How to not be bored in the city this spring
We don’t know about you, but we’re just about ready to burst into spring like the Kool-Aid Man through a wall. With the onset of warmer weather (and, blessedly, some blue skies) comes no shortage of ways to spend your time—whether that be by yourself, with some buddies, or with your family. There’s a lot to choose from, though, which is why we’re here to help.
From food events, to concerts, to the performing arts, to things that won’t cost you a pretty penny, we’ve scoured the city for the best selection of activities to take you through the spring and into the summer. Mark your calendars.
Events to satisfy your cravings
Because you gotta eat!
THE CURRY CUP: MARCH 11 @ HERITAGE HALL
Back for its 10th year, this event sees eight of the city’s best chefs battling it out over delicious bowls of curry.
FOOD TRUCK FESTIVAL: APRIL 4 TO 5 @ UBC COMMONS
The second-annual Food Truck Festival brings together more than 20 food trucks, meaning the only thing you’ll struggle with here is which ones to order from. There will also be a local artisan market and live entertainment.
SCIENCE OF COCKTAILS: APRIL 11 @ SCIENCE WORLD
Science World’s popular fundraising event is back, bringing a little scientific magic to your average night out. It’s a true bartender’s playground, with elaborate drinks that are as entertaining as they are delicious. Tickets are on the pricier side, but this event is all you can eat and all you can drink—and the money raised helps underserved kids, families, and students visit Science World for free.
BC DISTILLED FESTIVAL: APRIL 13 @ ITALIAN CULTURAL CENTRE
Fans of artisan spirits will not want to miss this one. BC Distilled is back for another year of sipping and sampling, with dozens of local craft distillers sharing their goods at the annual drink festival.
BREWHALLA: APRIL 14 @ THE SHIPYARDS
Craft drinks, good food, live music, all enjoyed outside—this is what dreams are made of. Bonus for the ‘burbs: Brewhalla also has events in Chilliwack (October 7), New Westminster (August 10), and Fort Langley (May 20).
WHISKY AND WORDS: APRIL 16 @ PERFORMANCE WORKS
This Vancouver Writers Fest fundraiser gives you unlimited tastings from distilleries both local and abroad. Back for its 22nd year, the event also features live music, delicious eats, a silent auction, and plenty of literary folks to mingle with.
FOOD TRUCK WARS: APRIL 19 TO 21 @ KWANTLEN POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY’S LANGLEY CAMPUS
Over 40 food trucks gather in Langley for a “flavour showdown”—complete with live music, craft market, and beer garden.
BREWERY & THE BEAST: JUNE 2 @ CONCORD PACIFIC PLACE
Not for the faint of heart (or the vegans), Brewery & The Beast is Vancouver’s annual celebration of the carnivore life. Bringing together some of the city’s best chefs and restaurants to grill, roast, and smoke an array of proteins, this summer classic is not to be missed.
FOODSTOCK: JUNE 23 @ SWANGARD STADIUM
This festival in support of the Greater Vancouver Food Bank will have beers from the likes of Dageraad, and food from places including Ay! Mamacita. Also on offer are live sets from Yukon Blonde and The Matinee.
BC HALAL FOOD FEST: JUNE 22 TO 23 @ HOLLAND PARK
Surrey’s Holland Park is celebrating Halal food at this bustling outdoor festival, which this year includes a kids’ carnival, market
bazaar, and entertainment stage (plus a plethora of food vendors, of course).
VCBW CRAFT BEER & MUSIC FESTIVAL: JULY 6 @ PNE GROUNDS
Chef pop-ups, live music, backyard games, and over 150 craft beers (with endless samples included in your ticket)—a perfect day in East Van does, it turns out, exist.
COUNTRY CLUB: JULY 7 @ PNE GROUNDS
Country music, barbecue, and whisky. It’s cowboy cosplay for those who don’t want to fly to Calgary.
CANADA BUBBLE TEA FESTIVAL: JULY 19 @ SWANGARD STADIUM
Bubble tea fans have found their heaven. This festival promises exciting offerings from some of the best bubble tea vendors around the Lower Mainland.
RIBFEST: JULY 19 TO 21 @ ROCKY POINT PARK
The Rotary Club of Port Moody puts on this annual food extravaganza, which features barbecue from pitmasters both local and abroad. Chicken, pork, beef, and all the fixings—you will not leave hungry.
PUNCHBOWL: JULY 27 @ PNE GROUNDS
More than 50 vendors come together to dish out everyone’s favourite hand-held food: tacos. Plus cocktails. Summer!
BC DUMPLING FESTIVAL: AUGUST 10 @ TOWN CENTRE PARK
Coquitlam plays host to the BC Dumpling Festival, which celebrates everything wrapped in dough. Expect drinks, snacks, and entertainment, too. Food lines will be long, but the wait will be worth it. —SH
Events to save you cash
Some of the best things in life are free. Expect lots of visual art, as well as some classic community events.
A LENS ON VANCOUVER’S PAST: WALTER FROST’S ARCTIC EXPLORERS: TO APRIL 30 @ CITY OF VANCOUVER ARCHIVES
Vancouver has long been the home port for many ships journeying to the Arctic North, from early trading with Inuit to traversing the Northwest Passage or charting ice changes. East Van photographer Walter Frost was born in Vancouver in 1898, and his coverage of the various shapes and sizes of the vessels that sailed the Arctic is an unusual look at this niche part of maritime history.
INTERSECTING ORBITS: MICHAEL MORRIS AND JOAN BALAZAR: TO MAY 5 @ GRIFFIN ARTS PROJECTS
Serving as a retrospective for two of BC’s foremost abstract artists, Intersecting Orbits examines the works and lives of two conceptualists, born a generation apart. The pair both saw success in the 1960s, when their experimental works embraced newly-emerging technologies, diverse media, and visionary concerns.
FAMILY FIRST?: TO JUNE 27 @ BLACK ARTS CENTRE
On Monday and Wednesday afternoons, Surrey’s Black Arts Centre is open for the public to come in and experience Family First?. With works from Chukwudubem Ukaigwe, Jade Anderson, Iris Huongbo, Deion Squires, and Delali Cofie, the exhibition dives into familial relationships in Black families and what lies beneath the surface.
SACRED INTERACTIONS: UKRAINIAN/ QU’WUTSUN’: MARCH 7 TO APRIL 25
@ CRAFT COUNCIL OF BC
Nikkie Manzie’s four decades in fine arts crafting is on show in this solo exhibition, as she integrates the folk traditions of her Ukrainian grandparents into her pieces. Alongside her other work as a therapist and teacher, Manzie’s crafts view art as a type of medicine, exploring the relations between materials and the people, places, and communities they exist within.
FESTIVAL DU BOIS: MARCH 8 @ PARC MACKIN COQUITLAM
The 35th annual Francophone festival takes place just as spring is getting sprung. The opening night event on Friday is gratuit, featuring French-Canadian food stalls, artisans, and an on-site Métis Village Experience diving into the Francophone heritage. Catch Podorythmie and the Sybaritic String Band for good-time dancing.
COMMUNITY TREE PLANTING: MARCH 16 @ VARIOUS SURREY PARKS
You can never have too much of a good thing, and trees definitely fall into that category. Besides beautifying our streets, trees have huge public health and environmental benefits—providing shade, cleaning air, lowering temperatures during heat waves, and helping prevent soil erosion and flooding—so planting more just makes sense. The City of Surrey is asking volunteers to roll up their sleeves and get muddy to help add some more trunks in the area.
CELTICFEST VANCOUVER: MARCH 16 AND 17 @ ŠXʷƛ̓ƏNƏQ XWTL’E7ÉNḴ SQUARE (VANCOUVER ART GALLERY
NORTH PLAZA)
St. Patrick’s Day is more than just an excuse to get liquored up in emerald green— it’s a time to celebrate Celtic culture and resilience. CelticFest celebrates its 20th year in 2024, and once again promises to put on a slate of fun events including a ceilidh. But the free, rambunctious, all-ages, two-day concert is the real draw, bringing music, dancing, kids’ activities, and plenty of craic to the heart of Rain City.
VANCOUVER CHERRY BLOSSOM FESTIVAL: MARCH 29 TO APRIL 25 @ VARIOUS LOCATIONS
It’s the most Instagrammable time of the year! Sakura season means plenty of opportunities to appreciate all the beautiful cherry blossoms that pop up in our city. The Vancouver Cherry Blossom Festival has a busy slate of activities across the city, from nighttime parades in David Lam Park to the blossom-viewing Big Picnic. At this festival, celebrating the fleeting beauty of the blooms morphs into celebrating life and community.
CAPTURE PHOTOGRAPHY FESTIVAL: APRIL 1 TO 30 @ VARIOUS LOCATIONS
Highlighting all things lens-based, Capture returns for another year of art produced with cameras. There are exhibitions at galleries across the Lower Mainland all April, showing off the breadth and beauty of photography.
CURATORIAL TOUR: APRIL 2 @ CONTEMPORARY ART GALLERY
The Contemporary Art Gallery on Nelson Street is always free to visit. If you want to get a bit more insight into the works on display, though, this free 6pm tour provides a walkthrough of the ongoing exhibits. Explore Diane Severin Nguyen’s emotive works, as well as Maureen Gruben’s The land that used to be that frames the climate crisis through its effect on her hometown of Tuktoyaktuk, Northwest Territories.
GO HOME YUPPIE SCUM: PRESTON BUFFALO: APRIL 10 TO JUNE 6 @ SUM GALLERY
With a title taken from ’80s anti-gentrification graffiti, Two-Spirit Cree artist Preston Buffalo presents a skewed take on nostalgic tourism ads. Utilizing six vintage View-Masters that once held materials designed to entice tourists to visit Vancouver, Buffalo reimagines Beautiful British Columbia as an otherworldly dystopia: crumbling, unsettling, but captivating.
TAKAO TANABE: PRINTMAKER:
APRIL 13 TO JUNE 2 @ SURREY ART GALLERY
Featuring over 60 prints from renowned Japanese-Canadian artist Takao Tanabe, this touring exhibition has a wide range of works, many of which have never been displayed before. Tanabe, who’s still alive today at 97, has moved between styles over his life. He’s best known for his landscapes that mix abstraction and realism: moody water, ethereal light, brooding clouds.
DRAGON BOAT BURNWATER YOUTH REGATTA AND SPRING SPRINT: MAY 4 @ FALSE CREEK
Vancouver plays host to North America’s biggest dragon boat festival in the summer, but run-up events actually start in May. The Youth Regatta is Western Canada’s largest regatta for junior and under-24 teams and takes place in the morning. After lunch, the Spring Sprint sees the mixed division, women’s division, and open cup races. Two-dozen-odd paddlers propel their boats at top speed, promising a day of athleticism, culture, and yelling.
BMO VANCOUVER MARATHON: MAY 5 @ VARIOUS LOCATIONS
Running the marathon isn’t free. Or easy. But watching it is free! And easy! Take in some incredible feats of stamina and athleticism by posting up along the route and cheering runners on. There’s an eight-kilometre and a half-marathon taking place alongside the headline long-distance run. It’s also worth remembering traffic is going to be messed
up due to all the roads being filled with specimens of peak human athleticism, so don’t plan on going very far unless you’re prepared to don your best running shorts and jog over yourself.
FREE SWAP: MAY 25 @ DR A.R. LORD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL PARKING LOT
The City runs regular events to encourage those pesky three-Rs: reduce, re-use, and recycle. If you’ve got any good, working-order items that will fit in a standard tote bag, then bring ‘em down. It’s a great way to get rid of some items you no longer need, or find a well-loved new-to-you thing for free. It’s the more organized version of liberating an office chair from a back alley. One man’s trash, and all that.
WEST VANCOUVER COMMUNITY CULTURAL FEST: MAY 31 TO JUNE 1 @ AMBLESIDE PARK
West Vancouver invites everyone to come celebrate the city’s multicultural diversity. And what better way to do it than through a big community festival? Formerly known as the Bridge Festival, there are still all the same great attractions at the Community Cultural Fest— from food trucks to kids’ activities, as well as stages dedicated to showcasing local cultural dance, school talent, and live music.
Events to inspire you
Theatre, comedy, dance: whatever the art form, there’s something spiritually nourishing about seeing people sharing their creative talents really damn well.
JADE CIRCLE: TO MARCH 17 @ GATEWAY THEATRE
—VW
Presented in both Mandarin and English (with subtitles for both), this multidisciplinary new work examines language, identity, and history. Jasmine Chen mixes music and movement to tell the story of how she reconnected with her late grandmother and embraced her mother tongue.
AN INTERVENTION: MARCH 8 TO 17 @ PERFORMANCE WORKS
As an examination of polemic politics, An Intervention asks whether it’s right to wade into a foreign war—and, in a dark mirror, whether it’s right to interfere in a friend’s conflict.
IF YOU COULD SEE ME NOW: MARCH 14 TO 16 @ SCOTIABANK DANCE CENTRE
Choreographer Arno Schuitemaker brings a mesmerizing twist to nightlife. Starting from a low-key bop that wouldn’t be out of place in the club, Schuitemaker’s motion repeats—and evolves. From build-up to burst, the constant movement shows off the trancelike strength and focus of the dancers.
HASAN MINHAJ: MARCH 15 TO 16 @ QUEEN ELIZABETH THEATRE
California’s satirical son brings three performances of his Off With His Head tour to Vancouver. With a mix of razor-sharp political commentary and personal storytelling, the award-winning comic shows why he’s one of the leading voices in American comedy.
XR SHORT CIRCUIT SERIES: MARCH 15 TO 17 @ Q7 STUDIOS
New Works, ever on the cutting edge of dance innovation, has been dabbling in extended reality since 2021. This year’s offering has workshops, soirees, and a panel, all in the name of expanding how augmented or virtual technology can be incorporated into performance and art.
RED VELVET: MARCH 21 TO APRIL 21 @ STANLEY INDUSTRIAL ALLIANCE STAGE
You may not have heard of Ira Aldridge, one of the first Black actors to star in a major Shakespeare play in the 19th century. Red Velvet turns a sharp eye to Aldridge’s story, transporting the audience to London in 1833 to follow his artistry while Parliament debates abolition.
X (DIX): MARCH 22 TO 23 @ VANCOUVER PLAYHOUSE
Côté Danse’s interpretation of the Odyssey makes waves. Five dancers, backed by soundscapes from experimental musicians Son Lux, embark on an epic navigation through old narratives, following their inner compass. It’s the stuff myths are made of.
OSMOSI: 422 UNPROCESSABLE ENTITY: APRIL 4 TO 5 @ ANNEX
Nancy Lee’s interdisciplinary performance packs a lot into a solo show. Based on delivery app subroutines, the show imagines a piece of code gaining sentience and trying to escape—reflecting on the intersections of labour, tech, and art.
BIANCA DEL RIO: APRIL 9 @ ORPHEUM THEATRE
The clown in the gown—or Don Rickles in a dress—returns to Vancouver with her latest tour, Dead Inside. The rotted drag queen has a heart…it’s just way, way down, beneath layers of finely honed insult comedy and pounds of industrial makeup.
SEXY LAUNDRY: APRIL 11 TO MAY 12 @ GRANVILLE ISLAND STAGE
Michele Riml’s Canadian classic returns to the Arts Club stage. Silver anniversary-celebrants Alice and Henry embark on a steamy hotel stay to spice up their staid sex life. Hilarity and honesty ensues in this mid-marriage rom-com.
OVER THE RIDGE: APRIL 13 @ MASSEY THEATRE
Ridge, a 2020 historical musical from local folk mainstays the Fugitives, dived into the stories of Canadian soldiers in the First World War. Now, the show is back, expanded with contemporary dance to create a new, emotive stage experience— and premiering for one night only at New West’s Massey Theatre.
THIS IS HOW WE GOT HERE: APRIL 13 TO 28 @ FIREHALL ARTS CENTRE
How does grief shape a family? That’s at the centre of This Is How We Got Here, a play focused on what happens after a sudden death. Prepare to have your heart broken and put back together.
MAURICE: APRIL 17 TO 20 @ STUDIO 16
Actor and playwright Anne-Marie Olivier steps into the shoes of Maurice Dancause: a stroke survivor who finds his personality, interests, and ability to communicate changed. This French-language production from Theatre La Seizième sees Olivier select a different audience member every night to help recount Maurice’s story. And don’t worry: there are English surtitles.
FAMILY ROOM: APRIL 19 TO 20 @ SCOTIABANK DANCE CENTRE
Choreographed by Marissa Wong, Family Room turns a humble studio apartment into a metaphor for relationships. Household objects and furniture become sites of family connection and dischord, with different solo performances imbued with depth and pathos.
FAT JOKE: APRIL 25 TO MAY 5 @ VANCITY CULTURE LAB
Cheyenne Rouleau was told she couldn’t be sexy. So she got funny. Her solo show, Fat Joke, fuses stand-up and storytelling to put sizeism on blast. The