The woods are dark at night, and with the wind howling and bats fluttering overhead, you’ll want to hold loved ones close — especially once Dracula, the Phantom of the Opera, and Frankenstein make an appearance. This year’s Stanley Park Ghost Train will haunt and delight with its Classic Horror theme from October 9th to November 1st.
Stanley Park Halloween Ghost Train
Each year, the Stanley Park Halloween Ghost Train takes riders on a journey through a mystical and magical world. The classic night train ride includes a 14-minute experience with lights, sounds, and live performers.
Back from the graveyards of yesteryear, this year’s Classic Horror theme comes the most gripping, exciting, and spine-tingling creatures ever to haunt the Stanley Park Train. Witness Dracula, Frankenstein, the Phantom of the Opera, and more, as they come back to life from behind the silver screen to haunt you, chill you, and thrill you. This weird and wild adventure will take you back to a time when moving pictures dared to unearth the shadows that lay sleeping in the dark recesses of our minds.
Opening Hours
The Ghost Train is open October 9, 2015 to November 1, 2015. It will be closed October 12th for Thanksgiving Day.
Live Theatrical Performance Train
Monday to Thursday, 5:30pm to 9:30pm
Friday to Sunday, 5:30pm to 10:00pm
Matinee Train
Friday to Sunday, 11:00am to 5:30pm
The matinee train ride is a great daytime activity for families, school groups, and groups with children. There are no live performers during matinee train rides but you can view the displays.
Night Train
The classic night train ride includes a 14 minute experience following the “Classic Horror” theme with lights, sounds, and live performers.
Spooky Barn
The 2nd annual Spooky Barn is open all operating hours. Enjoy this fun, indoor, haunted addition to our family friendly event. Spooky Barn will be available for both matinee and evening show times. Admission is $2.
Tickets
You must purchase a ticket to ride the Stanley Park Ghost Train. Your ticket is valid for one Ghost Train ride and other attractions in the plaza.
TIPS:
Book online in advance to save time and to avoid sold out rides.
Avoid the crowds and come out Monday to Thursday in the first two weeks.
Tickets are sold in half-hour time slots. Several trains will depart within each time slot. Tickets are good for one train ride during the time slot shown on the ticket, and for one entry to the Train Plaza attractions. Buy online or by phone (604-252-3700) with TicketLeader. Service fees and charges apply to advance ticket sales.
A portion of tickets for each night are reserved for on-site purchase, so even if online tickets are sold out for that day, there will still be tickets for sale on-site. However, since this event is so popular, tickets for the day can sell out quickly. Full details are available online. Follow the Stanley Park Halloween Ghost Train on Facebook and Twitter.
Lookout Society is hosting its 7th annual H’Arts for the Homeless gala on Thursday, October 1st. This special evening includes entertainment, live painting and inspiration that celebrates the joys, successes, strengths and stories of the people Lookout serves.
H’Arts for the Homeless
Where: The Imperial (319 Main St, Vancouver) When: Thursday, October 1, 2015 @ 5:30pm Tickets: $60 available online or by phone 604-255-0340
Artist photo courtesy of Lookout Society
Live entertainment, unique performers, music, dance, visual artists and delicious food are all part of the H’Arts experience. Gala guests also learn the story of homelessness through art installations.
The gala features a group of visual artists creating artwork throughout the night. The finished works are then auctioned off with comedian David C. Jones wielding the auctioneer’s gavel and encouraging bidders on.
Funds raised at this year’s gala will help pay for medical and dental equipment needed for two health clinics operated by the Lookout Society in Surrey.
The Surrey North Community Health Centre and low cost dental clinic provide valuable services in Surrey. Last year 5,279 people visited the health clinic while 2,024 made contact with the dental clinic. The two clinics are located in the Lookout Society’s Health Services Building on 135A Street and cater largely to those who are homeless and living in poverty.
Lookout Emergency Aid Society is a non-profit, charitable organization meeting the needs of the homeless since 1971. Lookout operates 181 year-round shelter beds which provide warm beds, meals and services for men and women. Follow Lookout on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
A modern soulful folk band from Kansas City, Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, is coming to Vancouver to play The Cultch on October 15th, presented by Paul Mercs Concerts.
Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear
Where: The Cultch – Historic Theatre (1895 Venables St, Vancouver) When: Thursday, October 15, 2015 @ 7:30pm Tickets: Available online or at The Cultch box office
At home, Madisen and Ruth Ward are family members. Onstage, they’re the leading members of Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear, a soulful folk band whose sound is anchored by twin guitars and two big, booming voices.
The two began playing entire shows together, ditching cover songs in favor of Madisen’s original material. Both sang, both played guitar, and both watched as their band’s audience slowly grew. For years, though, they kept a low profile. This was honest music, performed by a band of blood relatives with no record label, no manager, no budget. Still, it was hard not to notice Madisen Ward & the Mama Bear. Onstage, they were solemn one minute and electrifying the next, able to command an audience’s attention with little more than two acoustic guitars and Madisen’s super-sized baritone vocals.
Their debut album, Skeleton Crew, was released in May of this year. Produced by Jim Abbiss, known for his award-winning work with Arctic Monkeys and Adele, Skeleton Crew captures Madisen Ward and the Mama Bear in their most natural setting. The two tracked most of the tracks live, sitting across from one another in the recording studio.
Win Tickets
If you would like to see this group perform a “mix of folk, rock and driving roots music that nods to the past while still pushing forward”, I have two tickets to give away to their show in Vancouver PLUS a vinyl record. Here’s how you can enter to win:
Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
RT to enter to win tix to @madisenwardMB at @TheCultch from @PMConcerts + @Miss604 http://ow.ly/SLNc4
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, October 6, 2015. Follow Paul Mercs Concerts on Facebook and Twitter to learn more about upcoming shows and artist events in your area.
The “Pick of the Fringe” at this year’s Vancouver Fringe Festival is coming to Surrey after an encore performance on Granville Island. Mrs Singh & Me will run for five shows at the Newton Cultural Centre from October 2nd to October 4th.
Mrs Singh & Me
A playwright debut for Munish Sharma and a premiere presentation for the South Asian Arts Society, Mrs Singh & Me will be at the Newton Cultural Centre (13530 72 Avenue) with the following performance times:
Friday, October 2, 2015: 7:00pm-8:00pm & 9:00pm-10:00pm Saturday, October 3, 2015: 7:00pm-8:00pm & 9:00pm-10:00pm Sunday, October 4, 2015: 6:00pm-7:00pm
“Munish Sharma and South Asian Arts Society have put together a show that’s both audience-pleasing funny and a serious account of intra-cultural, intergenerational tensions.” – VancouverPlays.com
Munish Sharma (Iceland, This is War, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter Chicken) debuts his skills as a playwright in this dark comedy. Love is in the air, but Mrs Kuldeep Singh (Nimet Kanji) is having none of it. Her instincts could be right or she could be missing out on the best son-in-law she could ever ask for – Raj, whose methods are as extreme as his heart is sure.
Directed by Jessie Award-nominee Kathleen Duborg, produced by Gurpreet Sian and award-winning producer Rohit Chokhani, and starring Munish Sharma and award-winning actress Nimet Kanji (Bollywood Wedding, The Violet Hour, Continuum), Mrs Singh & Me confronts cultural traditions and tackles generational differences, along with a generous helping of chai and cookies.
Tickets for the Surrey performance run are available online or in person at Kamal’s Video Palace, located at 8268 120 Street in Surrey. Ticket prices are $20 (plus applicable fees and service charges). Follow South Asian Arts for more information.
The greatest music historian in the country is inviting us all into his world this week as CiTR hosts Nardwuar’s Video Vault, a free drop-in event, on October 2nd.
Visit Nardwuar’s Video Vault
When: Friday, October 2, 2015 @ 12:00pm Where: CiTR Studios are located the bottom South West Corner of the new AMS Nest at UBC (Lower Level 500) 6133 University Blvd.
30 years ago, Nardwuar did his first interview at his High School with Art Bergmann (one of the key figures in Canadian punk rock in the late 1970s) and his band Poisoned. In honour of this anniversary, Nardwuar posted about the experience on his Instagram:
“On their 2nd EP “This is your Life” they thanked my High School in their liner notes! I was shocked! Being the president of the student council I decided they would be a great band for the first dance of the school year. The Young Canadians had broken up but Art was rockin’ with his new band Poisoned. They wanted $1400 bucks and i talked them down to, um, $1398 because in my mind that number would look cheaper to the teachers! Now that the band was secured, when the night arrived I got my buddy Glen Winter to get a video camera for an interview with Art, because I just had to find out why he thanked our High School! So on Sept 26 1985 I did my first interview! Watch THE INTERVIEW on @youtube https://youtu.be/002S7Bho3jE or at Nardwuar.com Doot doo!”
Decades later, after speaking with Nirvana, Courtney Love, Tom Morello, Jack White, Katy Perry, Ed Sheeran, and dozens of other artists, he’s not afraid to ask anyone, anything really. Just ask Mikhail Gorbachev.
When the New York Times published an article in early 2015 singing the praises of Nardwuar, Shawn Conner wrote on the Tourism Vancouver blog: “Vancouverites, and Canadian music fans, have long acknowledged Nardwuar – known as John Ruskin to family and friends – as a national treasure whose fearless interviewing style has endeared him to thousands of music fans. Now, millions of Americans are waking up with their morning coffee and newspaper to an appreciation of the beloved VJ/DJ/music journalist/musician.”
I first met Nardwuar during the Vancouver 2010 Olympics
Still going strong since that first interview in 1985, Nardwuar has over 300,000+ subscribers on YouTube, over 49,000 followers on Instagram, 124,000 Twitter followers, and his most-viewed video on YouTube is Nardwuar vs. Odd Future, which has over 4.5 million views. He’s got a world-wide reputation for his unbelievably well-researched interviews and friendly, quirky, lovable style.
Since October 1987, you’ve been able to hear Nardwuar on CiTR radio and now this Friday you can drop-in and visit with him as he talks and plays clips from his audio and video vault of interviews. Follow the event on Facebook for more information. Doot Doola Doot Doo…
Each year, the Stanley Park Halloween Ghost Train takes riders on a journey through a mystical and magical world. The classic night train ride includes a 14-minute experience with lights, sounds, and live performers. 
