For Father’s Day in Vancouver there are fewer brunches and teas like Mother’s Day, but there are still of activities and events around the city that the whole family can enjoy.
10 Father’s Day Events in Vancouver
10. No Driving at Car Free Day on Commercial Drive, around Kitsilano, and on Main Street.
9. Playing Catch at Nat Bailey Stadium as the Vancouver Canadians host their annual Father’s Day Catch.
8. Breathe and Relax at International Day of Yoga events in Surrey, Vancouver, Burnaby, and Squamish.
7. Celebrate National Aboriginal Day Vancouver at Trout Lake as a family. Start off with a pancake breakfast at 9:00am then enjoy canoe demos, arts and crafts, and live entertainment.
6. Catch some Superheroes in Action at Marvel Universe Live at the Pacific Coliseum.
5. Cheer on teams at the annual Rio Tinto Alcan Dragon Boat Festival in False Creek.
4. Shop for Ingredients for dinner, prepared lovingly by Dad or for dad, at the Ambleside Artisan Farmers Market, Kitsilano Farmers Market, or Mount Pleasant Farmers Market.
3. Fun for Everyone at the Vancouver Art Gallery’s Family FUSE Weekend. Meet artists, musicians, dancers, performers, and educators. Participate in a range of fun activities, performances, and hands-on sessions throughout the Gallery.
2. Showtime! Watch 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea on the big screen at The Cinematheque, check out Disney’s The Lion King at the QE Theatre, or solve a mystery with Holmes and Watson Save the Empire at the Metro Theatre.
1. Free World Cup Fun at the Fan Zone Downtown. Team Canada plays at BC Place on Sunday and if you don’t have tickets, you can watch on the big screen with thousands of others at the Fan Zone at Georgia and Cambie.
Every day that the City of Vancouver’s Fan Zone is open (with food trucks and lots of family activities) I’m giving away tickets to a World Cup match at BC Place. I even have tickets for the sold out final on July 5th! Visit the Fan Zone, snap a selfie, tag it #VanFanZone on Twitter and @Miss604, and you’ll be entered to win.
Reference my full event list for June anytime and follow me on Twitter @Miss604 for more event info and activity ideas. You can also still enter to win a Harrison Hot Springs Family Kayak Package until Friday, June 19th. See the blog post for details »
NEW: Subscribe to the Weekly Events Newsletter
If you wish to receive this weekly/weekend event list right to your email inbox, please sign up for the new Miss604 Weekly Events Newsletter below. It will be sent once a week, only to those who opt-in.
English Bay beach, popular with locals and tourists, has been a favourite summertime recreation destination for the last century and a half. I had some fun looking around the City of Vancouver Archives to match up some vintage photos with modern day images to show how the area has changed:
Then and Now English Bay
1890s. Archives# Be P151.
1965. Archives# CVA 392-143.
2013. Photo credit: Giacomo Frega on Flickr
1898. Archives# Be P107.2.
2011. Photo credit: Kenny Louie on Flickr
1913. Photographer: WJ Moore. Archives# LGN 1030.
2010. Photo credit: Daniel Peckham on Flickr
Related: English Bay Pier, English Bay Slide, English Bay Bathhouse.
The Vancouver Canadians have invited local media personalities (myself included) to step up to the plate at Nat Bailey Stadium on June 24th for the annual Strike Out Heart Disease Celebrity Softball Game. We’ll play in a six-inning ball game at this historic stadium in support of the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation.
I’d like to invite everyone to this game, where admission is by donation ($2.00 suggested) and 100% of proceeds go to the St. Paul’s Hospital Foundation and its efforts to raise funds and awareness of the risks of heart disease. Cash donations can also be made per strikeout throughout the season.
Strike Out Heart Disease is a campaign to support world-leading cardiac research and patient care at the provincial Heart Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital, which helps patients throughout the province and around the world. All summer long, Strike Out Heart Disease encourages the public to show their support for St. Paul’s at Vancouver Canadians games and at the hospital.
The Vancouver Canadians Strike Out Heart Disease Celebrity Softball Game takes place Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at 6:00pm. Game-goers can expect an action-packed night filled with fan favourites. Dancing groundskeepers, sushi races and concession stand refreshments are quintessential to the experience. Gearing up for the season ahead, fans will enjoy a very special game and get a sneak peek into what’s new at the Nat.
Join two teams of local media (TV, radio, print, and digital) personalities, local celebrities and dignitaries, Jake Kerr, Co-Owner of the Vancouver Canadians, and Andy Dunn, President of the Vancouver Canadians for this very special game.
If you only had one day, three days, or a week to spend in Vancouver what would you see and do? On the back of an American tourist map from 1925, one of those ephemeral artifacts I have handy in my family’s personal local archives, I found a suggested itinerary for a time when our city was barely 40 years old.
90 years after this map’s publication, I’d say most of these suggestions are still spot on. Beaches, Stanley Park, scenic viewpoints, cultural hubs, Squamish, Capilano, Kitsilano, and more. It even suggests taking transit.
Prepared by the Vancouver Publicity Bureau, here is what the suggested itinerary includes:
Vancouver Tourist Tips from 1925
One Day in Vancouver
MORNING– STANLEY PARK, a natural park of 1,000 acres–primitive beauty, wealth of foliage, and giant trees. ZOOLOGICAL GARDENS, BROCKTON POINT, FIRST NARROWS, SIWASH ROCK, SECOND BEACH, BOWLING GREEN, and delightful ENGLISH BAY. Tour the West End residential district–magnificent views of forest, city, ocean, valleys and snow-capped peaks. ENGLISH BAY–Well equipped bath-houses, boats, and canoes. Civic tennis courts.
AFTERNOON– CAPILANO CANYON, on the Inlet at NORTH VANCOUVER, SUSPENSION BRIDGE 450 feet long, 200 feet high above the roaring waters. SECOND CANYON, excellent views of BURRARD INLET and of VANCOUVER.
WAR MEMORIALS– Corner Granville and Cordova Streets (seen on the way to the CPR pier) erected by the CPR in memory of their fallen heroes. Hastings and Cambie Streets, erected by the city in honour of the VANCOUVER MEN who fell in the GREAT WAR.
LEFT: Second Canyon Bridge, 1912. Archives# GN 994.
RIGHT: Capilano Suspension Bridge, 1930. Archives# CVA 1477-806.
A Sojourn of Three Days
FIRST DAY. See guide for One Day.
SECOND DAY– MARINE DRIVE, 25 miles along the sea-front, viewing KITSILANO, JERICHO CLUB GOLF LINKS, GOVERNMENT AERODROME, GOVERNMENT WIRELESS STATION, UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA grounds, completely circle POINT GREY, overlooking Georgia Strait–shore-line of VANCOUVER ISLAND in the distance. Stop at the LOOKOUT POINT–fine view of the islands and mouth of the FRASER RIVER. If air is clear, MOUNT BAKER can be see (80 miles away).
BC ELECTRIC OBSERVATION CAR– A two-hour, 25-mile scenic trip through industrial sections, residential suburbs, and to POINT GREY, KERRISDALE, and SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS. From the Heights you obtain an unobstructed panorama of VANCOUVER, GEORGIA STRAIT, and the DELTA OF THE FRASER.
KITSILANO BEACH– Take Kitsilano car (No. 12) going south on Granville Street, over the Kitsilano Bridge to Kitsilano Bathing Beach and Park. Boating, fishing, and bathing. Civic tennis courts.
SIKH TEMPLE– Take Fourth Avenue car (No. 4) going west or south.
THIRD DAY– INDIAN RIVER PARK, a 20-mile boat trip up the NORTH ARM OF BURRARD INLET through scenery equalling a Norwegian fiord. CATHEDRAL CANYON and SPRAY OF PEARL FALLS. A call is made at BUNTZEN–electric power developing plant and the site of a nitrogen fixation plant.
A Sojourn of One Week
See guide for Three Days.
FOURTH DAY– SQUAMISH, at the head of HOWE SOUND. A one-day trip viewing en route a panorama of islands and majestic fiords, calling at BOWEN ISLAND, a delightful summer resort, and at Britannia Mines, one of the largest copper mines.
1930, English Bay beach & bathhouses. Photographer Stuart Thomson, Archives Item# CVA 99-2118
Related Posts: English Bay Pier, Brockton History, Siwash Rock, Kitsilano Pool.
Free outdoor movies return to Ceperley Meadow at Second Beach in Stanley Park with the EVO Summer Cinema running every Tuesday night in July and August.
Free Outdoor Movies in Stanley Park
Make your way to Second Beach in Stanley Park every Tuesday night in July and August for free movies with 5,000 other locals and visitors. Arrive early for the best lawn seating and to enjoy the following films:
Pitch Perfect: Sing-A-Long Version
Tuesday, July 7, 2015
The Breakfast Club: 30th Anniversary
Tuesday, July 14, 2015
Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade
Tuesday, July 21, 2015 Note: Start time is 9:35pm
Grease: Sing-A-Long Version
Tuesday, July 28, 2015 Note: Start time is 9:26pm
Top Gun
Tuesday, August 4, 2015 Note: Start time is 9:15pm
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
Tuesday, August 11, 2015 Note: Start time is 9:03pm
Jurassic Park (Original)
Tuesday, August 18, 2015 Note: Start time is 8:50pm
Tomorrowland
Tuesday, August 25, 2015 Note: Start time is 8:36pm
Movie start times are approximate and scheduled films subject to change without notice. No reservations are required for the free seating, simply bring your friends and your picnic blanket or lawn chair to the show to enjoy this summer evening tradition. If you forget your blanket there will be some for sale at the Fresh Air Cinema Snack Bar.
Yellow Pages Reserved VIP Seating
Fresh Air Cinema and Yellow Pages are also offering guests the ultimate summer date-night package with a VIP twist. Upgrade your experience at the park and reserve a guaranteed seat in the new Yellow Pages VIP Seating Zone. This is a front-row, reserved General Admission VIP ticketed seat on one of the 100 reserved Adirondack cottage-style chairs.
Rush Seat VIP tickets may be also released on the Monday prior to the show, and available for purchase online and/or in person at the park on night-of-show.
Dinner & A Movie Seating
Browse and select West End dinner/restaurant reservations with the new Dinner & A Movie package, available through the online ticketing system. You will receive one restaurant reservation and set meal or dining credit (beverage, taxes & gratuity excluded) and one VIP reserved general admission seat (weather permitting) in the Yellow Pages VIP Seating Zone at Stanley Park per person, per film.
Enjoy the West End neighbourhood and take transit to and from this event. The #5 Robson or the #6 Davie will get you onto Denman where you can walk into Stanley Park, or you can walk along the sea wall from English Bay to Second Beach.
