Things to Do in Vancouver this Weekend: March 1, 2018

Movement and laughter are the themes of this weekend, with the JFL Northwest Comedy Festival, the Vancouver International Dance Festival, and the Coastal First Nations Dance Festival all lighting up stages across the city. If you prefer something a little more destructive, there’s also an art opening that looks at the impact of the nuclear age and a Monster Truck show.

Friday | Saturday | Sunday | Ongoing



Friday March 2

JFL Northwest Comedy Festival
Where: Various locations
What: NorthWest Comedy Fest and Just for Laughs have joined forces to present JFL NorthWest, Vancouver’s comedy festival presenting some of the best in stand-up, sketch, and improv. This year’s headliners include Maria Bamford, Bill Burr, and Trevor Noah.
Runs until: Saturday March 10, 2018

Vancouver International Dance Festival

Vancouver International Dance Festival
Where: Various locations
What: Four Canadian premieres from New York’s acclaimed contemporary companies Shen Wei Dance Arts and White Wave Dance, Mexico’s Compañía de Danza Experimental de Lola Lince, and Hungary’s Ferenc Fehér; a West Coast premiere from Montreal’s Lucie Grégoire Danse; and a world premiere from Vancouver’s own Amber Funk Barton, among many others.
Runs until: Saturday March 24, 2018

Coastal First Nations Dance Festival

Coastal First Nations Dance Festival
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: In celebration of Indigenous stories, songs, and dance, the festival welcomes performers from throughout British Columbia, the Yukon, Alaska, and Washington State as well as national and international guest artists.
Runs until: Sunday March 4, 2018

FlyOver America

FlyOver America
Where: FlyOver Canada
What: Glide, dive, swoop and soar over some of America’s must-see destinations. This exhilarating 10-minute flight ride showcases 25 incredible locations in a way you’ve never seen them before.
Runs until: Monday April 2, 2018

Sasheer Zamata

Sasheer Zamata
Where: The Biltmore
What: This comedian, actress, writer and 4 season cast member on Saturday Night Live just released her first one hour special, “Pizza Mind” to rave reviews.

Festival du Bois
Where: Mackin Park (Coquitlam, BC)
What: The largest francophone festival on Canada’s west coast honours French Canadian traditions and culture. Don your best plaid and head over to Coquitlam to enjoy authentic food, arts, activities, and various entertainment such as a fiddle jam session with a veteran, master traditional fiddler.
Runs until: Sunday March 4, 2018

Monster Jam
Where: Pacific Coloseum
What: Monster trucks. Driving over things. I image there will be some pyrotechnics and some destruction of vehicles for your amusement. Featuring El Toro Loco driven by Chuck Werner, Grave Digger driven by Charlie Pauken, Max-D driven by Tom Meents, Monster Mutt Dalmatian driven by Candice Jolly, Team Hot Wheels driven by Scott Buetow, Time Flys driven by Kelvin Ramer, Wild Flower driven by Rosalee Ramer, Zombie driven by Colt Stephens.
Runs until: Sunday March 4, 2018

Shen Wei Dance Arts: Folding and Rite of Spring (show 1 of 2)
Where: Vancouver Playhouse
What: Widely celebrated for their mesmerizing movement, striking beauty, and elegant expression, Shen Wei Dance Arts will present two dazzling offerings: Folding is an otherworldly dreamscape set to Tibetan Buddhist chanting. Rite of Spring is a compelling abstract interpretation of a two-piano version of Stravinsky’s iconic score.

Revisioned
Where: Kimoto Gallery
What: Inspired by his West Coast upbringing and love of the ocean, Vancouver artist, Yorke Graham creates art that is a reflection of his passion for nature and his lively, fun-loving imagination. Yorke enjoys the challenge of working with both cherished mementos and objects often forgotten or destined to be destroyed.
Runs until: Saturday March 24, 2018

Hip. Bang!

Hip. Bang!
Where:
The Improv Centre
What:
Tom Hill and Devin Mackenzie bring together elements of audience interaction, use of computers and live comedy to delve into the world of privacy and surveillance in our increasingly tech-obsessed society.

Vancouver Canucks vs. Nashville Predators
Where: Rogers Arena
What: It’s a hockey game.

Forget About Tomorrow
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: When Jane’s husband Tom is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, they face a difficult journey ahead. Will love and humour be enough to brace their family for the future? Can Jane reconcile her dreams with today’s reality? Or will she grow to doubt her loyalty to the man who will ultimately forget her name?
Runs until: Sunday March 25, 2018


 

Saturday March 3

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Shen Wei Dance Arts: Folding and Rite of Spring

Shen Wei Dance Arts: Folding and Rite of Spring (show 2 of 2)
Where: Vancouver Playhouse
What: Widely celebrated for their mesmerizing movement, striking beauty, and elegant expression, Shen Wei Dance Arts will present two dazzling offerings: Folding is an otherworldly dreamscape set to Tibetan Buddhist chanting. Rite of Spring is a compelling abstract interpretation of a two-piano version of Stravinsky’s iconic score.

Bombhead | Untitled by Carel Moiseiwitsch (image rotated)

Bombhead
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What:  A thematic art exhibition organized by guest curator John O’Brian that explores the emergence and impact of the nuclear age as represented by artists and their art. Encompassing the pre- and postwar period from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi in 2011, Bombhead brings together paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, photographs, film and video that deal with this often dark subject matter.
Runs until: Sunday June 17, 2018

Maria Bamford

Maria Bamford
Where: Vogue Theatre
What: For those who love dark, quirky comedy that combines unexpected turns with empowering ways to take on ones own mental illness, Maria Bamford is a must-see. She is also the first female comic to have two half-hour Comedy Central Presents specials.

Living Building Thinking: Art and Expressionism | Portrait of Anna Grünebaum by Otto Dix (image cropped)

Living, Building, Thinking: Art and Expressionism
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: The term Expressionism is invariably associated with the period of art and social activism in Germany between 1905 and 1937, encompassing visual art, literature, philosophy, theatre, film, photography and architecture. Explore the development of Expressionism in art from the early 19th century to the present day through the German Expressionist collection from the McMaster Museum of Art.
Runs until: Monday May 21, 2018

Ali Siddiq
Where: The Biltmore
What: Ali Siddiq is stand-up comedian, public speaker, and writer out of Houston. His unique style of stand-up began behind the walls of incarceration, an incubator for interesting experiences and good stories.

Great Romantics
Where: The Orpheum
What: Pianist David Fray was named BBC Music Magazine’s “Newcomer of the Year” in 2008, and has been on the path to stardom ever since. Known for his lyrical, expansive and sometimes playful performances, Fray will play Mendelssohn’s Piano Concerto No. 1.

Pop! Goes the Big Band
Where: Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch
What: The Impressions Big Band performs classic pop songs from artists such as Stevie Wonder, Earth Wind & Fire, the Doobie Brothers, Chicago and more.

The Real McKenzies

The Real McKenzies
Where: The Rickshaw
What: This Canadian Celtic punk founded in 1992 has spent a quarter century circumnavigating the globe to bring the McKenzies gospel to an ever-adoring throng of rebels and scallywags.

Brandi Carlile

Brandi Carlile
Where: The Commodore
What: A Grammy-nominated American folk rock and Americana singer-songwriter who dropped out of high school to pursue a career in music.

Shorline Mafia
Where: Venue
What: An all-ages rap show.

The White Buffalo

The White Buffalo
Where: The Imperial
What: Roots-rock alternative country music.

TEDxStanleyPark: Inspiring Brave Actions
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre
What: Twelve short talks will offer novel solutions  to a diverse range of humanity’s tough challenges.

 

TEDxUBC
Where: UBC
What: A conference for UBC’s most fascinating students to share their ideas and visions with the university and with the world.


 

Sunday March 4

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The VIFF Oscar Party
Where: VanCity Theatre
What: Vancouver’s classiest big screen cinema offers the most comfortable seats in town, red carpet, step & repeat, a fully licensed bar. The hosted, commercial-free Oscar party comes with red carpet fashion commentary by Steven Schelling, and a prize for best dressed guest.

The Velveteen Rabbit
Where: The Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island
What: The enchanting story that made generations of children cry into their storybooks. Don’t worry, it ends up a happy ending (except personally, it might have made me a stuffed animal hoarder for a short time). Get ready for a rocking horse, a cavalcade of mechanical toys, a kind-hearted fairy and a toy rabbit who is transformed by one little boy’s love.
Runs until: Sunday March 25, 2018

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Montreal Impact

Vancouver Whitecaps vs. Montreal Impact
Where: BC Place Stadium
What: It’s a soccer game. Or football, depending. There will be a lot of ball kicking.


 

Ongoing

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Oscar Shorts: Animation 2018

Oscar Shorts: Animation 2018
Where: VanCityTheatre
What: Watch all the nominees for the Academy Award for Best Short Film in the Animation category.
Runs until: Saturday March 3, 2018

Oscar Shorts: Live Action 2018

Oscar Shorts: Live Action 2018
Where: VanCityTheatre
What: Watch all the nominees for the Academy Award for Best Short Film in the Live Action category.
Runs until: Saturday March 3, 2018

Out There: The Visionary Cinema of Nicolas Roeg

Out There: The Visionary Cinema of Nicolas Roeg
Where: The Cinematheque
What: In 2011, Time Out published the results of a poll, voted on by 150 film professionals, to determine the 100 greatest British films of all time. When Nicolas Roeg’s haunting masterpiece Don’t Look Now (1973) took the surprise top spot — with three other Roeg films ranking in the top 70 — it gave pause to reflect on an erratic, provocative, and fiercely original body of work that continually, defiantly tested the limits of commercial cinema at every gutsy turn.
Runs until: Sunday March 4, 2018

Pss Pss

Pss Pss
Where: York Theatre
What: From Switzerland, Compagnia Baccalà’s is inspired by Chaplin and Keaton. Watch enthralling physicality and expression has been delighting audiences the world over. A breathtaking pas de deux of mishaps and acrobatics, you and your kids will be laughing long after you leave the theatre.
Runs until:Sunday March 4, 2018

Vancouver International Wine Festival

Vancouver International Wine Festival
Where: Various locations
What: For noted oenophiles and the casual wino alike, Canada’s premier wine show is a celebration of informative, educational and entertaining wine experience. From educational seminars, wine tastings and minglers to wine and food grazing events, lunches, winery dinners and the ever-popular Vintners Brunch, you’ll be sure to find something to please your palate.
Runs until: Sunday March 4, 2018

Coastal First Nations Dance Festival

Coastal First Nations Dance Festival
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: In celebration of Indigenous stories, songs, and dance, the festival welcomes performers from throughout British Columbia, the Yukon, Alaska, and Washington State as well as national and international guest artists.
Runs until: Sunday March 4, 2018

Winter Yoga Series on Grouse Mountain
Where: Grouse Mountain
What: Begin your Sunday morning with a journey through the twinkling Light Walk and over to the hiwus feasthouse atop a mountain. Come prepared with snow-appropriate footwear or strap on your snowshoes for the this snowy walk.
Runs until: Sunday March 4, 2018

Emily Carr: Into the Forest

Emily Carr: Into the Forest
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Far from feeling that the forests of the West Coast were a difficult subject matter, Carr exulted in the symphonies of greens and browns found in the natural world. With oil on paper as her primary medium, Carr was free to work outdoors in close proximity to the landscape. She went into the forest to paint and saw nature in ways unlike her fellow British Columbians, who perceived it as either untamed wilderness or a plentiful source of lumber.
Runs until: Sunday March 4, 2018

Monster Jam
Where: Pacific Coloseum
What: Monster trucks. Driving over things. I image there will be some pyrotechnics and some destruction of vehicles for your amusement. Featuring El Toro Loco driven by Chuck Werner, Grave Digger driven by Charlie Pauken, Max-D driven by Tom Meents, Monster Mutt Dalmatian driven by Candice Jolly, Team Hot Wheels driven by Scott Buetow, Time Flys driven by Kelvin Ramer, Wild Flower driven by Rosalee Ramer, Zombie driven by Colt Stephens.
Runs until: Sunday March 4, 2018

Festival du Bois
Where: Mackin Park (Coquitlam, BC)
What: The largest francophone festival on Canada’s west coast honours French Canadian traditions and culture. Don your best plaid and head over to Coquitlam to enjoy authentic food, arts, activities, and various entertainment such as a fiddle jam session with a veteran, master traditional fiddler.
Runs until: Sunday March 4, 2018

JFL Northwest Comedy Festival
Where: Various locations
What: NorthWest Comedy Fest and Just for Laughs have joined forces to present JFL NorthWest, Vancouver’s comedy festival presenting some of the best in stand-up, sketch, and improv. This year’s headliners include Maria Bamford, Bill Burr, and Trevor Noah.
Runs until: Saturday March 10, 2018

Fun Home
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: Alison’s father was many things: a historical preservationist, a funeral home director, a distant parent, and a closeted gay man. In the struggle to understand her father while also dealing with her own coming out, graphic novelist Alison documents the story of her life in coloured panels. This Tony Award–winning musical memoir is a heartbreaking and fiercely funny journey, punctuated with a refreshing score that frames the curiosity of childhood and the complexities of a family.
Runs until: Saturday March 10, 2018

Chutzpah! Festival

Chutzpah! Festival
Where: Various Locations
What: Awe-inspiring dance, extraordinary theatre, hilarious comedy and globally-celebrated music highlights this year’s festival with world-class performances and workshops by international, Canadian and local artists.
Runs until: Thursday March 15, 2018

CelticFest Vancouver
Where: Various locations
What: Vancouver streets, concert halls, and pubs will resound with the sights, sounds, and vibrant spirit of Celtic culture at western Canada’s largest Celtic celebration. Expect the best of traditional and contemporary Celtic culture in all its diversity and vitality –everyone is invited to come along.
Runs until: Saturday March 17, 2018

Vancouver International Dance Festival

Vancouver International Dance Festival
Where: Various locations
What: Four Canadian premieres from New York’s acclaimed contemporary companies Shen Wei Dance Arts and White Wave Dance, Mexico’s Compañía de Danza Experimental de Lola Lince, and Hungary’s Ferenc Fehér; a West Coast premiere from Montreal’s Lucie Grégoire Danse; and a world premiere from Vancouver’s own Amber Funk Barton, among many others.
Runs until: Saturday March 24, 2018

Revisioned
Where: Kimoto Gallery
What: Inspired by his West Coast upbringing and love of the ocean, Vancouver artist, Yorke Graham creates art that is a reflection of his passion for nature and his lively, fun-loving imagination. Yorke enjoys the challenge of working with both cherished mementos and objects often forgotten or destined to be destroyed.
Runs until: Saturday March 24, 2018

The Velveteen Rabbit
Where: The Waterfront Theatre on Granville Island
What: The enchanting story that made generations of children cry into their storybooks. Don’t worry, it ends up a happy ending (except personally, it might have made me a stuffed animal hoarder for a short time). Get ready for a rocking horse, a cavalcade of mechanical toys, a kind-hearted fairy and a toy rabbit who is transformed by one little boy’s love.
Runs until: Sunday March 25, 2018

The Lost Fleet Exhibit
Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum
What: On December 7, 1941 the world was shocked when Japan bombed Pearl Harbour, launching the United States into the war. This action also resulted in the confiscation of nearly 1,200 Japanese-Canadian owned fishing boats by Canadian officials on the British Columbia coast, which were eventually sold off to canneries and other non-Japanese fishermen. The Lost Fleet looks at the world of the Japanese-Canadian fishermen in BC and how deep-seated racism played a major role in the seizure, and sale, of Japanese-Canadian property and the internment of an entire people.
Runs until: March 25, 2018

Into the Arctic

Into the Arctic
Where: Vancouver Maritime Museum
What: This exhibit encompasses over 50 Arctic oil paintings and 3 films from Trepanier’s 4 Arctic expeditions to the furthest reaches of the Canadian North. Its wilderness is so remote and untouched that many of its landscapes have never been documented before.
Runs until: Sunday March 25, 2018

Two Scores

Two Scores
Where: Contemporary Art Gallery
What: A solo exhibition of ambitious new work by Vancouver-based artist Brent Wadden, his first in a public institution. Dominated by singular woven statements upon the floor and walls, in their dramatic scale and graphic simplicity, they mark a point of departure for the artist, but might also be said to reveal both an unseen structure and a complex set of tensions that quietly anchor Wadden’s ongoing practice as a whole.
Runs until: Sunday March 25, 2018

Fin and Feathers

Fin and Feathers
Where: VanDusen Gardens
What: Paintings by Jo Scott-B. Jo’s book: Carved in Oak – Medieval Pew Carvings in English Churches began her study of medieval designs in UK and Europe, continued in this body of work.  Jo’s children played on the old Shaughnessy Golf Course before it became VanDusen Botanical Garden. For her, it is a perfect venue for her humorous images of fish and birds, set in foliage taken from her sketchbooks.
Runs until: Sunday March 25, 2018

Forget About Tomorrow
Where: Arts Club Theatre
What: When Jane’s husband Tom is diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, they face a difficult journey ahead. Will love and humour be enough to brace their family for the future? Can Jane reconcile her dreams with today’s reality? Or will she grow to doubt her loyalty to the man who will ultimately forget her name?
Runs until: Sunday March 25, 2018

Chief Dan George: Actor and Activist
Where: North Vancouver Museum
What: An exhibition exploring the life and legacy of Tsleil-Waututh Chief Dan George (1899- 1981) and his influence as an Indigenous rights advocate and his career as an actor. The exhibition was developed in close collaboration with the George family.
Runs until: April 2018

FlyOver America

FlyOver America
Where: FlyOver Canada
What: Glide, dive, swoop and soar over some of America’s must-see destinations. This exhilarating 10-minute flight ride showcases 25 incredible locations in a way you’ve never seen them before.
Runs until: Monday April 2, 2018

空 / Emptiness: Emily Carr and Lui Shou Kwan

空 / Emptiness: Emily Carr and Lui Shou Kwan
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: The exhibition pairs Canadian modernist Emily Carr with the founder of the New Ink Movement in Hong Kong Lui Shou Kwan. Looking across culture, geography and time to explore expressions of the sublime in landscape painting, the exhibition draws connections by exploring how each artist experimented with abstraction and spirituality in their respective depictions of nature.
Runs until: Sunday April 8, 2018

The Fabric of Our Land: Salish Weaving

The Fabric of Our Land: Salish Weaving
Where: UBC Museum of Anthropology
What: For generations Salish peoples have been harvesting the resources of their territories, transforming them into robes of rare beauty and power. Symbols of identity, they acted as legal documents and were visible signifiers of the presence of knowledge holders and respected people. Now mostly stored away in museums these masterworks are rarely seen. They have much knowledge to share and many stories to tell. Musqueam asked the Museum to bring these weavings to inspire weavers and share part of this rich legacy with all of us.
Runs until: Sunday April 15, 2018

Public Artwork by New Delhi-Based Artist Asim Waqif

Public Artwork by New Delhi-Based Artist Asim Waqif
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Inspired by environmental concerns and the pace of human consumption, Waqif will construct an immersive architectural experience from materials collected at re-purpose stores, transfer stations and landfills in the metro Vancouver area. Waqif’s architectural structure will also incorporate an interactive acoustic system using microphones, effects pedals and speakers. Visitors are encouraged to move through the installation maze allowing them to actively experience the architecture instead of passively observing it.
Runs until: Sunday April 15, 2017

Winter Farmers’ Market

Winter Farmers Market
Where: Nat Bailey Stadium
What: Each week you can look forward to finding locally grown vegetables and fruit, meat and seafood from local ranchers and fishermen, artisan cheese and bread, herbs and seasonal nursery items, baked goods, prepared foods and artisanal craft.
Runs until: April 21, 2018 (Saturdays)

N. Vancouver

N. Vancouver
Where: The Polygon Gallery
What: The show in the newly-opened gallery will pay tribute to the evolution of North Vancouver and will feature commissioned works by more than 10 artists, including Andrew Dadson, Gabrielle Hill, Althea Thauberger, Stephen Waddell and Tracy Williams, paired with existing work by Stan Douglas, Greg Girard, Fred Herzog, Curt Lang, and Jeff Wall, among others.
Runs until: Sunday April 29, 2018

In a Different Light

In a Different Light
Where: Museum of Anthropology
What: More than 110 historical Indigenous artworks and marks the return of many important works to British Columbia. These objects are amazing artistic achievements. Yet they also transcend the idea of ‘art’ or ‘artifact’. Through the voices of contemporary First Nations artists and community members, this exhibition reflects on the roles historical artworks have today. Featuring immersive storytelling and innovative design, it explores what we can learn from these works and how they relate to Indigenous peoples’ relationships to their lands.
Runs until: Spring 2019

Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg

Takashi Murakami: The Octopus Eats Its Own Leg
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: Featuring fifty-five remarkable works, some newly created for the presentation in Vancouver, this retrospective offers a critical and serious meditation on the current state of Japanese society in the midst of a complex, global world, while highlighting Murakami’s important role as a committed and often conflicted commentator on cultural production.
Runs until: Sunday May 6, 2018

Living Building Thinking: Art and Expressionism | Portrait of Anna Grünebaum by Otto Dix (image cropped)

Living, Building, Thinking: Art and Expressionism
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What: The term Expressionism is invariably associated with the period of art and social activism in Germany between 1905 and 1937, encompassing visual art, literature, philosophy, theatre, film, photography and architecture. Explore the development of Expressionism in art from the early 19th century to the present day through the German Expressionist collection from the McMaster Museum of Art.
Runs until: Monday May 21, 2018

Bombhead | Untitled by Carel Moiseiwitsch (image rotated for the screen)

Bombhead
Where: Vancouver Art Gallery
What:  A thematic art exhibition organized by guest curator John O’Brian that explores the emergence and impact of the nuclear age as represented by artists and their art. Encompassing the pre- and postwar period from the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945 to the triple meltdown at Fukushima Daiichi in 2011, BOMBHEAD brings together paintings, drawings, prints, sculpture, photographs, film and video that deal with this often dark subject matter.
Runs until: Sunday June 17, 2018

What are you up to this weekend? Tell me and the rest of Vancouver in the comments below.

 

 




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