Gu Xiong in front of his painting Enclosures, 2026. | Photo by Dennis Ha.
Welcome to June! The summer solstice is just around the corner, with longer days and warm evenings. It’s the perfect time to get outside and enjoy the energy of the season. From street festivals and outdoor concerts to food truck events and movie nights under the stars, the city is filled with activities for every interest and age group. Whether you’re a foodie, music lover, film fan or art enthusiast, there’s plenty to explore this month. So grab some sunscreen and make the most of these beautiful late spring days. Why not check out some of the exciting events happening around town below!
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In The Shadow of the Pavilions: Expo 86 and Contemporary Art
Now until June 7
Across numerous pavilions, multiple outdoor plazas and within various museums and public galleries around the Lower Mainland, Expo 86 brought together a wide variety of artists and artworks from across Canada and around the world. On the occasion of Expo’s 40th anniversary, this exhibition highlights some of the extraordinary art from around B.C.’s Lower Mainland during Canada’s second world’s fair moment. Through original artworks and archival materials, the exhibit examines some of the official art from the world’s fair, along with unofficial art and programming that coincided with this transformational event. With over 35 artists included in the exhibition, there will be works of photography, painting, installation art, performance art and video examining themes of communication, transportation, urban development, resource extraction, Indigenous self-determination, from the years of 1984 to 1988. The first of its kind, the exhibition will provide an opportunity to re-evaluate the significance of art from Expo 86 and the larger context in which it took place.
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I Use My Haida Eyes
Now until October 12
www.moa.ubc.ca/exhibition/i-use-my-haida-eyes
I Use My Haida Eyes: The History Robes of Jut-ke-Nay–Hazel Wilson explores a singular body of work by the late Jut-ke-Nay–Hazel Wilson (1941–2016), a Haida artist who dedicated her life to Haida cultural work. Between 2005 and 2006, Wilson created a powerful, untitled series of 51 “history robes,” which recount specific episodes of Haida history in stunning detail – from a Haida perspective. Wilson’s history robes carry richly painted and appliquéd compositions that document pivotal histories – stretching back to a “pre-contact” period depicting stories of Haida ancestors, to the first contact with European explorers, to Wilson’s childhood experiences, gathering and harvesting on the Haida Gwaii landscape. Twenty years after its creation, this body of work continues to resonate, particularly in depicting a Canadian colonial history whose legacies Indigenous peoples and settlers alike have inherited. Also threaded throughout the series is the persistence of the Haida peoples, their ways of knowing, and their deep and ongoing connection to their territory.
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Vancouver International Children’s Festival
Now–May 31
The longest-running professional performing arts festival for young audiences and the first of its kind in North America and Europe, the Vancouver International Children’s Festival presents the world’s finest music, theatre, dance, puppetry, acrobatics and storytelling, as well as creative arts activities for the entire family. Families come from near and far to experience this extraordinary annual arts festival created specifically for children and families. Please check out their website for a complete list of performers and activities.
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Becoming: The Art of Gu Xiong
May 28, 2026–February 7, 2027
www.museumofvancouver.ca/becoming-the-art-of-gu-xiong
For over five decades, multidisciplinary artist Gu Xiong (b. 1953) has shaped contemporary art in Canada and China. By centering personal memory and lived experience, his work gives voice to individuals often rendered invisible within transnational cultures and histories. MOV’s exhibit is a comprehensive celebration of the artist’s work to date, tracing the evolution of his practice and its defining influences. The exhibition brings together key works from his personal collection alongside loans from public and private collections.
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Mahler’s Third Symphony
May 29–30, 7:30 p.m.
www.vancouversymphony.ca/event/mahlers-third-symphony
Gustav Mahler famously told fellow composer Jean Sibelius that “The symphony must be like the world. It must embrace everything.” VSO music director Maestro Otto Tausk brings the VSO’s classical season to an epic close with one of the most ambitious symphonies ever composed, Mahler’s extraordinary Third Symphony. Mezzo-soprano Rihab Chaieb returns to the VSO in Mahler’s most extroverted and impressive work of genius that culminates in one of the most staggering conclusions of the orchestral canon.
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Festival of Jewish Culture
May 31, 12–4:30 p.m.
www.jccgv.com/program-category/jewish-festival
May is Canadian Jewish Heritage Month (officially recognized by Parliament in 2018). It honours the 250-year history and contributions of Jewish Canadians to the nation’s social, economic, political and cultural fabric. On May 31, the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver will host a celebration of Jewish culture and tradition honouring Jewish Heritage Month, featuring food trucks, arts and crafts, music and dance. Visit the JCCGV’s website for more information.
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West Vancouver Community Cultural Fest
June 5–6
www.westvancouver.ca/culturalfest
This two-day event at West Vancouver’s Ambleside Park showcases the diversity that makes West Vancouver a special place to live, work and play. Through art, dance, music, international food and drink, they hope to unify and celebrate the many different backgrounds that make up West Vancouver. Check out their website for a complete list of performers and a schedule of events.
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Swan Lake
June 5–7, 6 p.m.
www.anviltheatre.ca/event/swan-lake-2
The beloved classical ballet Swan Lake will once again grace the stage of Anvil Centre Theatre in early June this year. Under the direction of artistic director Liang Xing, the dancers of the Royal Principal Ballet bring youthful energy to the production. With meticulous artistic refinement and dedicated rehearsals, Liang Xing infuses the work with his own distinctive artistic vision and experience. This production of Swan Lake is also a heartfelt tribute marking Liang Xing’s seven-year artistic journey with the Royal Principal Ballet. Performers who have won awards at numerous international ballet competitions will meet the audience’s high expectations with their exceptional artistry.
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Queer Arts Festival
June 5–30
Queer Arts Festival 2026 embraces the precipice as both danger and possibility. Around the world, queer and trans communities are being pushed to the brink: rights stripped away, identities erased, futures uncertain. Yet edges are also where transformation begins, where risk and reinvention thrive. The festival’s theme “On the Edge” asks what happens when we refuse to fall, when we linger in tension, desire and anticipation – holding that charged space just a little longer before what comes next.
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Indigenous Market & Expressions of Reclamation
June 6, 11 a.m.–5 p.m.
www.artsnewwest.ca/new-west-craft-indigenous-market-and-expressions-of-reclamation
Arts New West, Shop First Nations and Native Art Renaissance are proud to present the fifth anniversary of the Indigenous Market & Expressions of Reclamation, a vibrant, free, family-friendly event celebrating Indigenous art, culture and community in the heart of downtown New Westminster. Taking place on June 6, this milestone event will feature over 65 Indigenous makers and artists showcasing handcrafted goods, artwork and unique cultural creations. Visitors will have the opportunity to connect directly with artists and support Indigenous entrepreneurship.
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Lure
June 6–August 23
The cross-cultural practice of fishing is as old as human history. Today, exploitation and stewardship of ocean and freshwater resources are inseparable from contemporary life across Canada. In Lure, artists Jordan Bennett, Eric Allan Cameron, Eugene Isaac, Cindy Mochizuki, Carley Mullally and Couzyn van Heuvelen explore the complex social and cultural significance of fishing. Together, their artworks draw connections between fishing practices – from personal to cultural to commercial, from west to east to north – that take place within a net of economic and political contexts. Featuring artists with ties to the Pacific, Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, and the freshwater bodies that flow between, Lure explores fishing through a diverse selection of contemporary artworks.
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