Things to Do in Vancouver this Weekend: June 1, 2017

Happy June! It’s heating up outside, the parks are filling with sun loungers and there’s long line-ups at the best ice cream spots; summer in Vancouver has begun! To complement the long warm days this weekend, Bard on the Beach’s tents are up and the shows are on; Craft Beer Week’s festival is on at Playland; the Children’s Festival is on Granville Island; Music Waste is filling up venues with music, art and comedy; and to finish there’s a food truck festival on Sunday.

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing

Friday June 2

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.) You could also win tickets – here.
Runs until: Saturday September 23, 2017

Vancouver International Children’s Festival
Where: Granville Island
What: The first of its kind in North America, it began as a theatre festival for young audiences presenting international performances. Today the Festival is multi-disciplinary presenting theatre, music, dance, circus, puppetry and storytelling and over the years has been an inspiration to major cities throughout Canada and abroad, where annual children’s festivals now take place. Tickets available at Tickets Tonight.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

The Goh Ballet: The Four Seasons & More
Where: The Vancouver Playhouse Theatre
What: Goh Ballet’s Spring Performances will feature the World Premiere of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons Ballet accompanied by Vancouver Academy of Music’s Concertante String Orchestra. Come and witness future stars of dance and music take flight in this trailblazing production that showcases the world-class talent in our province.
Runs until: Saturday June 3, 2017

Music Waste Festival
Where: Various locations
What: A festival of Vancouver music, art and comedy that is passion-driven, not corporate sponsored, and financially accessible. All of the shows cost a maximum of $5 and are held at venues within walking distance.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

Creative Visions: Hong Kong Cinema 1997-2017
Where: The Cinematheque
What: This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). To celebrate, the HKSAR Government takes great pleasure in presenting a number of specially curated film programs on Hong Kong cinema in 10 cities across Europe, North America, and South Korea, in addition to four cities in Mainland China and in Hong Kong.
Runs until: Friday June 23, 2017

Last Train In
Where: The Cultch
What: Written and performed by award-winning theatre and film maker Adam Grant Warren, who was born with Cerebral Palsy, Last Train In is drawn from his lived experience. It is not, however, a typical story of disability and triumph over adversity. It is not about finding a way despite overwhelming odds. Instead, it’s about travel, romance, career expectations, and the all-too-human tendency to… embellish.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

Midnight Oil
Where: The Commodore
What: Legendary Australian rock band and agitators Midnight Oil today announced their first World Tour in over two decades. (Hits like Beds are Burning and Blue Sky Mine are to be expected.)

East Side Flea
Where: 1024 Main
What: Over 50 local vendors, food trucks, a live deejay, artisan showrooms, seasonal drink specials, pinball and more.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

Saturday June 3

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Vancouver Craft Beer Week Festival
Where: Playland
What: In addition to the biggest selection of craft beer and cider in one place, the VCBW Festival also features art installations, live music, deejays, food trucks, market stalls, brewing demonstrations, and a games area with pinball and foos ball, and a pop up barber shop – because the best time to get a new haircut is definitely after a few beers.
Runs until: Sunday June 3, 2017

Vancouver Facial Hair Club 3rd Annual Competition
Where: The Lamplighter
What: The bearded and the ‘stached compete in multiple categories! Proceeds go to HeadsUpGuys, a resource for supporting men in their fight against depression.

STRUT
Where: English Bay
What: Homosexuality is still a criminal offense in 79 countries worldwide. This is an annual walk-a-thon that raises funds to support sponsorship groups and charities that actively assist LGBTQ2+ refugees & newcomers. Flouting gender norms is a symbol of power and resistance in the LGBTQ2+ community; the freedom to do, act, wear, say or be who they wish without fear of persecution.

Good Noise Vancouver Gospel Choir presents Soul Gospel II
Where: Christ Church Cathedral
What: Rising-star R&B sensation Warren Dean Flandez, recent JUNO nominee and two-time winner at the 2017 Canadian Gospel Music Awards, will charm audiences with his rich vocals alongside the mighty 90 voices of Good Noise. Back by popular demand, this musical event will combine the best of soul and gospel, with inspirational classics made famous by Al Green, Stevie Wonder, Sam Cooke, and more. Audiences will also be treated to a taste of Flandez’ own infectiously groovy works.

Day Wave
Where: The Biltmore
What: Californian guitar-based dream pop with electronic undertones.

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Atlanta United
Where: BC Place Stadium
What: Soccer. Shouting. Cheering. Hot dogs. Beers.

Tom Lee Music Grand Re-Opening
Where: 728 Granville
What: Door crasher deals, exclusive & limited edition products, prize draws, demos and workshops showcasing its full-line selection of top brand musical instruments, equipment and cutting-edge, digital music technology. Performances will be throughout the weekend by acclaimed artists: renowned Steinway pianist Jenny Lin, guitar master & Wide Mouth Mason front man Shaun Verreault, prolific pianist/singer/songwriter Michael Kaeshammer, piano virtuoso Ian Parker, and more.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

Dayglo Abortions
Where: The Rickshaw
What: Brent “Fubar” Johnson Memorial Show with Powerclown, Rampage, the Strugglers, Wasted Strays, Scum Element.

Sunday June 4

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StreetFood Vancouver Festival
Where: 88 Pacific Blvd.
What: Twenty-two food trucks, a local arts and makers market, mini golf, face painting, music, and… free admission!

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

The Valkyries Ride to Vancouver
Where: St Helen’s Anglican Church, 2:00pm
What: Heroic Opera – a startup opera company devoted to the music of Wagner, Verdi, and Richard Strauss – will launch this June with Wagner’s epic opera Die Walküre. Its famous Ride of the Valkyries scene has been used in everything from Apocalypse Now to Bugs Bunny, but has not been heard in its entirety in Vancouver since 1975.

Up Dharma Down
Where: The Biltmore
What: Up Dharma Down is a band from the Philippines. They have been together since 2004. The group incorporates influences from rock, trip-hop, electronica and post-rock to create a sound which stands out in the local scene.

RBC Race for the Kids
Where: Queen Elizabeth Park
What: Runners and walkers of all ages and abilities will participate in either a scenic 5k route or a 2k fun run, followed by a carnival celebration with healthy snacks and activities for the whole family. Since it began in 1986, BC Children’s Hospital Foundation’s signature running event has raised over $12 million for childhood cancer research and treatment at the hospital.

Tom Lee Music Grand Re-Opening
Where: 728 Granville
What: Door crasher deals, exclusive & limited edition products, prize draws, demos and workshops showcasing its full-line selection of top brand musical instruments, equipment and cutting-edge, digital music technology. Performances will be throughout the weekend by acclaimed artists: renowned Steinway pianist Jenny Lin, guitar master & Wide Mouth Mason front man Shaun Verreault, prolific pianist/singer/songwriter Michael Kaeshammer, piano virtuoso Ian Parker, and more.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

Vancouver Craft Beer Week Festival
Where: The Fair at the PNE
What: In addition to the biggest selection of craft beer and cider in one place, the VCBW Festival also features art installations, live music, deejays, food trucks, market stalls, brewing demonstrations, and a games area with pinball and foos ball, and a pop up barber shop – because the best time to get a new haircut is definitely after a few beers.
Runs until: Sunday June 3, 2017

Ongoing

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Music Waste Festival
Where: Various locations
What: A festival of Vancouver music, art and comedy that is passion-driven, not corporate sponsored, and financially accessible. All of the shows cost a maximum of $5 and are held at venues within walking distance.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

Children of God
Where: The Cultch
What: In this powerful musical, the children of an Oji-Cree family are sent to a residential school in Northern Ontario. This is a story of redemption: for a mother who was never let past the school’s gate, and her kids, who never knew she came.
Runs until: Sunday June 3, 2107

Caroline Mesquita The Ballad
Where: Centre 221A
What: A sculptural practice that intertwines the materiality of altered, oxidized, and painted copper and brass sheets with theatrical playfulness.
Runs until: Saturday June 3, 2017

rEvolver Theatre Festival
Where: The Cultch
What: The festival by Upintheair Theatre fosters possible futures: supporting the next generation of theatre makers, and exploring new ideas through a unique focus on speculative fiction and formal innovation.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

Vancouver Craft Beer Week
Where: Various locations
What: A week of beer, events, tastings, music, and outdoor beer gardens across the city.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

Vancouver International Children’s Festival
Where: Granville Island
What: The first of its kind in North America, it began as a theatre festival for young audiences presenting international performances. Today the Festival is multi-disciplinary presenting theatre, music, dance, circus, puppetry and storytelling and over the years has been an inspiration to major cities throughout Canada and abroad, where annual children’s festivals now take place.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

Last Train In
Where: The Cultch
What: Written and performed by award-winning theatre and film maker Adam Grant Warren, who was born with Cerebral Palsy, Last Train In is drawn from his lived experience. It is not, however, a typical story of disability and triumph over adversity. It is not about finding a way despite overwhelming odds. Instead, it’s about travel, romance, career expectations, and the all-too-human tendency to… embellish.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

East Side Flea
Where: 1024 Main
What: Over 50 local vendors, food trucks, a live deejay, artisan showrooms, seasonal drink specials, pinball and more.
Runs until: Sunday June 4, 2017

Outside Mullingar
Where: Pacific Theatre
What: A pair of introverted misfits, Rosemary and Anthony’s families have lived on neighbouring farms as far back as anyone can remember, where they battle over property lines and childhood stories but never what matters most. A quirky story of flawed love and some kind of happiness told with effortless wit and poetic Irish lyricism.
Runs until: Saturday June 10, 2017

Song of the Open Road
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: Bringing together artists from Canada, Eritrea, Ireland, Sweden, and the US, the exhibition includes works that combine thematically to interrogate ideas rooted in photographic histories, engaging ideas such as veracity, recollection, remembrance, belonging, staging, and how the image documents and records these or is evidence of differing realities.
Runs until: Sunday June 18, 2017

Creative Visions: Hong Kong Cinema 1997-2017
Where: The Cinematheque
What: This year marks the 20th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). To celebrate, the HKSAR Government takes great pleasure in presenting a number of specially curated film programs on Hong Kong cinema in 10 cities across Europe, North America, and South Korea, in addition to four cities in Mainland China and in Hong Kong.
Runs until: Friday June 23, 2017

Hand to God
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: In a church basement in suburban Texas, three troubled teenagers meet weekly to express themselves through puppetry and learn to avoid the devil at all costs. Things take a twisted turn when one student—Jason—creates a hand puppet that is possessed with a delightfully dark personality of its own.
Runs until: Sunday June 25, 2017

Up Close
Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden
What: All the artists represented in this group exhibition find their inspiration while painting on location at VanDusen Garden. The Vancouver en plein air group, initiated in April 2011, zooms-in to the lush vegetation that provides a new dimension of foreground details. The subjects are varied, and so is the medium.
Runs until: Tuesday June 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

Million Dollar Quartet
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: Inspired by true events, this rocking jukebox musical takes you into Sun Records Studio on December 4, 1956, to witness the famed recording session that brought together rock and roll legends Presley, Cash, Lewis, and Perkins—for the first and only time.
Runs until: Sunday July 9, 2017

The Vienna Model: Housing for the 21st Century City
Where: Museum of Vancouver
What: Explore housing in Vienna, Austria, through its portrait of the city’s pathbreaking approach to architecture, urban life, neighborhood revitalization, and the creation of new communities.
Runs until: Sunday July 16, 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

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

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

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

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: 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

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

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