This summer a section of Stanley Park has once again been transformed into Klahowya Village featuring the Spirit Catcher Train along the miniature railway. An initiative of the Aboriginal Tourism Association of BC, Klahowya Village is open to visitors to share authentic aboriginal experiences, traditions, and culture.
Klahowya Village opened on National Aboriginal Day in June and will be open every day until September 2, 2013 from 11:00am to 4:00pm (Monday to Thursday) and 11:00am to 5:00pm (Friday to Sunday, and holiday Mondays).
The theme this year is the Legend of the Spirit Bear which you can hear daily at the Story Telling Circle. There are also artisans on site, craft workshops, walking tours, live performances, and information about Musqueam, Squamish, Tsleil-Waututh, and Métis First Nations. Enjoy regional days at Klahowya this year with performances representing cultures from Vancouver Coast & Mountains, Vancouver Island, Thompson Okanagan, Northern BC, Kootenay Rockies and the Cariboo Chilcotin Coast.
General admission to the village is free and you can purchase tickets for the Spirit Catcher Train in person or in advance online. Train tickets are just $5 per person and children under 2 are free. Craft workshops are $7 and a season bundle is available for $20 (including workshops, walking tours, unlimited summer train rides, and more).
Follow Klahowya Village on Twitter and Facebook for daily updates and information about activities, stories, demos, and performances.
On this day in 1934, Malkin Bowl hosted its first performance of the Vancouver Symphony Orchestra making it my choice for today’s Vancouver Icons photo feature:
1940s – Photographer: Jack Lindsay, Item #: CVA 1184-1963.
The Marion Malkin Memorial Bowl was a named in honor of Mayor W.H. Malkin‘s wife (who passed away in 1933), and was a gift to the city replacing a circular bandstand with a Hollywood Bowl style structure. [VancouverHistory]
1942: TUTS performers behind Malkin Bowl. Archives# CVA 1184-410.
1942: Crowd watching Theatre Under the Stars. Archives #CVA 1184-409 & 1944: Theatre Under the Stars Rehearsal. Archives #CVA 586-2927.
1936: Memorial service for King George V at Malkin Bowl. Archives #CVA 371-45. Leicaphoto by W.B. Shelly.
1942: Crowd gathered at a military service at Malkin Bowl. Archives #CVA 1184-1044 & 1951: Dal Richards conducting Sunday concert at Malkin Bowl. VPL# 81632. Photographer: Art Jones.
The venue has been home to Theatre Under the Stars (“TUTS”) since 1940 (although there was a brief hiatus in the 1960’s) and it burnt down in 1982 but was quickly rebuilt. “The fire destroyed, among other things, the signatures of hundreds of performers and the names and dates of shows, all pencilled on the old wooden walls.” [Vancouver History]
1949: Fire at Malkin Bowl. VPL# 84886 & 84886A. Photographer: Art Jones.
According to a Vancouver Sun article, TUTS Vice President Cliff Cox said the fire was a mystery because it was in the winter, all the electrical was turned off, and the stage was damp from rain and snow seepage.
1982: Vancouver Sun
Today, Malkin Bowl is still home to TUTS and it a major venue for Live Nation’s new “Concerts in the Park” series this summer.
Previous Vancouver Icons posts: Search, Vancouver Rowing Club, Echoes, Point Atkinson Lighthouse, English Bay Inukshuk, Hollow Tree, Hotel Europe, Lions Gate Bridge Lions, LightShed, Granville Bridge, 217.5 Arc x 13′, Canoe Bridge, Vancouver Block, Bloedel Conservatory, Centennial Rocket, Canada Place, Old Courthouse/Vancouver Art Gallery, Dominion Building, Science World, Gastown Steam Clock, SFU Burnaby, Commodore Lanes, Siwash Rock, Kitsilano Pool, White Rock Pier, Main Post Office, Planetarium Building, Lord Stanley Statue, Vancouver Library Central Branch, Victory Square, Digital Orca, The Crab Sculpture, Girl in Wetsuit, The Sun Tower, The Hotel Vancouver, The Gassy Jack Statue, The Marine Building, and The Angel of Victory. Should you have a suggestion for the Vancouver Icons series please feel free to leave a note in the comments. It should be a thing, statue, or place that is very visible and recognizable to the public.
Vancouver’s annual Bard on the Beach Shakespeare Festival is on now until September 13th, 2013 with Hamlet and Twelfth Night in the 742-seat BMO Mainstage tent, and Elizabeth Rex and Measure For Measure on the studio stage at Vanier Park.
Hamlet is one of my favourite Shakespearean works so John and I made a date night out of our trip to event one sunny evening. Walking around the Seawall from the West End, we hopped a False Creek Ferry across English Bay to the Maritime Museum, passing stand-up paddle boarders, sailboats, kayakers and other traffic in this busy waterway. The sun started its descent as we walked from the ferry dock across the grass at Vanier Park and over to the main entrance of Bard on the Beach.
Bard’s version of Hamlet this year, directed by Kim Collier, is set in 2013 with everything from iPads to Bluetooth document sharing — and a good sword-fight.
Hamlet is the source of some of pop culture’s most famous Shakespeare references and phrases such as “To be, or not to be”; “This above all: to thine own self be true”; “The lady doth protest too much, methinks”; “In my mind’s eye”; “A little more than kin, and less than kind”; “Do you think I am easier to be played on than a pipe?”; and many more.
Despite some ambient noise from the bay, floatplanes overhead reminding you that you were indeed still outdoors, I was sucked into the story thanks to the convincing portrayal of Jonathon Young as Hamlet. The character is tough to master and one must avoid going too over-the-top crazy, which I think Young pulled off splendidly and catapulted him to the top of my list of favourite Hamlets.
Jonathon Young as Hamlet. Photo: Davie Blue.
The rest of the cast was tight, with Barbara Pollard as Hamlet’s mother Gertrude, Bill Dow as his murdering uncle Claudius, and Jennifer Lines as his old friend Horatio (I like that Horatio was played by a woman).
Rachel Cairns plays Hamlet’s sweetheart Ophelia with Richard Newman as her interfering old father Polonius, and Todd Thomson as her brother Laertes.
Duncan Fraser is Hamlet’s father’s Ghost, The Player and the First Gravedigger, while Daniel Doheny, Andrew McNee, Robert Olguin and Allan Zinyk play numerous characters including other Players of the court. Naomi Wright (another role traditionally played by a man) and Craig Erickson are Rosencrantz and Guildenstern.
The set is posh and sleek, and the technical timing is spot on. To top it off, the BMO Mainstage tent has comfortable seats, with cup holders, and the refreshments are reasonably priced (compared to sporting events in town).
Bard on the Beach is Western Canada’s largest professional Shakespeare company. Performances run Tuesdays through Sundays with evening curtain at 8:00pm, except Sunday evenings and from September 4th onward, when curtain time is an hour earlier at 7pm. Matinees are presented on selected weekends and weekdays.
Ticket prices include all fees & taxes and are $43 (evenings) and $25 to $30 (previews, matinees and long weekend evenings) with a $25 Youth Rate (6-25 years, all performances). Prices for special events, groups and multi-play ticket package discounts can be found on the Bard website. Early booking is recommended for best seat selection (all seats are reserved) and because many performances sell out in advance.
Contest
Catching a show at award-winning Bard on the Beach is a truly Vancouver experience and I’d love to share it so we’re giving away a pair of tickets this summer. Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post with a Shakespearean quote (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Thursday, July 11, 2013. The winner will be able to select the Hamlet performance date of their choice until September 12th (based on availability, excludes Bard-B-Q fireworks nights).
Follow Bard on the Beach Facebook and Twitter for season updates and to learn about their special events.
Update The winner is @QuipsAndTips!
John and I enjoyed a few days exploring “The Other Vancouver”, which is Vancouver, Washington. Located about two hours south of Seattle along the I-5, this Vancouver sits along the Columbia River and was incorporated in 1857, 29 years before Vancouver, BC.
When considering what might be the oldest public park in the Pacific Northwest I immediately think of Beacon Hill Park in Victoria, established in 1882. However on our recent trip to Vancouver, Washington, John and I strolled through Esther Short Park which is in fact the oldest (at least the very first) established in 1853.
Esther Short Park is small public square, sitting at only 5 acres compared to Beacon Hill’s 200 or Stanley Park’s 1,001. In 1853, Esther Short, a pioneer wife and mother, donated the land to the City of Vancouver along with some other property which is now part of the Port of Vancouver.
The park had fallen on hard times by the 1980s, and was better known as an unkempt haven for drug dealers and street kids. The City boldly pushed a plan for mixed-use housing on the blocks surrounding the park, while redeveloping the park, itself, as an urban plaza. The project envisioned open space with a town square combined, drawing the larger community to the City’s center year-round.
The success of the park, and the ability of the investment in the area to spur larger downtown renewal, would hinge on the acceptance of new housing in the City’s core. So far, the results are promising, with the first phase of housing occupied, and new housing and hotel developments underway on adjacent blocks. [Source: Main Street Vancouver]
Private donations of $3.6 million and city investment of $2 million were used in 1998 to redevelop the park. The playground equipment was donated by the Angelo family and on the southeast corner is a 69-foot Salmon Run Bell Tower, which was made possible by generous donations from Burgerville founder and philanthropist, the late George Propstra and his wife Carolyn. A Glockenspiel diorama emerges from the tower on a regular schedule to depict a story of local Chinook First Nations.
We enjoyed the nice wide sidewalks and open grass-covered areas spotted with old redwoods, and water features (like at the clock tower and along the eastern perimeter) add movement — and a bit of misty refreshment on hot summer days.
With a revitalized town square, new condo developments, and the Vancouver Convention Centre (with a Hilton) surrounding the park, Esther Short Park is teeming with activity. It’s the home of the Vancouver farmer’s market and the bandstand hosts summer concerts and a community theatre as well.
I’ve now been to the oldest park in America (Boston Common, when I lived there 10 years ago), the oldest in the Pacific Northwest (Esther Short), and I’m lucky enough to call the world’s best (Stanley Park) my own backyard playground.
Related Post from Vancouver, USA: Fort Vancouver, Land Bridge, William Robert Broughton, Grant House.
7-Eleven stores in Canada are celebrating the company’s 44th birthday on July 11th (7/11) by offering free Slurpees that will be larger than previous years.
Traditionally, July 11th has been known as “Slurpee Day” with a limited number of complimentary sample-sized cups (7.11 ounces) for their frozen treats.
This time around, they will have even more cups available — 250,000 across Canada — and they’ll be a full 12 ounces. Vancouver’s share is 42,000 free Slurpee drinks.
You can get your fill of this cool, sweet, summer refreshment on Thursday, July 11, 2013 while supplies last at all 13 downtown Vancouver locations and every other 7-Eleven store in Canada.
Even if Slurpees aren’t your thing, you can still fill up a cup for a someone else, perhaps a random act of kindness if you will.
Follow 7-Eleven Canada on Facebook and Twitter for more information about Free Slurpee Day this year along with the tag #711Awesummer.
