Harvest Haus promises a glut of food and drink.
Ah, autumn. The smell of turkey, pumpkin pies and sweet potatoes in the crisp fall air adds to this season’s charm. For me personally, autumn is my favourite season: summer can get too hot, winter can get too cold and spring is allergy season. Autumn strikes that right balance. And, of course, there are plenty of expos, conferences, events and festivals to check out as well. Have a happy Thanksgiving everyone!
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Greater Vancouver Clean Technology Expo
Sept. 28, 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m.
Surrey City Hall
Stop by Surrey City Hall to take a glimpse at the latest cutting-edge clean and sustainable technologies. Tour on a hydrogen bus, test drive a clean energy vehicle and play around with some of the newest home technologies. There will also be speakers from some of the region’s clean energy companies sharing their clean energy vision for the future. For registration and further information, please visit their website.
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Harvest Haus
Sept. 2–Oct. 9
Queen Elizabeth Theatre Plaza
This European food and drink festival returns to the Queen Elizabeth Plaza for another year Enjoy pretzels and apfelstrudels, sausages and sauerkraut, flammkuchens and chocolate fountains and plenty of beer, cider and spirits with your harvest companion! Be sure to catch the duelling tournament on the last day of the festival!
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LEGO Imagine Nation Tour
Sept. 30–Oct. 2
Vancouver Convention Centre
Take the family down to the Vancouver Convention Centre and up your LEGO building skills! Pose with life-size LEGO models, play in the brick pit and learn from master builders on how to create your favourite LEGO. Build a TIE Fighter at the Star Wars exhibit, create a shelter to place on the Minecraft landscape or zip around LEGO city in your cool new car!
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Culture Days
Sept. 30–Oct. 2
Various locations throughout British Columbia
Culture Days is a nationwide event celebrating and showcasing local arts and culture in Canadian communities. Here in Metro Vancouver, many municipalities and cultural centres will be hosting a plethora of interactive hands-on activities such as scavenger hunts, pottery making, meditative art and needle felting. Culture Days hopes to instill appreciation for the role artists, historians, designers and creators play in the creation of art and the enrichment of our cultural fabric.
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VCON 41
Sept. 30–Oct. 2
Sheraton Vancouver Guildford, Surrey
VCON has been hosting one of Vancouver’s longest running science fiction, fantasy and games convention since 1971. There will be plenty of tabletop gaming, costume contests and writing workshops as well as author panels from some of the most creative science-fiction minds working today.
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Eat! Vancouver
Oct. 4–7
Pinnacle Harbourfront Hotel, Vancouver, and other venues
Eat! Vancouver, the city’s premier food and cooking festival, returns for the 14th time to promote premium high-end culinary experiences and support the Vancouver Food Bank charity. The festival will put on food tasting classes, intimate evenings and dish sampling, and will feature celebrity chefs, food producers and culinary stars.
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Vancouver International Improv Festival
Oct. 4–8
Various venues
The 17th annual Improv Festival showcases the best of improvisational comedy and performers from Canada and around the world. Participate in Shakespeare or Beckett-inspired improv, watch a recreated Craigslist encounter, or direct performers to enact a film from its trailer. Be sure to catch opening night on Oct. 4, featuring a party and a sample of all improv styles at the festival. For more information, visit their website.
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James & Jamesy: In the Dark
Oct. 5–16
Waterfront Theatre, Vancouver
Join award winning Canadian performers Aaron Malkin and Alastair Knowles, as James & Jamesy, at the Waterfront Theatre this October as they put on a delightful theatrical performance with a hilarious British take on creation and the origins of consciousness. Merging physical comedy with dance and wit, Malkin and Knowles imbue their characters with emotion and boundless imagination and have been hailed as “one of the most popular Fringe duos ever” by the CBC.
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Fort Langley Cranberry Festival
Oct. 8, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
Fort Langley Community Hall
www.fortlangley.com/bia/cranfest
This Fort Langley tradition celebrating Thanksgiving returns to the Fraser Valley for the 21st time. Celebrate the cranberry fruit harvest with plenty of food vendors, cooking demos, door prizes, live entertainment and family activities. Come early in the morning for the pancake breakfast, and make sure you bring home a bag of cranberries for your Thanksgiving feast!
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Turkey Trot Run
Oct. 9 (Kids), Oct. 10 (Adult)
Granville Island & False Creek, Vancouver
For the 19th time, the Turkey Trot Run returns to Vancouver to bring families of runners together in a spirit of Thanksgiving and community pride. There will be two races: a 1.1km kids run at noon on Sunday, October 9 and a 10km run for everyone else 13+ at 8:30 a.m. on Monday, October 10. Be sure to celebrate with other participants after the run with food, entertainment and door prizes!
