The 102nd Grey Cup will play out at BC Place in Vancouver this November, and with the championship football game comes a world class city-wide festival where fans from across the country can meet to celebrate. Hosted by our very own BC Lions, the Grey Cup Festival announced its plans for entertainment and activities this fall.

Grey Cup Festival in Vancouver

The 102nd Grey Cup Festival will feature a 3-day nightly concert series presented by Global BC and The Province and headlined each night by some of Canada’s brightest stars, including Canadian country talent Tim Hicks, popular Vancouver-based folk band Hey Ocean! and ‘Canada’s greatest party band’ Trooper. In addition to the Concert Series, the 3-day TELUS Street Festival will include FREE live music daily on the PlayNow.com stage, featuring a rotation of talented local artists, including Delhi 2 Dublin, The Matinee, and The Boom Booms.

Canada’s largest sports festival will run from November 26th until November 30th at the Vancouver Convention Centre, in conjunction with the 102nd Grey Cup championship. Tickets for the festival will range from $20 to $350 with many free events and activities indoors and outside at Jack Poole Plaza.

Remember how it felt around the city when the Olympics were here? Fans from other cities sporting their team colours, family activities and concerts, supporter beer gardens, and that electric feeling in the air knowing that a big sporting event is taking place and there’s a shiny prize on the line? That’s how John and I felt about the Grey Cup Festival in Vancouver when it was here in 2011. It was like a taste of that Olympic feeling all over again and I just know we’re going to have even more fun this November. Just look at the music lineup alone!

2011 Grey Cup Festival in Vancouver

Kudos to the CFL, BC Lions, and sponsors for stacking the stages with Canadian and homegrown talent that can get crowds pumped up and dancing in the streets.

Grey Cup Festival Activities and Concerts

• Grey Cup Festival kickoff (Wednesday, November 26th)
• TELUS Street Festival featuring the PlayNow.com stage
  (Thursday, November 27 – Saturday, November 29th)
• Nissan Family Zone featuring the Canadian Direct Insurance Family stage
  (Thursday, November 27th – Saturday, November 29th)
• Team Parties (Thursday, November 27th – Saturday, November 29th)
• Grey Cup Festival Concert Series, presented by Global BC and The Province
• Thursday, November 27th – New Music night, presented by The Peak 102.7:
  Headliner: Hey Ocean!
  Supported by: Family of the Year, The Gay Nineties
• Friday, November 28th – Country Music night, presented by 93.7 JRfm
  Headliner: Tim Hicks
  Supported by: Tebey, One More Girl
• Saturday November 29th – Classic Rock night, presented by Rock 101
  Headliner: Trooper
  Supported by: 54.40, Sass Jordan

Other events during the festival include the Blakes CFL Alumni Legends Luncheon (Friday, November 28th); Edgewater Casino Night (Friday, November 28th); Save-on-Foods Grey Cup Festival Parade (Saturday, November 29th); Cheerleader Extravaganza (Saturday, November 29th); Rock and ROAR Gala (Saturday, November 29th); Grey Cup Fan March (Sunday, November 30th); Pre-Game Tailgate Party (Sunday, November 30th); and of course the 102nd Grey Cup Championship Game (Sunday, November 30th) at BC Place.

Grey Cup Parade

The Grey Cup Parade takes place Saturday, November 29th from 10:00am to 12:00pm and will run along Burrard to Dunsmuir.

Three-day passes for the 102nd Grey Cup Festival Concert Series go on sale Friday, September 19th for an early bird rate of $90 (going up to $102 after October 15). Tickets for the Grey Cup final game are also still available for purchase online.

This morning the Georgia Straight released the results of their 19th annual Best of Vancouver readers’ choice awards.

I am very honoured to have been voted #1 Best Local Blog this year. I am so thankful for every reader, sharer, commenter, and contest entrant that has read my blog and this is such a great way to mark the 10 year anniversary of Miss604.

The top three winners in categories like City Life, Media, Culture, Travel, Mind & Body, and Food & Drink have all been posted online and the print version will be available around Vancouver as of Thursday, September 18th. Here are just a few of results (that can also be found on this handy map):

Best of Vancouver 2014 Results

Local hero: Trevor Linden
Best neighbourhood: Kitsilano
Vancouver’s claim to fame: Natural beauty
Best local tv personality: Tamara Taggart (CTV)
Best local tv news anchor(s): Chris Gailus (Global)

Best local bike store (chain): Bicycle Sports Pacific
Best local street/community festival: Car Free Vancouver Day
Best local performing-arts festival: Vancouver Fringe Festival

Best movie theatre concession: Rio Theatre, 1660 E. Broadway
Best live music venue: Commodore Ballroom, 918 Granville
Best shopping mall: Metropolis @ Metrotown, 4700 Kingsway
Best restaurant patio: Dockside Restaurant, 1253 Johnston, Granville Island
Best new restaurant: Craft Beer Market, 85 W. 1st

Best local tourist attraction: Stanley Park
Best out-of-town spa getaway: Scandinave Spa, 8010 Mons Road, Whistler
Best hotel (Metro Vancouver): Fairmont Pacific Rim‎, Vancouver, 1038 Canada Place
Best boutique hotel (Metro Vancouver): Loden Hotel, 1177 Melville Street

Follow the Georgia Straight on Twitter for more results, news, and information. Thank you again, dear readers!

Vancouver-based singer/songwriter Nat Jay is releasing her first full-length album All I Think When I Wake Up on September 23rd, celebrating in style with a release party later that week.

Recorded in Vancouver at Fader Mountain Sound with Craig Northey, Doug Elliott, and Pat Steward of The Odds as the studio band and produced by Winston Hauschild (Hannah Georgas, Wanting, Hey Ocean), All I Think When I Wake Up has already received national and international recognition through placements on CBC TV’s “Heartland” and “Arctic Air” as well as “Continuum” on Showcase/Syfy. The album’s first single, “Can’t Getcha Out”, will be featured internationally on the popular Australian television drama series “Winners & Losers”. In addition, Nat Jay was awarded $10,000 for “Can’t Getcha Out”, which was named “Best of BC” by Shore 104.3FM.

Since the release of her debut EP Lights Across the Sky in 2008, Jay has shared the stage with Canada’s own two-time JUNO Award winner Dan Mangan, Matthew Barber, Oh Susanna, and Justin Rutledge, as well as New York City’s Jay Brannan and Australia’s folk-blues group, Angus & Julia Stone.

Nat Jay’s album release party will take place at 8:00pm at the Granville Island Revue Stage on Friday, September 26, 2014. Tickets are available for $20 in advance or $25 at the door.

Win Your Way Into the Nat Jay Album Release Party

I have a pair of tickets to the party and a signed copy of Nat Jay’s new album to give away, here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

Follow this talented local artist on Facebook and Twitter for more information. I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Monday, September 22, 2014.

Update The winner is @ClayinVan!

We Day Vancouver will take over Rogers Arena on Wednesday, October 22, 2014 as 18,000 youth from across the province enjoy a full day of inspiration and celebration as a reward for work they have done in their community over the last year.

We Day gathers thousands of motivated youth who care about, and have impacted, their school, community, and global causes all together in an arena to dance, clap, and listen to celebrity speakers. Founded by Free the Children in 2007, We Day has hosted 278,000 youth at events in cities across North America and in the UK and as a result, $37,000,000 has been fundraised for 1000 causes and 9,600,000 hours have been volunteered by participating youth.

We Day Vancouver Lineup

The We Day Vancouver speaker and entertainment lineup for October 22nd at Rogers Arena was announced this morning:

The We Day Experience

I have covered We Day Vancouver since 2009 and my most recent experience was at We Day Seattle with my niece. Every single event is powerful and moving, combined with plenty of music, entertainment, and the signature We Day Dance that is learned at the start of the day.

My first We Day, the kids at which are probably all long since graduated and doing amazing things in college, saw speakers like Dr. Jane Goodall, His Holiness the Dalai Lama, Sarah McLachlan, Mia Farrow, and Jason Mraz. My most recent We Day, this past March in Seattle, was with the Superbowl Champion Seattle Seahawks, Martin Luther King III, Joe Jonas, Cody Simpson, and actor Ed Norton who said:

“Everybody, especially young people, feels powerless sometimes… …yet every day we are reading about or hearing about people who do incredible, inspiring things in this world.”

At last year’s We Day Vancouver Craig Kielburger, one of the two founders of Free The Children and We Day, sat down with Kofi Annan, Former Secretary-General of the United Nations and Nobel Peace Laureate. Annan had these words for the audience:

“Young people have to remember that the world is going to be yours. My generation is moving on. You have to have the courage and the strength to take on the issues. Be prepared to work with your neighbours and colleagues.”

Get Involved

We Day is an invite-only event but students can get involved in their Me to We campaigns at any time. From helping to educate others, to hosting a food drive at your hockey game or donating used clothing, to taking part in campaigns like We Are Silent, We Stand Together, We Create Change coin drive, We Scare Hunger at Halloween, or We Are Love around Valentine’s Day.

There are many resources for students, families, schools, and businesses available online. You can sign up for one campaign or commit to a full year of We Acts. Pick a fundraiser, adopt-a-village, host a third-party event, and more. You can find everything you need on the Free the Children website and more information about We Day Vancouver online.

The Rifflandia Festival took over bars, clubs, public spaces, and Royal Athletic Park in Victoria last weekend as dozens of acts like Girl Talk, Serena Ryder, Dragonette, The Skatalites, Dear Rouge, Head of the Herd, Jon and Roy, The Airborne Toxic Event, We Hunt Buffalo, and Death Cab for Cutie entertained audiences of all ages.

Photo credit: John Bollwitt for Miss604.com

On Saturday, September 13th, Seattle-based Death Cab for Cutie took to the main stage at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria to play their very last show together, with all original members. Co-founder and guitarist Chris Walla announced his departure from the band earlier this summer and this was his final performance. As long time fans of the band, John and I were very excited to cover this momentous event.

Photo credit: John Bollwitt for Miss604.com

Music has always been an important part of our relationship and, way back when, Death Cab for Cutie’s Transatlanticism was the first album that John gave me when we first met. We’ve enjoyed their entire catalogue over the years and even played some of their songs at our wedding in 2006. Following their career and their music over the years, including their last album Codes and Keys which was recorded at The Warehouse Studio in Vancouver, it was important to us to make it to this show at Rifflandia — and it was even more magical than we could ever have imagined.

Death Cab for Cutie at Rifflandia

Knowing that it was Walla’s last show already made the performance in Victoria special, and I saw many on Twitter share that this was a “bucket list” concert for them. The fact that a meteor streaked across the night sky during their set was incredible to believe, making the send-off entirely unique.

Chris Walla. Photo credit: John Bollwitt for Miss604.com

The band came out playing “I Will Possess Your Heart” followed by “Crooked Teeth”. We spent the first two songs in the photo pit madly attempting to document the scene as vocalist Ben Gibbard took to the keyboard and bassist Nick Harmer bounced around in front of Jason McGerr on the drums. Walla was the focus for John, over on the right side of the stage.

Photo credit: John Bollwitt for Miss604.com

“We Laugh Indoors” and “Photobooth” followed before Ben Gibbard told to the crowd that it had been 13 years since their last show in Victoria: “We’ll be playing a lot of old tunes tonight,” he announced as the band continued with “Title and Registration”, “Doors Unlocked and Open”, and “Long Division” during which the meteor passed by overhead.

“Grapevine Fires” had the crowd swooning, holding up lighters and glowing phones, as did “I Will Follow You Into the Dark”, which was once voted as one of the most beautiful songs of all time.

“Title Track” off of the band’s We Have the Facts and We’re Voting Yes from 2000 was a nice throwback, “New Year” got the crowd jumping again, as did “Cath”, and “Soul Meets Body” before they left the stage.

Ben Gibbard. Photo credit: John Bollwitt for Miss604.com

Craving more, the audience made their request for an encore known. The group returned to the stage for “Movie Script Ending”, which was followed by the very last song with Chris Walla — an up tempo version of “Marching Bands of Manhattan”. A bittersweet ending to a bittersweet moment in time.

The end of the set was capped off with a full band group hug on stage as thousands bid farewell and best of luck to Chris Walla. Death Cab will live on however, having just recorded a new album that will be released in early 2015.

All photos (except for a few of mine) in this post are by John Bollwitt for Miss604.com. View John’s photos on Flickr. Read more festival coverage »