From crafting to robotics, 500 vancouverites set a new world record at the Mini Maker Faire.|Photo courtesy of Vancouver Mini Maker Faire
There are many events happening in the always-busy city of Vancouver. Check out Punjab dance and music with the City of Bhangra Festival or sample some of Europe with the 17th European Festival. If you’re hungry after that, go have some food and beverage at EAT! Vancouver Food and Cooking Festival.
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Vancouver International Children’s Festival
May 27–June 1
Granville Island, Vancouver
604.708.5655
www.childrensfestival.ca
A performing arts festival for young audiences, the Vancouver International Children’s Festival returns to Vancouver for the 36th straight year. Performances range from circus to puppeteering to music and dance. There is also the activity village, where kids of all ages can have fun with face painting, sculpting, origami and much more.
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Commercial Drive celebrates Italy.|Photo courtesy of Italian Day Festival
Italian Day on the Drive
June 8
Commercial Dr., Vancouver
604.251.2884
italianday.ca
Celebrate over 50 years of Italian heritage on Commercial Drive with Italian Day on the Drive, organized by the Italian Day Festival Society to share the spirit and all things Italian with other cultures in Vancouver. Showcasing food, fashion and performing arts, along with many exhibits and activities, Italian Day has become one of the most celebrated cultural festivals in Vancouver, with over 300,000 attendees in 2013.
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City of Bhangra Festival
May 29–June 7
111 West Hastings St., Vancouver
www.vibc.org/festival-info
Join a ten-day celebration of dance and music showcasing the Punjab area of India and Pakistan, featuring hundreds of local and international artists performing indoors and outdoors, at parks and clubs and right in front of the Vancouver Art Gallery. The theme of the festival’s ten-year anniversary is #BhangraLove, embracing love across all boundaries – social, cultural, sexual, religious, geographic – and uniting everyone through music, art, poetry and dance.
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In the House Festival
June 6–8
Various locations, Vancouver
www.inthehousefestival.com
In the House Festival takes a unique approach to showcasing performing arts. Thirteen houses in and around Napier and Victoria Street in Vancouver have opened their doors for performances in their backyards and living rooms. Come see twenty shows featuring local artists performing music, dance, comedy and magic in the comfort of East Vancouver houses.
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The 17th European Festival
May 31–June 1
Swangard Stadium, Burnaby
www.europeanfestival.ca
Have a European getaway without leaving British Columbia. The festival highlights the best of European culture and tradition, from eating Dutch fritters, Balkan Ćevapi and drinking German beer to admiring authentic ethnic dress and watching traditional dance like the Spanish Flamenco and the Serbian Kolo. Learn about the connections between Canada and Europe and see how each culture has affected Canadian culture.
European heritage in colourful display. | Photo courtesy of European Festival
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Vancouver Mini Maker Faire
June 7–8
PNE Forum, Vancouver
www.makerfaire.ca
Founded in 2011, the Vancouver Mini Maker Faire is a show and tell of the art of making, for and by all ages and backgrounds. Come by to witness feats of engineering, crafting and robotics, and watch as 500 Vancouverites attempt to set the new world record for the most people simultaneously crocheting.
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EAT! Vancouver Food and Cooking Festival
May 30–June 1
BC Place Stadium, Vancouver
www.eat-vancouver.com
Canada’s largest consumer food, beverage and cooking festival is here! Celebrity chefs, local restaurants, wineries, cookbook authors and many more come to BC Place for a three-day food and beverage party. Come hungry, as there are hundreds of food samples to try, and you can learn about and shop for hard to find food products.
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TOTEM Cirque du Soleil
Now until June 6
88 Pacific Blvd., Vancouver
www.cirquedusoleil.com/totem
Cirque du Soleil is back in Vancouver with the show TOTEM. Inspired by many founding myths, TOTEM shows the evolutionary process of species through visual and acrobatic language. TOTEM shows the journey of humanity from amphibian state to the ultimate desire to fly.
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Benefit Concert for Serbian and Bosnian Flood Victims
June 3
St. Mark’s Anglican Church
1805 Larch St., Vancouver
Vancouver’s music community invites you to help the people living in the areas of Serbia and Bosnia that have been devastated by flooding in the past two weeks by attending a benefit concert and silent auction. The performer lineup includes Cyrilika Slavic Chamber Choir, pianist Vlada Mars, Branks Milanovie Romale band, jazz singer Tina Milo, R&B performer Tea Petrovic, Ivan Tucakov from Tambura Rasa and pianist Oriana White. Tickets $20 at the door (cash or cheque). If you would like to donate items for the silent auction, please call 778 554 6277.
