Do you love taking photos of your beautiful province for all the world to see? Then you might be interested in participating in a BC Day Instameet. On BC Day — Monday, August 3rd — Destination BC is teaming up with communities from Vancouver Island to the Rockies. You’re encouraged to meet up, take photos, post them to Instagram using the #ExploreBC tag, be social, and enjoy the day.
BC Day Instameets
Vancouver & Fraser Valley
Vancouver
Time: Details pending
Meeting location: Details pending
New Westminster
Time: 11:00am
Meeting location: Westminster Quay, behind the Fraser River Discovery Centre (on the waterfront side)
Hosted by: @tourismnewwest
White Rock
Time: 5:30pm
Meeting location: White Rock Visitor Centre (1459 B Johnston Road)
Hosted by: @inwhiterock
Chilliwack
Time: 10:00am
Meeting location: Elk Thurston Trailhead (50311 Elk View Road; 4 hour return hike)
Hosted by: @tourismchilliwack
Langley
Time: 12:00pm
Meeting location: Derby Reach Regional Park parking lot
RSVP: Registration for this event is limited. To attend this event, please email: [email protected]
Hosted by: @tourismlangley
Surrey
Time: 1:00pm
Meeting location: Made in India Clothing (8312 128th Street)
Click for Details
Hosted by: @tourismsurrey
Sunshine Coast
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Gibsons
Time: 6:00pm
Meeting location: Gibsons Visitor Information Centre (417 Marine Drive)
Click for Details
Hosted by: @sunshinecoastbc
Powell River
Time: 10:00am
Meeting location: Willingdon Beach (4845 Marine Avenue)
Click for Details
Hosted by: @sunshinecoastbc
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Vancouver Island
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Tofino/Ucluelet (co-hosted by Destination BC)
Time: Details pending
Meeting location: Details pending
RSVP: Registration for this event is limited. To attend this event, please click here.
Hosted by: @tourismtofino, @tourismuclueletbc and @hellobc
Victoria
Time: 3:00pm
Meeting location: Bright Pearl Statue, Chinatown (1689 Government Street)
Hosted by: @tourismvictoriabc
Nanaimo
Time: 7:00pm
Meeting location: Heritage Hudson Bay Bastion (95 Front Street)
Hosted by: @tourismnanaimo
Mayne Island/Bennett Bay
Time: 7:00pm
Meeting location: Meet in parking lot of Gulf Islands National Park Reserve
Galiano Island
Time: 10:00am
Meeting location: Galiano Inn and Spa (134 Madrona Drive)
Hosted by: @galianoinnspa
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Thompson Okanagan
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Kamloops (co-hosted by Destination BC)
Time: Details pending
Meeting location: Details pending
RSVP: To attend this event, please see click here.
Hosted by: @tourismkamloops and @hellobc
Naramata
Time: 5:30-9:30pm
Meeting location: Smethurst Road Parking Lot (Kettle Valley Trail Rail – Little Tunnel)
Hosted by: @discover_naramata
Vernon
Time: 10:00am
Meeting location: Bean to Cup Coffee Shop (3903 27 Street)
Hosted by: @vernontourism
Big White
Time: 1:00pm
Meeting location: Village Centre Mall (5315 Big White Road)
Click for Details
Hosted by: @skibigwhite
Ashcroft
Time: 6:00pm
Meeting location: Wilderness Way Resort (3109 Kirkland Ranch Road)
Hosted by: @goldcountrybc
Armstrong
Time: 8:30am
Meeting location: Memorial Park
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Northern BC
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Prince George
Time: 9:00am
Meeting location: Prince George Visitor Centre (1300 First Avenue, Suite 101)
Hosted by: @tourismpg
Dawson Creek
Time: 4:00pm
Meeting location: N.A.R. Park (900 Alaska Avenue)
Hosted by: @tourismdawsoncreek
Chetwynd
Time: Details pending
Meeting location: 10.5k on Hwy 29S Tumbler Ridge Highway
Hosted by: @chetwyndvisitorcentre
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Kootenay Rockies
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Revelstoke (co-hosted by Destination BC)
Time: Details pending
Meeting location: Details pending
RSVP: To attend this event, please see click here.
Hosted by: @seerevelstoke and @hellobc
Creston Valley
Time: 7:00am
Meeting location: Parking lot behind the Chamber of Commerce (121 NW Blvd. Highway 3A)
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Find more BC Day Instameet details online in the coming weeks and follow Destination BC on Instagram and Twitter.
Free lunchtime concerts have returned to the CBC Plaza on Hamilton Street, between Georgia and Robson, in Downtown Vancouver. CBC Musical Nooners take place every weekday from 12:00pm to 1:00pm through to August 21st, offering up free entertainment for your lunch break.
Remaining July Shows
Thursday, July 23, 2015: Black Umfolosi (a co-presentation with the Mission Folk Festival)
Traditional a cappella vocal group from Zimbabwe who have thrilled audiences around the world for over 30 years.
Friday, July 24, 2015: Volosi (a co-presentation with the Mission Folk Festival)
From Poland, with love, this 5-piece string ensemble blends the sophistication of classical performance with the visceral power of traditional music from the Carpathian Mountains.
Monday, July 27, 2015: Shred Kelly
CBC Music listed Shred Kelly’s release, “Sing To The Night” as one of the most anticipated Albums of 2015. Come see this “stoke-folk” quintet from Fernie, BC.
Tuesday, July 28, 2015: Keith Bennett & David Sinclair
These two veterans of the music scene make a winning duo of harmonica and guitar playing a great mix of blues, gypsy jazz and pop.
Wednesday, July 29, 2015: Robyn & Ryleigh
Sisters from Langley whose music is the sound of country today.
Thursday, July 30, 2015: Murray Porter
Murray Porter’s blues-fuelled songs and piano playing will leave you dazzled.
Friday, July 31, 2015: Tanga
Tanga’s take on the sound of Cuba will make your feet move, your hips sway and paste a big smile on your face.
The schedule for August is yet to be released but it will appear at this CBC link. Follow @CBCVancouver on Twitter for more information.
The 27th annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival is coming up August 13th-23rd at the Vancouver Playhouse, Cineplex Odeon International Village and SFU Woodwards. Celebrating the best in independent queer cinema, this is the largest queer arts event in Western Canada and the second-largest film festival in Vancouver.
Vancouver Queer Film Festival
Over 80 films will be showcased from 20 countries, with themes ranging from transgender trailblazers to spectacular queer con artists. The festival also includes a variety of performances, panels and workshops.
This year’s festival celebrates a resounding collection of home-brewed queer films from the local, edgy documentary Bearded Ladies: The Photography of Rosamond Norbury by Sharon McGowan (Better Than Chocolate), to All Yours, which tackles the realities of the gay-for-pay industry, emotional labour and loneliness, and the bilingual drama What We Have (Ce qu’on a) to Portrait of a Serial Monogamist, a Torontonian queer coming-of-middle-age film that ignites laughter and tears with the most affecting lesbian cat funeral. Also featured at the festival is a tailor-made archival program, Still Not Over It: 70 Years of Queer Canadian Film, and the arrival of a signature new comedic talent in the film Guidance.
In conjunction with Out in Schools, this year’s festival invites youth to indulge in a summer of cinema. Reflecting on global queer youth culture and LGBTQ community activism, this brave and deep collection of films reflects the path already travelled and inspires hope for the journey ahead. From the Youth Shorts Program Bright Eyes, Queer Hearts to the queerlands of Brooklyn with Naz & Maalik to the sacrifices people make for love in Those People and How to Win at Checkers (Every Time), this year’s lineup is a spectacular summer treat.
Adding some spice to the Vancouver Queer Film Festival and proving once again that some of the best queer cinema comes from Latin America, selections from Mexico, Chile, Venezuela and Brazil bring together common themes of birth family and chosen family blended with a wryly-humourous approach to assessing one’s place in the world. Find the full schedule online and you can also download the PDF program guide.
Tickets are on sale now. Follow the Vancouver Queer Film Festival on Facebook and Twitter for the latest information.
Win Vancouver Queer Film Festival Tickets
I have 6 film tickets to give away (to your choice of VQFF film) as well as a pair of tickets to the festival’s opening gala party on August 13th! Here’s how you can enter to win:
Update The winner is Brenda!
I travel quite a bit and yet I haven’t encountered this decision before: What should I pack for a business conference during the day and a swamp tour by night? Next week I’m headed to New Orleans for the Sage Summit, featuring hundreds of sessions, 70 speakers, and endless networking opportunities along with some quintessential experiences in the Big Easy.
I have been running a small business for the last seven years but the conferences I usually attend are about the subject of my business (WordPress, software, travel writing, blogging, social media) and not so much about the act of being in business or running your own company. I’m looking forward to hearing from an incredibly impressive and diverse lineup of speakers and panelists.
Sage Summit Canadian Speakers
Patrick Kelly from Canada Games Council, The Cupcake Girls (Heather and Lori), and Evan Carmichael.
Sage Summit Conversations & Panels
General Colin Powell, Deepak Chopra, and Stephen Kelly, Tony Hawk, Chad Hurley, Jane Seymour, Matthew Weiner, Trevor Noah, Baroness Karren Brady, Ron Buist (Tim Hortons), and more!
Sage Summit isn’t just for Sage partners and customers, I’m looking forward to everyday business insights, strategies, and advice — all kinds of advice:
For 35C heat plus humidity, conference panels and expo, and that swamp tour (or French Quarter ghost tour) I’m still not sure what to pack but I have a few days to figure it out. What I do know is that this is shaping up to be one amazing learning experience.
The entire week will end with the closing riverfront party with recent MTV VMA nominee, and platinum selling artist, Walk the Moon. If you’re interested in booking a last minute trip to the Sage Summit, use promo code NOLA for $99 passes. Follow my posts throughout the week at @Miss604 #SageSummit and @Sage_Summit on Twitter.
Everyone loves Circle Craft! This is what I have learned over the years hosting event listings and contests for this anticipated local craft fair and market. Circle Craft and the Craft Council of BC are holding their third annual Circle Craft Summer Market this week at Jack Poole Plaza (next to the Olympic Cauldron) and it’s bound to be a popular one.
The Craft Council of British Columbia and Circle Craft Cooperative Summer Market
This FREE outdoor market will have dozens of exhibitors showcasing their handmade work ranging from wood, glass, jewellery, leather, fine art, and ceramics. You will also find home décor and clever functional items you will not be able to live without. It will be a great market for gifts or to treat yourself.
Market Hours
Thursday July 23, 2015 from 11:00am to 7:00pm
Friday, July 24, 2015 from 9:00am to 7:00pm
Saturday, July 25, 2015 from 9:00am to 7:00pm
Sunday July 26, 2015 from 9:00am to 5:00pm
To make sure you go home with some of the very best finds, I am giving away 100 Summer Craft Show Dollars to spend at the market. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, July 22, 2015. Follow Circle Craft on Twitter and Facebook to learn more about the co-op, their space on Granville Island, the summer and Christmas markets. The prize is only redeemable at the 2015 summer market happening July 23rd to July 26th, for items available for purchase at the market, and is not actual Canadian currency/money.
Update The winner is Marina!
