Family Day and Lunar New Year are just around the corner, offering a great chance to pause, connect and celebrate. As winter starts to ease and early signs of spring appear, Vancouver is gearing up for an exciting stretch ahead. The city has a strong lineup of events and experiences coming up, with plenty to explore in the weeks ahead. It’s a perfect time to get out, reconnect and take in the culture, creativity and community energy that keep Vancouver vibrant.

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Fei Disbrow: The Familiar Unfamiliar

Now until Feb. 28

www.westvancouverartmuseum.ca/exhibitions/fei-disbrow-familiar-unfamiliar

To turn down the noise of daily life, artist Fei Disbrow seeks out-of-the-way places where she can find small, unusual organisms. It is in these places where she observes and records unfamiliar, miniature lifeforms which are integral to this body of her work. This exhibition explores the rich, often-overlooked world of cryptogams – mosses, lichens and algae – through Disbrow’s sculptural work. Using a camera as a drawing tool, she captures these organisms without disturbing them. The images are printed directly onto metal, then cut out, using outlines that are intuitively determined. Sculpted to defy traditional format, the pieces are either gently bent to echo the subjects’ undulating topographies or mounted onto monochrome panels to form photographic relief collages. By isolating these remarkable lifeforms and shifting their scale, each piece – presented not just as a biological subject but as a visual wonder – becomes a quiet contemplation.

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Bobbie Burgers: Assembly

Now until April 19

www.burnabyartgallery.ca

Bobbie Burgers is a Vancouver-based artist celebrated for her large-scale floral works that explore themes of ephemeral beauty and refined strength through expressive, gestural abstraction. Originating in emotive and expansive brushstrokes, Burgers’ work extends from painting into collage and printmaking elements. Assembly, now on display at the Burnaby Art Gallery, invites visitors not only to explore the lifecycle of an artwork, but also an invitation into the process of creation itself. Just as the life of a flower, which inevitably requires decay and decomposition, involves assembly and reassembly – nutrients blooming into new florals, florals into gardens – so too do the gestural marks, stains, drawings and prints emerging from Burgers’ studio transform.

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Echoes of Memory

Now until June 1

www.monova.ca/exhibits/echoes-of-memory

Featuring over 100 pieces from the Museum and Archives of North Vancouver’s rich museum collection, Echoes of Memory weaves together untold stories of aging, memory loss and dementia, and the power of community on our collective human experience. Dementia and memory loss directly affects over 3,700 people on the North Shore, and the exhibit welcomes one and all to immerse themselves in this touching tribute to lives lived across B.C. and beyond. From ornate brushes and egg cups, cherished toys and tins, to antique chairs, trunks and quilts, the collected items will stir strong memories of the past, and connect them with local stories from those with lived experience of dementia and other related conditions. Experience the trailblazing touring display by Canadian Artist Karen Bondarchuk, whose illustrated creations honour the memory of her late mother following her diagnosis with Alzheimer’s disease.

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Incite: Maggie Helwig on Encampment

Feb. 10, 7–8 p.m.

www.writersfest.bc.ca/event/incite-helwig

The housing crisis plaguing major urban centres across Canada has sent countless people into the streets. In spring 2022, some of them found their way to the yard beside the Anglican church in Toronto’s Kensington Market, where Maggie Helwig is the priest. They pitched tents, formed an encampment and settled in. Known as an outspoken social justice activist, Helwig has spent the last three years getting to know the residents and fighting tooth and nail to allow them to stay. Encampment tells the story of Helwig’s life-long activism as preparation for her fight to keep her churchyard open to people needing a home. More importantly, it introduces us to the Artist, to Jeff, and to Robin: their lives, their challenges, their humanity. It confronts our society’s callousness in allowing so many to go unhoused and demands, by bringing their stories to the fore, that we begin to respond with compassion and grace. Helwig shares her story and theirs, and answers audience questions, with The Tyee senior editor Jackie Wong.

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Così fan tutte

Feb. 12, 7:30 p.M. & Feb. 15, 2 p.m.

www.vancouveropera.ca/whats-on/cosi-fan-tutte

Two couples are put to the ultimate test of fidelity in a whirlwind of mistaken identities, tender moments and mischievous tricks. The Vancouver Opera will be putting on an adaptation of Mozart’s Così fan tutte, a comic romp that slyly doubles as an exploration of the heart’s highs and lows. The cynical Don Alfonso bets his young friends Ferrando and Guglielmo that their fiancées will betray their trust, so he convinces the men to…lie to their partners to trick them into infidelity! With the help of the chameleonic and cynical-beyond-her-years maid Despina, Dorabella and Fiordiligi are put to the test to see if, as the title suggests, “all women are like that.” Vancouver Opera audiences haven’t been treated to Mozart’s sublime opera buffa classic for over 20 years, and this fresh interpretation will cast the playful genius of one of opera’s most beloved works in a contemporary West Coast Canadian light.

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Every River Has a Mouth

Feb. 14, 2026–Feb. 14, 2027

www.billreidgallery.ca

Guest-curated by Salish artist Eliot White-Hill, Kwulasultun, the exhibition will showcase 11 Coast and Interior Salish artists working across sculpture, printmaking, textiles, painting and mixed media. This unique exhibition will illuminate the deep cultural, linguistic and artistic connections shared across the Salish world. To date, most institutions have focused on Coastal Salish art; however, with this exhibition, the Bill Reid Gallery highlights the interconnectivity between Interior and Coast Salish art. Historically, Salish art has been marginalized and overlooked in comparison to other Northwest Coast styles. This exhibition directly addresses that inequity by celebrating the aesthetic, cultural and conceptual richness of Salish art, positioning it as both vital and visionary. The curatorial vision is built around the river as a physical and symbolic connector, exploring identity, land, water and evolving cultural practices.

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BIG BANG Festival 2026

Feb. 15, 12 noon–5 p.m.

www.musiconmain.ca/event/big-bang-festival-2026

Get ready for another unforgettable Family Day weekend with the second iteration of the BIG BANG Festival in Vancouver! Presented by Music on Main and Roundhouse Community Arts & Recreation Centre, this joyful celebration of sound is designed for youth ages 5+, their families and anyone with a sense of adventure. Step into a world of musical wonder where imagination takes centre stage. With everything from hands-on art activities like colouring stations and face painting, to unexpected pop-up performances and mind-blowing mini-concerts, the Festival promises surprises around every corner. Part of the Roundhouse Family Day celebration, BIG BANG transforms the Roundhouse into a buzzing playground of rhythm, colour and creativity. Whether it’s your first time or you’re coming back for more, this is a day to move, listen, create and be amazed.

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Lunar New Year 2026: Spirit of the Fire Horse

Feb. 21, 9:30 a.m.–4 p.m.
& Feb. 22, 11 a.m.–6 p.m.

www.vancouverchinesegarden.com

Celebrate Lunar New Year weekend with Chinese cultural live performances, tastings, family-friendly workshops, arts & crafts and more at the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. Kick off the Lunar New Year weekend with their lively opening celebration on Feb. 21! Energetic, vibrant, family-friendly and full of creativity, this day opens the gates for the festivities to come. Enjoy hands-on activities, arts and crafts and cultural experiences! On Feb. 22, there will be a Garden Derby celebration with different vendors and activities. Check out the Garden’s website for more information.

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The 41st Annual JCC Jewish Book Festival

Feb. 21–26

www.jccgv.com/jewish-book-festival

The Cherie Smith JCC Jewish Book Festival is one of Vancouver’s leading cultural and literary events, attracting a large and varied audience of over 5,000 people of all ages. This highly popular community-wide event brings together prominent and emerging Jewish writers and non-Jewish writers on Jewish subject matter. The festival will once again deliver its signature mix of fiction, history, memoir and more, offering something for every reader. From cooking and psychology to music, photography and family dynamics, the lineup spans the full spectrum of storytelling. As well, the festival has grown into a year-round series that keeps the conversation alive.

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Between Weight and Witness

Feb. 25, 7–9 p.m.

www.wordvancouver.ca/upcoming-events/between-weight-and-witness

Word Vancouver invites readers for an evening of rich literary online conversation with acclaimed writers Junie Desil and Shane Book, two powerful voices in contemporary Black Canadian literature. Desil and Book will reflect on their writing practices, the intersections of art and activism and what it means to tell Black stories in the current moment. The conversation will be followed by a Q&A, inviting audience members into dialogue with the authors. This event is an opportunity to listen, learn and engage with two writers whose work challenges, moves and expands our understanding of Black life and literary expression. Please visit the Word Vancouver website to reserve a spot and for more information.