Things to Do on Canada 150 Weekend in Vancouver

Everywhere you turn, expect a patchwork of red and white adornments, outfits, and decorations! On the traditional homelands of the Musqueam, Tseil-Watuth and Squamish First Nations, immigrants from all over the world now call Vancouver, Canada their home and are proud to be a part of it. This weekend, join in a number of celebrations – from the last day of The Drum is Calling Festival on Friday, through to Canada Day fireworks, barbecues, art shows, comedy, food, and a parade.

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing

Friday June 30

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

FUSE: 2167
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Vancouver’s special late-night art party returns Friday, June 30 to catapult the Gallery 150 years into the future—all the way to the year 2167. FUSE: 2167 will feature a diverse lineup of performances and live music, as well as artful interventions by local and international artists who will transport guests to another time.

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

Asteroid Day
Where: H.R. MacMillan Space Centre
What: The Pacific Museum of Earth will be in the house to show you asteroids, meteorites, and explain how space rocks differ from rocks found on Earth. Also, enjoy a special screening of the Little Prince.

Live Music at St. Paul’s Labyrinth
Where: 1130 Jervis St.
What: The Labyrinth at St. Paul’s is a walking meditation space. On the last Friday of the month, it hosts some of the best contemplative musicians in Vancouver, drawing from many spiritual and musical traditions.

East Side Flea
Where: 1024 Main
What: Over 50 local vendors, food trucks, a live DJ, artisan showrooms, seasonal drink specials, pinball and more.
Runs until: Sunday July 2, 2017

Golden Spike Days
Where: Rocky Point Park (Port Moody, BC)
What: The Golden Spike Days Festival is one of the oldest and longest running family events in BC. with entertainment, special events and activities for all ages. The event commemorates the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway line and its arrival at the original western terminus in Port Moody where the last spike was driven.
Runs until: Monday July 3, 2017

Saturday July 1

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Canada Day at Canada Place
Where: Canada Place
What: Canada is turning 150! Celebrate all weekend with music and performances on five stages at Canada Place and the Vancouver Convention Centre during the days. On July 1st enjoy a colourful fireworks display that fills the sky over the Burrard Inlet at one of many spectacular viewing locations: Coal Harbour, Stanley Park, Crab Park, and Harbour Green Park. On July 2nd watch the Canada 150 parade, starting at 5:00pm.

Canada 150 Drumming Celebration
Where: Creekside Park and other various locations
What: All Canadians from all walks of life including First Nations, immigrants – early and new, people from all cultures, of all ages, are invited to participate in this simultaneous, national drumming celebration to unite everyone to celebrate Canada and achieve its own all-Canadian world record celebration. With the support from Canada’s many regions, this celebration also aims to achieve a GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS™ title in Vancouver, BC, for “Most Nationalities in a Drum Circle” (single venue).

Canada Day at Grouse Mountain
Where: Grouse Mountain
What: Try your hand at axe-throwing, show off your hockey skills at our puck shoot-out and capture a keepsake photo with our mascot Grizwald the Bear. Take in Canadian movie classics in the Theatre in the Sky, or enjoy live music while sipping on a cold one in the beer and barbecue garden. Not to be missed are the special Canada 150 edition of the World Famous Lumberjack Show, ranger talks at the Grizzly Bear habitat, Birds in Motion demonstration and more.

Say “Namast-eh” for Canada Day at McArthurGlen Designer Outlet
Where: McArthurGlen
What: McArthurGlen Designer Outlet is calling all yogis to join them to say namast-eh as part of their Canada Day celebrations. On July 1st, 500 yogis dressed in white will return to participate in Canada’s 150th birthday in true Vancouver fashion at the centre. This event is open to anyone wishing to downward-dog and say “Namast-eh?” for Canada.

Free Canada Day Celebration
Where: H.R. MacMillan Space Centre
What: In the Planetarium Star Theatre you can enjoy hourly viewings of our latest planetarium show Horizon. In GroundStation Canada Theatre get a closer look at Canada’s astronauts and innovations in space exploration through hourly science demonstrations. Plus, build your very own end effector, like the one found on the Canada Arm of the International Space Station. Then, design a Canadian mission patch and try your hand at the challenges of working in space with our robot arm.

Canada Day at the Maritime Museum
Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum
What: Family- friendly crafts and activities. Experience multicultural Stories on Wheels with Pangaea Arts; get creative with a fishing boat printmaking workshop for children led by WePress, and explore the RCMP Vessel St. Roch, a National Historic Site of Canada. Delve into the history of Japanese-Canadian fishermen in BC in our new exhibit, The Lost Fleet. Honour our shared history, symbols, and values by crafting an origami boat in memory of the nearly 1,200 Japanese-Canadian fishing boats seized on the BC Coast during World War II.

Canada Day Block Party
Where: The Waldorf
What: An outdoor stage, beer garden, and $2 BBQ! It’ll be in the parking lot from 12pm to 11pm. The indoor rooms will open for entertainment from 8pm to 2am.

Canada Day on Robson
Where: Robson Street
What: The sidewalks along Robson Street from Burrard to Denman will be filled with music, entertainment, treats, giveaways, and business promotions. The south side of Bute, Jervis and Cardero Streets will also be closed to vehicle traffic and VIVA Vancouver is launching 800 Bute Street as a pilot pedestrian plaza, which will be transformed into a colourful and fun outdoor lounge area, complete with tables, chairs, umbrellas and a piano.

Canada Day Cookout
Where: YVR Food Fest
What: Bands and DJs paired with BBQ staples (everything from dogs and burgers to brisket and ribs) with craft beer + cocktails.

ArtStarts Explores: Mark-Making
Where: ArtStarts Gallery
What: Explore creativity with your family through hands-on investigations and discover a wide variety of materials and artistic mediums. These process-based explorations invite families to experiment together through observing, touching, drawing, moving, assembling and listening to ignite their creative learning. Ages 12 and under.

Free Canadian Screenings
Where: The Cinematheque
What: A full week of free screenings creates the centrepiece of our year-long Canada on Screen program, featuring many of Canada’s greatest film (and television) works. Vancouver audiences can experience seven of the Top 10 Canadian films of all time.
Runs until: Friday July 7, 2017

Poutine Party
Where: The Cobalt
What: 150 free Monarch Burger poutines given out all night to celebrate Canada’s 150th + complimentary Duffins Donuts.

North Vancouver Canada Day Celebration
Where: Waterfront Park (North Vanocuver, BC)
What: Enjoy live entertainment, food trucks, and a variety of games and activities.

Sunday July 2

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Queen + Adam Lambert
Where: Rogers Arena
What: The legendary Queen, of Bohemian Rhapsody, We are the Champions, Don’t Stop Me Now, and countless other hits is touring again with former American Idol star Adam Lambert. And it actually works really really well.

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

Red Racer Across the Nation Tap Takeover
Where: The Cobalt
What: 12 unique cross-country collaborative brews from 12 awesome Canadian craft brewers!

Sin City Freaky Tiki
Where: The Waldorf
What: A kinky summer party with 4+ rooms & areas of DJs, dancing and shenanigans – two inside, two outside! Sexy beach / tiki / fetish wear welcome. Absolutely no cameras or photography permitted. 

Echo Beach + Connect_icut + Old Wyoming + Neon Annex
Where: Red Gate Revue Stage
What: Homecoming show for two former Vancouver artists, neither of whom have played in Vancouver for over 7 years. Drone, noise, glitch and blips.

Ongoing

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The Drum is Calling Festival
Where: Larwill Park, Playhouse Theatre, Vancouver Public Library Atrium, Queen Elizabeth Theatre
What: Immerse yourself in this festival of Indigenous and diverse arts and culture. Highlighting the festival will be stellar performances from iconic artists such as singer-songwriter Buffy Sainte-Marie, PowWowStep creator DJ Shub, singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk, country sensation Crystal Shawanda, northern Ontario rockers Midnight Shine, Juno Award winner William Prince, rising R&B star George Leach, genre-defying artist Kinnie Starr, literary giant Tomson Highway, and powerful spoken word poet Shane Koyczan.
Runs until: Friday June 30, 2017

Cinerama
Where: Spanish Banks
What: A live cinema with no story, plot or actors, on the shifting sands of the low tide flats.
Runs until: Friday June 30, 2017

Kanata | Turtle Island Festival
Where: Larwill Park (688 Cambie)
What: A food, culture and performance festival to amplify Indigenous voices by providing a platform for our true history and traditions to shine.
Runs until: Saturday July 1, 2017

Laurent Craste: Revolution’s Small Collateral Damage
Where: Back Gallery Project
What: Of French origin, Laurent Craste has been living and working in Montreal for the past 25 years. His practice focuses on the exploration of the multiple layers of meaning of decorative objects: ideologically, aesthetically, and through their sociological and historical dimensions.
Runs until: Saturday July 1, 2017

Vancouver International Jazz Festival
Where: Various locations
What: his year, with 300 indoor and outdoor performances, the Festival features a diverse lineup that includes international headliners like Tedeschi Trucks Band, Ms. Lauryn Hill, Joe Jackson, Sarah MacLachlan, Neko Case/k.d. lang/Laura Veirs,Hiromi: The Trio Project, Oliver Jones Trio, The Legendary Downchild Blues Band, Joe Lovano Classic Quartet and Gregory Porter.
Runs until: Sunday July 2, 2017

East Side Flea
Where: 1024 Main
What: Over 50 local vendors, food trucks, a live DJ, artisan showrooms, seasonal drink specials, pinball and more.
Runs until: Sunday July 2, 2017

Golden Spike Days
Where: Rocky Point Park (Port Moody, BC)
What: The Golden Spike Days Festival is one of the oldest and longest running family events in BC. with entertainment, special events and activities for all ages. The event commemorates the construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway line and its arrival at the original western terminus in Port Moody where the last spike was driven.
Runs until: Monday July 3, 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

Free Canadian Screenings
Where: The Cinematheque
What: A full week of free screenings creates the centrepiece of our year-long Canada on Screen program, featuring many of Canada’s greatest film (and television) works. Vancouver audiences can experience seven of the Top 10 Canadian films of all time.
Runs until: Friday July 7, 2017

Canada 150 Art Show
Where: Kimoto Gallery
What: 150 pieces of original Canadian artwork by fifty plus artists from Vancouver and the region. The theme is not maple leaves, hockey nor Tim Hortons, instead it is diversity; featuring works by both emerging and established artists, who do what they do, devoted to their professional practices.
Runs until: Saturday July 15, 2017

Means of Production
Where: CityScape Community Art Space (North Shore)
What: Through weaving, rug hooking and stitching, five textile artists explore the value, meaning, and metaphorical possibilities of methodically making work by hand in a digital age of increasingly rapid advancement. The title draws on Marx’s theory of alienation, which asserts that our humanity is created through production – essentially we are what we make.
Runs until: Saturday July 15, 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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