The very popular Circle Craft Christmas Market returns this month to kick off the holiday season in style with hundreds of gifts, decorations, snacks, and seasonal inspirations.
What: Circle Craft Christmas Market
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre West
When: November 11th until November 16th, 2014
Tickets: Available online for a $2 discount if purchased before November 11th. Also available for pick-up at The Circle Craft store on Granville Island.
Over 310 artisans from coast to coast will come together for the 41st Annual Circle Craft Christmas Market. With artisans, artists, and crafters from all disciplines, including pottery, wood, glass, metal, fibre, fashion, jewellery, and more, there will be much to explore. The market will be open from 10:00am to 9:00pm Tuesday, November 11th to Friday, November 14th; 10:00am to 7:00pm on Saturday, November 15th; and 10:00am to 5:00pm on Sunday, November 16th.
Since 1973, Circle Craft Co-operative has presented a Christmas Market, Originally in the Vancouver East Cultural Centre, “The Cultch”, then moved under the sails at Canada Place, and currently in the Vancouver Convention Centre West location. The success of this inaugural event has resulted in 41 Markets to date, Generations of Vancouverites and visitors have attended, enjoying a Market where they come face to face with fine BC and Canadian artisans and their work: wood-turners, glassblowers, sculptors and potters, clothing and jewellery designers, toy-makers, and many more.
Circle Craft Christmas Market Contest
I have a pair of tickets to give away to the Circle Craft Christmas 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 Thursday, November 6, 2014. Follow Circle Craft on Twitter and Facebook to learn more about the co-op, their space on Granville Island and of course the Christmas market.
Update: The winner is Joanne D!
For the last decade I have run campaigns on my blog, participated in stunts, traveled, and volunteered for local and global causes. One of the most powerful experiences I have had was during last year’s Covenant House Sleep Out, which is why I’m doing it again this year.
Photo by Covenant House
“Many of the kids have lived with violence or the threat of violence for much of their young lives. Feeling safe is a right we all have but one these kids have not enjoyed.”
The Sleep Out, hosted by Covenant House locations across North America, sees local executives and personalities sleep outside for one night to show support for the youth who have ended up at Covenant House after their own time on the streets.
This was one of the coldest nights I have ever endured, as the group of 29 participants and I laid on scraps of cardboard in a back alley off West Pender in downtown Vancouver until the sun came up.
As I looked up at the clear late November sky, with only my face peeking out from behind the scarf I wrapped around my toque, I thought about how street youth in our city would be walking up from the frigid asphalt like I was, except they would not be grabbing a coffee and heading home to a warm bed for the rest of the day as I was going to do.
Every single night the cold that pierced through my sleeping bag pokes through whatever covers they might find. And that’s just the cold, on top of every other element and obstacle they face. This is where Covenant House’s crisis shelter and their other programs come in.
Photo by Covenant House
Before heading out that night last November, Marty Staniforth, Senior Development Officer at Covenant House, told us that it would be the worst event we’ve ever attended — it was meant to be uncomfortable — and he was right in that regard. However, prior to heading out, we spent some time at Covenant House speaking with some of their youth and touring their facility.
We learned about their various levels of care such as the Crisis Shelter, Drop in Centre, Street Outreach, and Rights of Passage.
It was encouraging to meet kids who went from being homeless, to the crisis shelter all the way through to Rights of Passage, Covenant House’s program that prepares them for the bigger world. Those in Rights of Passage actually pay (an affordable) rent and get full access to programs provided that they have a job or they are in school. They end up learning basics like grocery shopping and budgeting, and once they are through the program (6 months to 2 years) they are supported when they eventually move out, even welcomed to return for the weekly communal dinners. The care just keeps going to ensure the youth become self-sufficient, gainfully employed, successful individuals.
Covenant House’s Crisis Program takes in homeless, runaway and at-risk youth between the ages of 16 and 24.
39% of Covenant House’s youth present with a mental health diagnosis
70% have witnessed family violence
50% of Covenant House’s youth present with an addiction problem
Covenant House Vancouver provides food, shelter, clothing and counselling to the estimated 700 street youth living in Vancouver at any given time. Most of the young people they help have fled abuse at home or have aged out of the foster care system. Last year, over 1,375 young people accessed Covenant House’s services.
Drop-In/Outreach:
1,035 youth came to the Drop-In
1,457 housing worker appointments were held; 44 youth secured accommodation and 197 maintained their existing home
2,821 contacts were made on the street (with 552 individual youth)
To support Covenant House this year, you can donate directly to my Covenant House Vancouver Sleep Out campaign or get your ticket to the Miss604 anniversary party on November 13th. I’ll have some awesome raffle prizes up for grabs, with proceeds going to the cause, along with food, drinks, and good times. Please join me in celebrating 10 years of Miss604 by supporting Covenant House Vancouver.
Follow Covenant House Vancouver on Facebook and Twitter to learn more about the organization.
Canadians might hold the ceremony and peaceful reflection of Remembrance Day even closer to their hearts this year given the recent tragedies suffered back east. Here in Metro Vancouver, Remembrance Day ceremonies and services at local cenotaphs will be complimented with special events throughout the coming days:
Remembrance Day Around Metro Vancouver
Saturday, November 8th
A Great Service: 23rd Annual Remembrance Day Concerts
New Westminster
7:00pm to 9:30pm at Queens Avenue United Church (529 Queens at 6th)
The 23rd annual Remembrance Day concerts. With special guest reader Christopher Gaze, O.B.C. Amidst the chaos and brutality of war, soldiers also consoled and cared for each other. Robert Service witnessed these unsung acts of compassion as a WWI volunteer ambulance driver. A Great Service places his harrowing stories alongside musical selections by Gustav Holst, Vaughan Williams, Paul Mealor, and Rupert Lang in this beloved Chor Leoni Remembrance Day tradition. This concert is supported by a major gift from Rob McAllister and James Emery, in loving memory of Shirley McAllister.
National Aboriginal Veterans Day
Vancouver
10:15am at Victory Square, West Hastings at Cambie
Aboriginal Veterans will hold a ceremony at the Victory Square Cenotaph on November 8th, National Aboriginal Veterans Day. A march will start at Carnegie Centre at 10:15am and proceed to Victory Square. The official ceremony begins at 10:45am.
Sunday, November 9th
Remembering Day Service, Remembering Peace
Vancouver
10:30am to 12:00pm at Canadian Memorial United Church (1806 West 15th)
Honouring Remembrance Day and this church’s legacy as a memorial to peace. Rev Beth Hayward reflects on how we come together in communities of hope and collaboration to communicate and bring alive peace in this time. Further than just an absence of war, peace is an active and deliberate call to bring about change within our relationships, within ourselves, and within all creation. In this complex world today, with fear and factions growing, more than ever we are called to bring peace into all our dealings in ways that contribute to bringing about equality and justice for peace on earth. Featuring music from Vancouver’s celebrated Universal Gospel Choir. Free and open to all.
Books of Remembrance – Open House
Vancouver
1:00pm to 3:30pm at Canadian Memorial United Church (1806 West 15th)
A Reflection on War and Peace Join us for music, memories, and reflection in our unique chapel built for peace in honour of those who gave their lives in war. View the only copies of the Books of Remembrance outside of Ottawa and perhaps find family members who gave their lives in hope of peace. Reflect with wonderful instrumentalists as musical accompaniment in this sanctuary for peace. All welcome, all free, refreshments served.
Remembering with Gratitude
Vancouver
10:30am to 12:00pm at Rosedale on Robson Suite Hotel (838 Hamilton St)
Urban Community Baptist Church would like to extend an invitation to all who have served or are currently serving in the Canadian Forces with their family and friends to join us for a special service being held in their honour on Sunday November 9, 2014 at 11:00 am. A free continental breakfast will be served at 10:30am and all veterans and military personnel will be given a gift.
Tuesday, November 11th
North Delta Social Heart Plaza Remembrance Day Ceremony
Delta
10:30am to 11:30am at North Delta Social Heart Plaza (11415 84 Ave)
Mission Remembrance Day Service
Mission
10:30am to 11:30am at Clarke Theatre(32627 Prentis Ave)
Remembrance Day
Pitt Meadows
10:30am to 11:45am at City Square (Harris Rd)
Generation to Generation Ceremony and Lighting of the Cauldron
Vancouver
8:30am at Jack Poole Plaza, Vancouver Convention Centre
As the cauldron lights, a senior veteran will hand over Canada’s flag to a member of the next generation of veterans, acknowledging the continuing service and loyalty of Canadians from generation to generation. Regimental units taking part in this year’s ceremony include serving members of the 39 Canadian Brigade and HMCS Discovery. RCMP officers will stand as sentries while the all-Cadet Vancouver Flag Party marches in. The Last Post will sound followed by Rouse and the Lament. The cauldron will be extinguished at 11:00am, coinciding with Two Minutes of Silence at Victory Square.
Ceremony and parade at Victory Square
Vancouver
10:00am at Victory Square, West Hastings St at Cambie
The program begins with a performance by the Vancouver Bach Youth Choir and Sarabande starting at 9:45am. Led by the Vancouver Flag Party, the parade of veterans, military marching units, and bands will arrive at Victory Square before the ceremony begins at 10:30am. At 11:00am the Last Post will be sounded. There will be Two Minutes of Silence, during which a 21-gun salute by the 15th Field Artillery Regiment will be heard from Portside Park. Rouse and Lament will follow. The RCAF will conduct a fly-past moments later, weather permitting. The enduring In Flanders Fields will then be sung by the Bach Youth Choir and Sarabande and wreaths will be placed at the Cenotaph. A feature will be a combined performance by the Vancouver Fire and Rescue Service and the Regimental Pipes and Drums of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada. The main parade will march west along Hastings past the reviewing stand between Homer and Richards, turning right at Richards, east on Cordova, then south on Cambie. The veterans section of the parade will march west along Hastings Street past the reviewing stand and disperse.
Memorial South Park Cenotaph
Vancouver
10:30am at 41st Avenue and Windsor St
CRAB Park at Portside
Vancouver
10:30am at CRAB Park
Stanley Park
Vancouver
10:40am at the Japanese Canadian War Memorial |
Grandview Park
Vancouver
10:45am at 1657 Charles Street at Commercial Drive
Royal Vancouver Yacht Club
Vancouver
11:00am at 3811 Point Grey Road
Chinatown Memorial
Vancouver
12:30pm at Keefer at Columbia |
Remembrance Day XC Race 2014
Vancouver
Remembrance Day Parade and Service
North Vancouver
10:30am to 12:00pm at Victoria Park Cenotaph
Remembrance Day Parade and Service
North Vancouver
11:00am at Cates Park
Cates Park Service 11am
Remembrance Day Parade and Service
West Vancouver
10:30am on Marine Drive at 20th
UBC Remembers
10:45am at the War Memorial Gym
A Great Service – Chor Leoni’s 22nd Annual Remembrance Day Concerts
West Vancouver
1:00pm to 3:00pm at West Vancouver United Church (2062 Esquimalt Ave)
A Musical Revue – Songs of WWI & WWII
Mission
2:00pm to 4:00pm at All Saints Anglican Church Hall (33077 2nd Ave)
A Great Service – Chor Leoni’s 22nd Annual Remembrance Day Concerts
Vancouver
7:30pm to 9:30pm at St. Andrew’s-Wesley United Church (1022 Nelson St at Burrard)
Additional ceremonies and services can be found on your city’s website in the next few days and I will update this list as they are posted.
If you’re out celebrating tonight the wise choice for getting around would be public transit and if you’re up for a party anyway, why not have it right on the SkyTrain? The Vancouver Public Spaces Network (“VPSN”) hosts the Halloween SkyTrain Party for all ghosts and ghouls tonight.
Photo credit:
VPSN on Flickr
What: 9th Annual Halloween SkyTrain Party
Where/When: Meet on the Canada Line platform at Waterfront Station. The party will be leaving shortly after 8:00pm, so don’t be late.
Admission: Your price of admission is a $2.75 transit ticket, or your U-pass (kids, high school students and 65+ = $1.75). This event is all about celebrating transit, so please remember to buy a transit ticket.
TransLink passed on info to VPSN about safety at the event: Racing between trains at stops can be a real safety issue, so please try to respect that. The party will be making stops at every station between Waterfront and Richmond Brighouse and picking people up along the way who will probably have no idea what’s going on. They are all welcome to join in the fun so be courteous and pass along a fun attitude.
Once the party train returns to Waterfront Station, participants are invited to a covered public space one block south to continue the festivities. DJ Rocky Fi$her will provide your soundtrack and treats will be served. If you need any more information follow VPSN on Twitter and Facebook.
