This is the penultimate cultural calendar before we say goodbye to the year 2024. From engaging theatre productions and enchanting musical performances to the numerous Christmas festivals and charming holiday lights popping up around the Lower Mainland, there’s a wealth of events to discover and enjoy as the winter season reaches its peak.
* * *
Linck & Mülhahn
Now until Dec. 1
When charismatic Anastasius Linck meets Catharina Mülhahn, it’s love, and lust, at first sight. As Catharina fights against her mother’s desire for a traditional marriage in favour of her independence, Anastasius works to conceal their identity to stay alive. As the pair passionately explore gender and sexual identities, rigid 18th century society aims to tear them apart. Linck & Mülhahn is playing at Langara’s Studio 58 until Dec. 1. For tickets and more information, check out their website.
* * *
Geoffrey Farmer: The Sound of Footsteps as Summer Walks Away
Now until Dec. 14
www.westvancouverartmuseum.ca/exhibitions
This exhibition at the West Vancouver Art Museum presents new works by Geoffrey Farmer, featuring cardboard box dioramas with paper cutouts that explore formative events and memories from his upbringing in Dundarave, West Vancouver. Inspired by Swiss psychologist Carl Jung, the works employ spontaneous play to access unconscious thoughts and emotions. This process reflects how our personal and collective histories are constantly reshaped as new insights emerge. Farmer incorporates de-accessioned books from the West Vancouver Memorial Library into his dioramas. By repurposing these printed materials into intricate, three-dimensional narratives, he transforms discarded fragments into reflections on his experience growing up in a world shaped by dominant forces that have often dictated history and identity. The work explores how these forces influence understanding of our past, suggesting that memory and history are fluid, layered and open to reinterpretation.
* * *
Canyon Lights
Now until Jan. 19, 2025
www.capbridge.com/events/canyon-lights
Cross the world-famous bridge, lit end-to-end with a changing multi-colour display, and sway high above the illuminated Capilano River. Journey into a glittering rainforest and walk high above the forest floor on a transformed Treetops Adventure. Finally, walk along the twinkling cliffside pathway of Cliffwalk. Capture an Instagram-worthy photo, sip a decadent hot chocolate to the sound of live festive tunes or get in on all the festive fun of the many kids activities around the Park. Check out the Capilano Suspension Bridge website for more information on Canyon Lights.
* * *
Lights at Lafarge
Now until Feb. 28, 2025
www.coquitlam.ca/784/Lights-at-Lafarge
Get into the holiday spirit with family and friends! Enjoy the magic of one of the Lower Mainland’s largest free outdoor lights display at Lafarge Lake in Town Centre Park. Free family fun! Dogs, on leash, are welcome. Coquitlam’s Lights at Lafarge will run until the end of February 2025. This season’s outdoor exhibit features a 1.2-km pathway that includes more lights and re-imagined elements.
* * *
Curve! Women Carvers on the Northwest Coast
Now until May 5, 2025
Co-curated by Dana Claxton and Curtis Collins, the Curve! exhibition will shed light on a lesser-explored facet of Northwest Coast art – women’s contributions to the rich tradition of carving wood and argillite. The exhibition will feature 130 works of art that include poles, panels, masks, bowls, and other sculptures all intertwined with traditional knowledge. These works will be on loan from public and private collections across Canada and the United States. The exhibition will focus on a selection of carvers active from the 1950s to present day, highlighting the pivotal role of women artists within the larger tradition of indigenous carving along the coast of British Columbia. Check out the Audain Art Museum’s website for more information.
* * *
In the Belly of the Carp
Nov. 28–30
www.burnaby.ca/recreation-and-arts/events/belly-carp
When talented but erratic songwriter Rodney DeCroo has to give a concert, spectres from his troubled past emerge to play tug of war with his well being, torpedo his relationships and plunge him into a battle for his soul inside a giant fish. This hybrid concert/poetry/reading/play includes visual fantasias by award winning shadow puppeteers “Mind of a Snail.” For tickets, showtimes and more information, check out the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts website.
* * *
African Chamber Music
Nov. 30, 7:30–9:30 p.m.
A one-of-a-kind musical experience that reimagines the rich traditions of Zimbabwe, Ghana and South Africa through the intimate sounds of chamber music. This concert offers a reflective exploration of African music, blending traditional instruments like the mbira, uhadi and percussion with the accompaniment of a string trio. With arrangements by Curtis Andrews and accompanied by a talented string trio, this event offers a fresh, engaging perspective on African musical heritage. It’s a celebration of culture, history and creativity, inviting audiences to experience these timeless traditions in a new, captivating way.
* * *
Blessed Echoes: Elizabethan Lute Songs
Dec. 5, 7:30 p.m.
www.earlymusic.bc.ca/events/blessed-echoes-elizabethan-lute-songs
Robin Pharo and the Ensemble Près de votre oreille (“Close to your ear”) offer a fascinating dive into the English lute song during the reign of Queen Elizabeth I. “Blessed Echoes” brings to light other treasures of Elizabethan and Jacobean song in one, two, three or four voices, which still remain unknown or poorly known, composed by famous poets and composers like Thomas Campion or Philipp Rosseter. The intimate setting of eight musicians and a typical instrumentarium of late 16th century England (lyra-viols, cittern, renaissance lute, virginal and four vocalists) allows us to savour the poetry of these works. Check out the Early Music Vancouver website for tickets and more information.
* * *
Saltwater Hank Trio
Dec. 7, 7:30 p.m.
www.anviltheatre.ca/event/saltwater-hank-trio
Saltwater Hank is a Ts’msyen musician from Txałgiiw (Hartley Bay) based in Lax Kxeen (Prince Rupert). Saltwater Hank delivers a raucous performance that blends the sound of Rock ‘n Roll with the melodies & rhythmic complexity of his ancestors: the Ts’msyen, all with lyrics written entirely in his language, Sm’algya̱x. The melodies are a spoon full of oolichan grease – the perfect dose of musical medicine and sure to leave you wanting more. He connects listeners and the members of his culture by reliving his heritage through the music. He creates a bridge between the old and the new, allowing present generations to experience the ancient oral traditions of his culture in a vibrant and powerful way. His stories breathe life into forgotten narratives and revive the power of the traditional language to shape a new generation of storytellers. Saltwater Hank is here to keep the art and sound of his culture alive and growing.
* * *
Christmas at the Chan
Dec. 8, 2:30 p.m.
https:///chancentre.com/events/christmas-at-the-chan-3
Trinity Western Choirs and Orchestra, directed by Dr. Benjamin Ewert, returns to the Chan Centre for the 20th anniversary of Christmas at the Chan, an annual festive celebration of the birth of Christ. Come experience the joy of Christmas with selections from Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s Christmas Oratorio, and audience favourites by John Rutter and, of course, much-loved sing-along carols. This year they will be joined by longtime Chan collaborators Pacific Voices (formerly Pacific Mennonite Children’s Choir), directed by Sonja Hindmarsh.
