Vancouver Opera presents La Bohème. | Photo by Eric Waters for North Carolina Opera, 2022
Vancouver is alive with a wide range of cultural events and festivals this month, making it an ideal time to explore the city’s vibrant and diverse arts scene. From compelling theatre and live music to dynamic dance performances and lively community gatherings, there’s plenty to capture your interest. Take the opportunity to join in and experience the stories and traditions that give the city its unique character. Don’t forget Mother’s Day on May 10! Wishing everyone a great spring!
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La Bohème
April 25–May 3
https://vancouveropera.ca/whats-on/la-boheme
Playing at the Vancouver Opera is La Bohème, Puccini’s masterpiece which transports us to the heart of 1890s bohemian life in Paris, where love blossoms amidst dreams, hardships and the unyielding pursuit of artistic freedom. La Bohème has remained one of the most beloved and frequently performed operas worldwide since its 1896 premiere, due in large part to captivating pieces like “Quando m’en vo”, a.k.a. “Musetta’s Waltz”, and perhaps the most famous duet in opera, “O soave fanciulla”, sung on that moonlit moment when Mimì and Rodolfo fall in love. In a bustling community of artists, students, philosophers and Quartier Latin café denizens, the deep connection between the young poet Rodolfo and the seamstress Mimì is eventually tested by the bittersweet passage of time and the emotional toll of illness and poverty.
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ahmm 2026
April 26–May 24
www.oddmeridian.ca/ahmm-2026.html
Experience world-making by artists whose inquiries abound with elegance and subversion at Asian Heritage Month at Morrow. Small-batch intimate performances of poetry, drag, song, puppetry and dance. Film screenings. Movement and writing workshops. They invite you to shimmy and shine with heroes and anti-heroes, to enliven the mover, dreamer and thinker in you! Feel free to check out their website to see their month of creative offerings that cultivate non-linear spaces of past, present and future heritage.
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The Passion of Joan of Arc
May 2, 7:30–9:30 p.m.
The Passion of Joan of Arc will play at the Shadbolt Centre for the Arts on May 2, featuring a live performance of Beautiful Violence’s original score composed specifically for this film screening. A classic of the silent age, this film tells the story of the doomed but ultimately canonized 15th-century teenage warrior. On trial for claiming she’d spoken to God, Jeanne d’Arc (Renee Falconetti) is subjected to inhumane treatment and scare tactics at the hands of church court officials (Eugene Silvain, Jean d’Yd). Initially bullied into changing her story, Jeanne eventually opts for what she sees as the truth. Her punishment, a famously brutal execution, earns her perpetual martyrdom. Beautiful Violence is Simon Dobbs and Jon McGovern, an ambient distortion duo from Vancouver. Combining ambient soundscapes with electronica and noise experimentalism, BV uses guitars, synths, Moogs and percussion to create lush, dense, dark but often uplifting sounds that create the perfect filmic soundtrack to your life.
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Burnaby Blooms
May 3, 11 a.m.–4 p.m.
www.burnaby.ca/recreation-and-arts/events/burnaby-blooms
Burnaby’s favourite springtime celebrations returns in 2026 as the City welcomes Burnaby Blooms. Join the city on Sunday, May 3 at Deer Lake Park. Enjoy entertainment, roving performers, eco-artist installations, an artisan market, family activities, free talks and tours, plant sales, community groups, food trucks and more! Burnaby Blooms promotes the long-term sustainability and the ecological health of the community in a fun and creative environment. Mark your calendars and plan to join the city for hours of fun at Burnaby’s favourite spring festival.
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103rd Annual May Days
May 3 & 9
Port Coquitlam is celebrating 103 years of May Days in 2026! May Days, the city’s annual spring festival, is a week-long community celebration. Join them as they kick off the 103rd Annual May Days Festival at 3:00 p.m. on Sunday, May 3 at the Port Coquitlam Community Centre for the Opening Ceremonies. This cherished tradition, dating back to 1923, features Maypole dancing by children and the presentation of the 2026 May Day Royal Party. Then, mark your calendars for Saturday, May 9, and get ready for a day packed with fun and festivities, including one of the Lower Mainland’s longest-running parades, beginning at 11:00 a.m. Join friends, neighbours and visitors from across the region as they line the streets of downtown to cheer on floats, performers and community groups from all over Metro Vancouver.
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Enemy Lines
May 6–9, 7:30 p.m.
Enemy Lines is a live dance performance that looks at how a climate of fear led to the incarceration of Japanese Canadians. Held by curiosity, choreographer Mayumi Lashbrook looks back at the actions taken against her family during World War II. Suddenly deemed a threat after the Pearl Harbour attack in 1941, over 22,000 Canadians of Japanese descent were forcibly removed from the coastline of B.C. – their lives forever altered. Lashbrook seeks to understand these events in Canadian history and the hold it has had on her life. Her work illuminates the cycles of fear-based oppression and intolerant thinking that still afflicts us today. The play is a tender reminder of the fractures of our collective past and the possibilities for our shared future. Check out the Firehall Arts Centre for tickets and more information.
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Vapes & Butts
May 6–June 6
www.gallery881.com/exhibitions
Gallery 881 welcomes you to Vapes & Butts, a solo exhibition by artist Michelle Leone Huisman, on view from May 6 to June 6. Huisman’s work explores memory, consumption and environmental narratives through striking macro photography and historic palladium printing. Vapes & Butts is a meditation on memory, transformation and the environmental imprint on human habits. Drawing inspiration from Irving Penn’s Cigarettes series, this project reconnects with the past to question the present. These quiet, second-hand memories have shaped the artist’s awareness of smoking’s deeper cultural, health and environmental implications.
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Soldiers of Tomorrow
May 6–10
https://thecultch.com/event/soldiers-of-tomorrow
Playing at the Historic Theatre from May 6–10 is Soldiers of Tomorrow. Playwright and performer Itai Erdal writes of the day many years ago when his eight-year-old Israeli nephew came home from school with an empty box to be filled with goods for soldiers on the front lines. Inside the box the boy’s teacher had written: ‘To the soldiers of today from the soldiers of tomorrow.’ That ‘tomorrow’ has come. A former Israeli soldier, Erdal shares some of his actions during his time in the army, giving frank and deeply personal insight to the occupation of Palestine.
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The Big Roar
May 8–9
www.chorleoni.org/event/the-big-roar
The Big Roar takes the Chan Centre stage, louder and grander than ever before! These concerts offer something for everyone, from the polished close harmonies of just nine voices to the thrilling, inimitable roar of 350 singers. Witness the magic of The Leonids, a professional ensemble of world-class singers that only come together once a year, and experience the warmth of the soaring voices of Chor Leoni as each ensemble performs their solo sets. Then, celebrate Vancouver’s thriving singing community as these two ensembles are joined by Chor Leoni’s MYVoice youth choirs, the young PRÉLUDE singers and the participants of the Emerging Choral Artist Program, as well as two of the province’s finest high school choirs. Join Chor Leoni for an inspiring, joy-filled concert experience that showcases the next generation of choral artists.
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A River and Mountain Melody Sent Afar
May 9, 7:30 p.m.
www.gatewaytheatre.com/events/26-bccma
In 2026, the BC Chinese Music Association (BCCMA) will proudly present a landmark commemorative concert honouring the 95th birth anniversary of Master Peng Xiuwen, a titan of modern Chinese orchestral music. This dedicated program serves as a profound tribute to a visionary who spent his life revolutionizing the genre. Under the baton of Maestro Jin Zhang, the B.C. Chinese Orchestra (BCCO) will perform a selection of Peng’s timeless classics, including Dance of the Yao People, Silver Clouds Chasing the Moon, The Moon on High and Harvest Gongs and Drums. Through a rich musical vocabulary and sophisticated orchestration, the performance will fully illustrate the artistic hallmark of Peng’s work: a masterful blend of traditional ethnic soul and symphonic grandeur.
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