Things to Do in Vancouver This Weekend: May 4, 2017

Happy May! This weekend the DOXA Documentary Film Festival will keep you in touch with the deeper parts of the world, Vancouver Bird Week will keep your eyes open for our feathered Vancouver residents, and the BMO Vancouver Marathon is here to test exactly how in-shape you really are, for those who are up for it. It’s also your last chance to catch Otello with the Vancouver Opera.

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing

Friday May 5

DOXA
Where: Various locations
What: Eleven days of international documentaries give you the opportunity to see through someone else’s eyes, into other worlds, and you might even learn something along the way. Genres such as activism, sexuality, race, sports, war, science, art, docudrama and animation weave through shows you may not get to see on the big screen anywhere else.
Runs until: Sunday May 14, 2017

Circle Game: Re-imagining the Music of Joni Mitchell
Where: Firehall Arts Centre
What: The heartbreak of a failed love affair in “River”, the fear of imminent ecological disaster in “Big Yellow Taxi”, and the promise of a generation gathering to ‘get back to the garden’ in “Woodstock” are topics that resound as heavily today as they did fifty years ago. The enduring music of Canadian icon and renowned singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is reimagined in this energetic musical experience.
Runs until: Saturday May 20, 2017

La Merda
Where: The Cultch
What: Literally naked, internationally acclaimed Silvia Gallerano sings and howls this provocative and critically acclaimed text: a stream of consciousness that reveals, with rage and poetry, revolting human secrets, and a modern society that is powerful, desperate, vulnerable, and cutting.
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

Indigenous Plant Use Walking Tour
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.

The Vancouver Folk Festival Presents: Martin Harley
Where: The Fox Cabaret
What: Folk musician from the UK.

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

Home
Where: Roundhouse Community Centre
What: When a favourite local hangout is threatened with a corporate takeover, two First Nations young female managers rally the regulars to save the place they call home. An original Canadian production that shares a powerful vision of hope from local diverse youth in the search for a healthy home, both within oneself and one’s community. Cultural representation includes Ojibway, Chinese, Greek, French, Kurdish, Serbian, and the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation.
Runs until: Sunday May 7, 2017

Ships to Shore – King of the Sea Festival
Where: Garry Point Park (Richmond, BC)
What: Known as the ‘King of the Sea’, the Kaiwo Maru is a four-masted, 361 ft. long, 182 ft. high naval training vessel from Japan. Along with ship viewing, there will be entertainment, food, and a kid’s cove.
Runs until: Sunday May 7, 2017

Andrew Rayel
Where: The Commodore
What: Electronic trancy music.

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

East Side Flea
Where: 1024 Main
What: Over 50 local vendors, food trucks, live DJ, artisan showrooms, seasonal drink specials, and pinball.
Runs until: Sunday May 7, 2017

Saturday May 6

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Vancouver Bird Week
Where: Vancouver
What: A week-long series of events to celebrate Vancouver’s birds. Look for bird-related workshops, walks, talks, exhibitions, and lectures across Vancouver. Most events are free!
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

VSO: The French Romantics
Where: The Orpheum
What: Maestro Tovey and the VSO’s outstanding Principal Cello Ariel Barnes proudly perform the world première of Composer-in-Residence Jocelyn Morlock’s Cello Concerto – Lucid Dreams, in a concert that also features beautiful French classics notable for their masterful orchestrations.

The Show at Emily Car University of Art and Design
Where: Emily Car University
What: Featuring more than 300 works from this year’s Design, Media and Visual Arts graduates.
Runs until: Sunday May 21, 2017

Bird Week: Box Building
Where: Stanley Park
What: Build a chickadee cedar nest box while learning about this charismatic species and how your nest box can provide a safe habitat.

Family Lines in Landscape
Where: Kimoto Gallery
What: Veronica Plewman examines how time and memory are rooted in a location, from childhood. She reconstructs and paints her journey and portrait of BC, from the place she grew up to the old family photos of her parents early lives, and the stories she can recall. This series is about migration, how a family gets there and the unknown mysteries of our family history.
Runs until: Saturday May 27, 2017

Ivy. The Pulse
Where: The Biltmore
What: Born in Nicaragua, raised in East Vancouver Ivy. The Pulse brings you the unique blend of sultry, soul, dance and feel good music.

Sunday May 7

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BMO Vancouver Marathon
Where: Vancouver
What: Get ready to run! Named a Top 10 Destination Marathon by Forbes and one of the world’s most exotic marathons by CNN Travel, the BMO Vancouver Marathon is a Boston Qualifier that takes runners on a 42.2 kilometre (26.2 miles) adventure past beaches, through natural parks, and along Vancouver’s bustling Seawall.

Vancouver Academy of Music Symphony Orchestra presents: A John Williams Tribute
Where: The Orpheum
What: Cinema meets the concert hall in a program of John Williams’ popular scores for such films as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Catch Me If You Can. Performing Williams’ legendary sweeping and fantastical themes, the more than 100 young orchestra members will conjure iconic scenes from blockbuster faves.

The Mahones
Where: The Rickshaw
What: From an Irish pub to an Academy Award winning movie: The Mahones have come a long way in 25 years. Heralded as pioneers of the Irish punk scene, and internationally recognized as one of the best and hardest working punk outfits around, The Mahones formed on St. Patrick’s Day in 1990, and have been working on their own brand of Irish punk ever since.

Flogging Molly
Where: The Commodore
What: A fusion of punk rock with Celtic instruments—violin, mandolin and the accordion—and they merge blues progressions with grinding guitars and traditional Irish music.

Grandaddy
Where: The Imperial
What: Atmospheric electronics meet warped Americana.

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)

Ongoing

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Mom’s the Word 3: Nest ½ Empty
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: From the world-renowned creative team behind the Mom’s the Word series comes a new chapter in their stories of family and fracas. Their kids are grown, their marriages have “evolved,” and their bodies are backfiring. Life doesn’t get any prettier, but it never strays far from ludicrous or poignant as the moms continue to mine their personal history for every embarrassing detail.
Runs until: Saturday May 6, 2017

Abbotsford Bloom Tulip Festival
Where: 36737 North Parallel Road, Abbotsford BC
What: A chance to marvel at 10-acres of rainbow-coloured fields featuring more than 2.5 million tulips in a vivid display of breathtaking beauty. Visitors are invited to enjoy the view, get up close with the blooms, tiptoe through the expansive tulip fields, pick their own spring bouquets in the sprawling u-pick tulip field or purchase pre-picked tulips in the “Bloom-Mobile”, an on-site flower shop.
Runs until: Sunday May 7, 2017

Home
Where: Roundhouse Community Centre
What: When a favourite local hangout is threatened with a corporate takeover, two First Nations young female managers rally the regulars to save the place they call home. An original Canadian production that shares a powerful vision of hope from local diverse youth in the search for a healthy home, both within oneself and one’s community. Cultural representation includes Ojibway, Chinese, Greek, French, Kurdish, Serbian, and the Kwakwaka’wakw Nation.
Runs until: Sunday May 7, 2017

East Side Flea
Where: 1024 Main
What: Over 50 local vendors, food trucks, live DJ, artisan showrooms, seasonal drink specials, and pinball.
Runs until: Sunday May 7, 2017

Vancouver Opera Festival
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre and Plaza
What: The first edition of Vancouver Opera Festival is a celebration of the vocal and theatrical arts. At its core, three new productions: a seldom performed masterpiece, a beloved classic, and a contemporary tour de force.
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

Vancouver Bird Week
Where: Vancouver
What: A week-long series of events to celebrate Vancouver’s birds. Look for bird-related workshops, walks, talks, exhibitions, and lectures across Vancouver. Most events are free!
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

Western World
Where: Vancouver Improv Centre (Granville Island)
What: Vancouver TheatreSports’™ improvisers will demonstrate their lightning fast wit as they play the “hosts” to the audience “guests” in Western World – an improvised parody inspired by the popular TV series Westworld.
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

La Merda
Where: The Cultch
What: Literally naked, internationally acclaimed Silvia Gallerano sings and howls this provocative and critically acclaimed text: a stream of consciousness that reveals, with rage and poetry, revolting human secrets, and a modern society that is powerful, desperate, vulnerable, and cutting.
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

The Piano Teacher
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: When Erin, a classical pianist, experiences the loss of the life she knew, she also finds herself dealing with the departure of her own musical expression. Navigating her way through this change, she meets an unconventional piano teacher who gives her new hope for the future.
Runs until: Sunday May 13, 2017

Robin Hood: Prince of Tease
Where: Performance Works
What: An original burlesque-style musical theatre production, inspired by the classic folklore of Robin Hood with a tantalizing twist. In this tale, most characters are gender-swapped and the relationships between the classic characters of Nottingham are turned on their heads. The story follows Robin as she conspires with her merry (wo)men to take down the tyrannical Prince Joan and her sadistic sidekick, the Sheriff of Nottingham.
Runs until: Saturday May 13, 2017

DOXA
Where: Various locations
What: Eleven days of international documentaries give you the opportunity to see through someone else’s eyes, into other worlds, and you might even learn something along the way. Genres such as activism, sexuality, race, sports, war, science, art, docudrama and animation weave through shows you may not get to see on the big screen anywhere else.
Runs until: Sunday May 14, 2017

Circle Game: Re-imagining the Music of Joni Mitchell
Where: Firehall Arts Centre
What: The heartbreak of a failed love affair in “River”, the fear of imminent ecological disaster in “Big Yellow Taxi”, and the promise of a generation gathering to ‘get back to the garden’ in “Woodstock” are topics that resound as heavily today as they did fifty years ago. The enduring music of Canadian icon and renowned singer-songwriter Joni Mitchell is reimagined in this energetic musical experience.
Runs until: Saturday May 20, 2017

End of the Rainbow
Where: Staircase Theatre
What: This gritty play with music is based on the true events of Judy Garland’s last comeback attempt in England in 1968.
Runs until: Sunday May 20, 2017

The Show at Emily Car University of Art and Design
Where: Emily Car University
What: Featuring more than 300 works from this year’s Design, Media and Visual Arts graduates.
Runs until: Sunday May 21, 2017

Family Lines in Landscape
Where: Kimoto Gallery
What: Veronica Plewman examines how time and memory are rooted in a location, from childhood. She reconstructs and paints her journey and portrait of BC, from the place she grew up to the old family photos of her parents early lives, and the stories she can recall. This series is about migration, how a family gets there and the unknown mysteries of our family history.
Runs until: Saturday May 27, 2017

Susan Point: Spindle Whorl
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Since the early 1980s, Susan Point has received wide acclaim for her remarkably accomplished oeuvre that forcefully asserts the vitality of Coast Salish culture, both past and present. She has produced an extensive body of prints and an expansive corpus of sculptural work in a wide variety of materials that includes glass, resin, concrete, steel, wood and paper.
Runs until: Sunday May 28, 2017

Pacific Crossings: Hong Kong Artists in Vancouver
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: June 2017 marks the 20-year anniversary of the transfer of Hong Kong sovereignty from the United Kingdom to mainland China. In the lead up to the handover, tens of thousands of Hong Kong residents immigrated to Canada, many choosing to settle in Vancouver, and among them were a significant number of artists. Pacific Crossings presents works from well-known Hong Kong artists created after their relocation to Vancouver throughout the 1960-90s.
Runs until: May 28, 2017

Retainers of Anarchy
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: A solo exhibition featuring new work from Howie Tsui that considers wuxia, a traditional form of martial arts literature, as a narrative tool for dissidence and resistance.
Runs until: May 28, 2017

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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