amazing At Making Things
Where: The Bill Reid Gallery
What: Xi Xanya Dzam (pronounced hee hun ya zam) is the Kwak’wala word describing incredibly talented and gifted people who create works of art. The exhibition is both a showcase and a critical exploration of ‘achievement’ and ‘excellence’ in traditional and contemporary First Nations art.
Runs until: Sunday September 4, 2017

Pictures From Here
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Featuring photographs and video works from the early 1960s to the present that capture the urban environment of the Greater Vancouver region, its citizens and the vast “natural” landscape of the province.
Runs until: Sunday September 4, 2017

Jaad Kuujus: Meghann O’Brien
Where: Bill Reid Gallery
What: Meghann takes materials from the natural world and transforms them into pieces of high-level human expression. Working with traditional materials such as mountain goat wool and cedar bark has given her a deep connection to the supernatural world, a connection to her ancestors. She describes working with cedar bark as, “travelling back in time” or “touching the cosmos”. Her creations have a profound impact within contemporary Northwest Coast art and beyond.
Runs until: September 2017

Sunday Art Market
Where: Jim Deva Plaza
What: Local artists, vendors and makers, largely from Vancouver’s West End, along with musical and other live performances and artist-led workshops to drop into.
Runs until: September 2017

Panda International Night Market
Where: Richmond, BC
What: A diverse market in Richmond, with shopping, food, beverages, and a game zone.
Runs until: Monday September 11, 2017

Flora and Fauna: A Summer Art Show
Where: The Fall Tattooing and Artist Studio
What: An artistic summer celebration of all vibrant, colourful, living things.
Runs until: Friday September 15, 2017

Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival
Where: Vanier Park
What: What do you say to watching a live production of Much Ado About Nothing, The Winter’s Tale, The Merchant of Veniceor The Two Gentlemen of Veronain a custom-built tent on the beach while sipping wine, beer, and munching on a picnic lunch themed to the play? Yes! Right? After 28 years, this festival has hit a stride of near perfection (and don’t even get us started on the amazing costumes.)
Runs until: Saturday September 23, 2017

A Sublime Vernacular: The Landscape Paintings of Levine Flexhaug
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: The first overview of the extraordinary career of Levine Flexhaug (1918 – 1974), born in the Treelon area near Climax, Saskatchewan. It brings together approximately 450 of the artist’s paintings as well as several of his mural-sized works. An itinerant painter, he sold thousands of variations of essentially the same landscape painting in national parks, resorts, department stores and bars across western Canada from the late 1930s through the early 1960s.
Runs until: Sunday September 24, 2017

Unbelievable
Where: The Museum of Vancouver
What: This exhibition poses provocative questions about our perception of stories by assembling iconic artifacts, storied replicas, and contested objects for a mind-bending exploration of the role stories play in defining lives and communities – and what happens when we question the tales we’ve long relied upon. Unbelievable objects include the Thunderbird totem pole that appeared in controversial filmmaker Edward Curtis’ 1906 work In the Land of the Head Hunters; contemporary ‘totems’, each with contrasting stories about a point in time in Vancouver; and artifacts illustrating the complex narrative around Vancouver’s relationship with First Nations communities.
Runs until: Sunday September 24, 2017

Uninterrupted
Where: Under the Cambie Street Bridge
What: After dusk, audiences will witness the extraordinary migration of wild Pacific salmon in a 30-minute cinematic spectacle that explores the connection between nature and our urban environments.
Runs until: Sunday September 24, 2017

Be Polite
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: Working closely with the Estate of Gordon Bennett and IMA Brisbane the exhibition will comprise a selection of rare works on paper including drawing, painting, watercolour, poetry, and essays from the early 1990s through to the early 2000s.
Runs until: Sunday September 24, 2017

Works by Anna Milton
Where: VanDusen Gardens
What: Anna has been exhibiting and selling her work internationally since her college years. She trained and worked as an art therapist for many years and is interested in symbols and metaphor that are present in visual art.
Runs until: Wednesday September 27, 2017

Shipyards Night Market
Where: Lonsdale, North Vancouver
What: Food, art, music, entertainment, shopping, a beer garden, and you can bring your dog!
Runs until: September 29, 2017

ZimCarvings
Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden
What: Patrick Sephani along with visiting artist Peter Kananji will be showcasing works from over 30 Zimbabwean stone sculptors on the beautiful garden grounds and carving stone sculptures on site. All works will be available for purchase.
Runs until: Saturday September 30, 2017

Claude Monet’s Secret Garden
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: The most comprehensive exhibition of French painter Claude Monet’s work in Canada in two decades, Claude Monet’s Secret Garden will trace the career of this pivotal figure in Western art history. This exhibition will present thirty-eight paintings spanning the course of Monet’s long career from the unparalleled collection of the Musée Marmottan Monet, Paris.
Runs until: Sunday October 1, 2017

Stephen Shore: The Giverny Portfolio
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Twenty-five photographs by contemporary American photographer Stephen Shore produced during several visits to Impressionist painter Claude Monet’s famous gardens at Giverny, France. Showing concurrently with the exhibition Claude Monet’s Secret Garden, Stephen Shore: The Giverny Portfolio offers a contemporary perspective on the tranquility originally captured in Monet’s iconic paintings.
Runs until: Sunday October 1, 2017

Persistence
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Persistence draws together three recent contemporary installations to explore the surprising and creative ways that technologies, physical objects and natural processes endure and transform.
Runs until: October 1, 2017

Elad Lassry
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Investigating the nature of perception with a special focus on the photographic image within the digital era, the exhibition includes more than seventy works—films, photographs and sculpture—produced by Lassry over the last decade.
Runs until: Sunday October 1, 2017

Mount Pleasant Farmers Market
Where: Dude Chilling Park
What: Amble over and pick up some afternoon picnic supplies, groceries for the week, and Sunday dinner fixings from 25+ farms and producers. Each week you’ll find 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: Sunday October 8, 2017

Traces of Words: Art and Calligraphy from Asia
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: Words and their physical manifestations are explored in this insightful exhibition, which will honour the special significance that written forms. Varied forms of expression associated with writing throughout Asia is shown over the span of different time periods: from Sumerian cuneiform inscriptions, Qu’ranic manuscripts, Southeast Asian palm leaf manuscripts and Chinese calligraphy from MOA’s Asian collection to graffiti art from Afghanistan and contemporary artworks using Japanese calligraphy, and Tibetan and Thai scripts.
Runs until: Monday October 9, 2017

Richmond Night Market
Where: Richmond, BC
What: There’s a dinosaur park! Anamatronic dinosaurs! Also – live performances, carnival games, over 200 retail stalls and over 500 food choices from around the world.
Runs until: October 9, 2017

Onsite / Offsite Tsang Kin-Wah
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: This large-scale composition transforms English texts to form intricate floral and animal patterns. The work draws from discriminatory language that appeared in newspapers and political campaigns in Vancouver during the 1887 anti-Chinese riots, the mid-1980s immigration influx from Hong Kong and most recently, the heated exchanges around the foreign buyers and the local housing market.
Runs until: Sunday October 15, 2017

West End Farmers Market
Where: 1100 Comox St
What: Located in the heart of Vancouver’s busy West End, this laid-back Saturday market looks onto beautiful Nelson Park and adjacent community gardens. Each week, shop for the best in local, seasonal produce, artisanal bread & prepared foods, craft beer, wine, & spirits, ethically raised meat, eggs, & dairy, sustainable seafood, wild crafted product, and handmade craft. Hot food & coffee on-site as well.
Runs until: Saturday October 21, 2017 (Saturdays)

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 21, 2017 (Saturdays)

Kitsilano Farmers Market
Where: Kitsilano Community Centre parking lot
What: 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 beautiful, handmade craft. Kids and parents alike can enjoy entertainment by market musicians, a nearby playground and splash park, and coffee and food truck offerings each week.
Runs until: Sunday October 22, 2017 (Sundays)

The Lost Fleet Exhibit
Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum
What: On December 7, 1941 the world was shocked when Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, launching the United States into the war. This action also resulted in the confiscation of nearly 1,200 Japanese-Canadian owned fishing boats by Canadian officials on the British Columbia coast, which were eventually sold off to canneries and other non-Japanese fishermen. The Lost Fleet looks at the world of the Japanese-Canadian fishermen in BC and how deep-seated racism played a major role in the seizure, and sale, of Japanese-Canadian property and the internment of an entire people.
Runs until: Winter 2017

Bill Reid Creative Journeys
Where: The Bill Reid Gallery
What: Celebrating the many creative journeys of acclaimed master goldsmith and sculptor Bill Reid (1920–1998), this exhibition provides a comprehensive introduction to his life and work.
Runs until: Sunday December 10, 2017

Amazonia: The Rights of Nature
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: MOA will showcase its Amazonian collections in a significant exploration of socially and environmentally-conscious notions intrinsic to indigenous South American cultures, which have recently become innovations in International Law. These are foundational to the notions of Rights of Nature, and they have been consolidating in the nine countries that share responsibilities over the Amazonian basin.
Runs until: January 28, 2018

Emily Carr: Into the Forest
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Far from feeling that the forests of the West Coast were a difficult subject matter, Carr exulted in the symphonies of greens and browns found in the natural world. With oil on paper as her primary medium, Carr was free to work outdoors in close proximity to the landscape. She went into the forest to paint and saw nature in ways unlike her fellow British Columbians, who perceived it as either untamed wilderness or a plentiful source of lumber.
Runs until: March 4, 2018

Chief Dan George: Actor and Activist
Where: North Vancouver Museum
What: An exhibition exploring the life and legacy of Tsleil-Waututh Chief Dan George (1899- 1981) and his influence as an Indigenous rights advocate and his career as an actor. The exhibition was developed in close collaboration with the George family.
Runs until: April 2018

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 or tweet me directly at @lextacular