Whether your schedule is empty or already packed, there are so many good events in this issue’s calendar that you’ll have to make room for them. Learn more about how to keep you and your family healthy at the Vancouver Diversity Health Fair, or catch riveting performances at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre and the Firehall Arts Centre.
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Vancouver Diversity Health Fair
March 1
Croatian Cultural Centre
3250 Commercial Dr.,
Vancouver
604-718-4220
http://www.amssa.org/programs
The largest event of its kind in Canada, the 10th Annual Vancouver Diversity Health Fair aims to provide newcomers, immigrants and ethno-cultural communities with access to a wide range of health and wellness resources. This free family-friendly event features over 50 health and wellness related exhibitors, interactive culinary demonstrations, health screenings and onsite tests, and spectacular multicultural entertainment and children’s activities. Information at the fair will be presented in a number of languages, including English, French, Mandarin, Cantonese, Punjabi, Farsi, Spanish and Vietnamese. The theme of the 2014 fair is Family Health.
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Don Giovanni
March 1–9
Queen Elizabeth Theatre
630 Hamilton St., Vancouver
604-683-0222
http://www.vancouveropera.ca
In five spectacular state-of-the-art productions of Don Giovanni, the world’s most infamous lover will arrive in Vancouver. Don Giovanni is a dangerously attractive aristocrat and serial seducer who leaves death and destruction in his wake. Mozart’s musical and dramatic portrait of the titular character, and of those whose lives he stains, is Shakespearean in its understanding of human nature. Filled with wisdom and beauty, and by turns funny and terrifying, this opera is a towering creation.
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Persian mystical soundscapes. | Photo courtesy of the Big World Band.
The Parrot and the Merchant
March 2
Kay Meek Centre
1700 Mathers Ave.,
West Vancouver
604-981-6335
http://www.kaymeekcentre.com/on_stage/1864
Blending their cultural backgrounds from China, Iran, Pakistan, Spain, Europe and North America, the Big World Band forges a new world music that is more than the sum of its parts – a west coast fusion that reflects our multicultural society. Their new concert The Parrot and the Merchant, inspired by a beloved tale by Persian mystic poet Rūmī, takes us through the soundscapes of Iran and India.
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Just Film Festival
Feb. 28–March 2
Langara College
100 W 49th Ave.,
Vancouver
604-708-1495
justfilm.org
Join Amnesty International, CoDevelopment Canada and Village Vancouver at Langara College for Just Film Festival, B.C.’s largest social justice film festival. Showcasing over 40 social justice and environmental documentaries that go to the heart of issues confronting communities here and around the globe, this is a powerful event you won’t want to miss.
Social justice through the lens of a camera. | Photo courtesy of We Women Warriors.
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Hirsch
Feb. 25–March 1
Firehall Arts Centre
280 East Cordova St.,
Vancouver
604-689-0691
http://www.firehallartscentre.ca
This Stratford Festival smash hit brings to life the world of legendary theatre genius John Hirsch. Orphaned by the Holocaust at age 13, Hungarian refugee Hirsch lands in Canada and finds a new home in the world of theatre, where his fierce talent, stormy temperament and uncompromising drive propel him to great heights, but also challenge his existence.
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Helen Lawrence: Vancouver Confidential
Until April 13
Arts Club Theatre
Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage
2750 Granville St., Vancouver
604-687-1644
http://www.artsclub.com
The Arts Club celebrates Black History Month with Helen Lawrence, a mixed-media spectacle created by acclaimed artist Stan Douglas and screenwriter Chris Haddock set in the Vancouver of 1948. Told in noir style, Helen Lawrence is a mystery about loyalty and money that illuminates our city’s politics during a time of historic upheaval.
Stepping back into Vancouver’s mysterious past. | Photo by Dabid Cooper.
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The Drummer Girl
On until Feb. 22
Firehall Arts Centre
280 East Cordova St.,
Vancouver
604-689-0691
http://www.firehallartscentre.ca
Vancouver musician Lauri Lyster brings together some of the city’s finest musicians in this eclectic cabaret chronicling her adventures as a professional musician over the last 30 years. From the Vancouver Opera Orchestra to landmark jazz/blues ensemble Mother of Pearl, this autobiographical show about Lyster blazing a trail as a female drummer draws you into the inside world of the music industry.
