EAT! Vancouver will be filling BC Place Stadium with foodies, chefs, culinary experts, consumers from Friday, May 24th to Sunday, May 26th. Features of Canada’s largest consumer food, beverage and cooking festival include spotlights on local restaurants, celebrity guests, wine and beer, cooking classes, and more.

Festival Features

• Food Network Celebrity Stage: Catch Chuck Hughes (Food Network Celebrity Chef), Rob Feenie (Executive Chef, Cactus Club Restaurants), Bal Arneson (The Spice Goddess), and Anna Olson (Food Network Host).
• Bites of Vancouver: Sample bites from some of Vancouver’s top restaurants all under one roof.
• World Culinary Travel Expo: Talk, taste and learn about exciting international culinary destinations and cuisines from travel experts and representatives.
• International Culinary Stage: Showcasing talent from Canada and around the world featuring regional cuisine, hospitality and beverages.
• Culinary Classes: Get hands-on in the kitchen with Pacific Institute of Culinary Arts Chef Instructors.
• Wine, Beer & Spirits Tasting Pavilion: Sip some of the best wines, beers, and spirits from around BC.
• Grapes & Hops Stage: Two of the most popular ingredients in Vancouver! Sit in on an impressive line-up of seminars, tastings, and food pairing sessions.
• Cheese Seminars presented by The Dairy Farmers of Canada: Cheese experts from The Dairy Farmers of Canada will present a series of seminars on everything to do with cheese.

Hours

EAT! Vancouver will be open from 2:00pm to 9:00pm on Friday, May 24th; 10:00am to 9:00pm on Saturday, May 25th; 10:00am to 5:00pm on Sunday, May 26th.

Tickets

Tickets are available online and at BC Place’s Gate A box office. Online tickets are $14 ($16 at the gate) for adults and seniors, $9 for youth, and children (12 and under, accompanied by adults) are free. Prices include taxes. With your ticket you get same-day re-entry with a handstamp and tickets are valid for a full day of entertainment.

Many samples are handed out for free from vendors but if you would like to increase your sample sizes, you can purchase Bite/Taste tickets which are $10 for 20 or $5 for 10 (cash only, ATMs are on site).

Contest

EAT! Vancouver has offered up a unique prize pack for one lucky Miss604 reader so that they can enjoy the best of the festival that includes:

• Family pack of tickets (4)
• Voucher for VIP seating (for 4) to any seminar on the Grapes & Hops Stage (winner’s choice)
• A copy of Rob Feenie’s Casual Classics cookbook and a copy of Weber Canada’s Real New Grilling cookbook
• A beer t-shirt, a wine aerator courtesy of Anna Olson, and a salt & pepper grinder from Mott’s Clamato

Here’s how you can enter to win this prize pack:
Leave a comment here naming a favourite dish that you like to cook at home (1 entry)
Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw one winner at random from all entries (must be 19+ to enter) at 12:00pm on Thursday, May 16, 2013. Follow EAT! Vancouver on Facebook and Twitter for all pertinent festival info and updates.

Update The winner is Scott Podwinski!

The Surrey Arts Centre and Bear Creek Park will once again be home to the Surrey Children’s Festival this year, from May 23rd until May 25th. Rain or shine, there are indoor and outdoor stages and performances for children of all ages.

Line-Up

Festival hours are 9:00am to 2:30pm Thursday and Friday, and 10:30am to 7:30pm on Saturday. Programming at this year’s festival includes films, workshops, arts activities, roving performers, and much more. Artists and events on the schedule so far include: Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

I love seeing Vancouver and the region from the skies, and with a week of sunshine and unobstructed views it’s a great time to consider scenic tours from Saltspring Air. Flying in a floatplane — to me — is one of those truly “West Coast” experiences. You walk out onto the dock, hop into the aircraft on the water, take off over the waves, and soar just high enough to clear the tips of the tallest evergreens in Stanley Park.

Saltspring Air offers 7 different scenic tours that include: Alpine Lake and Glaciers (1 Hour flight time, optional 15 mins hold time); Princess Louisa Inlet (2 Hour flight time, 30 minutes hold time); My personal favourite Salt Spring Island (1 Hour flight time, up to 7 hours hold time); Whale Watching (1 hour air time); and Butchart Gardens (1 Hour flight time, up to 90 mins hold time).

The West Coast tour (1 Hour 30 mins flight time, up to 7 hours hold time) flies over to Tofino and Ucluelet with stop-overs in Tofino where you can explore the village, browse galleries, and stroll through the forest at Hotsprings Cove. Spot Pacific Rim National Park, the Clayoquot Mountain Range, and more.

For the quickest trip, check out the Local Mountain tour (30 mins airtime). Climb from sea level to 4500 feet toward Howe Sound, over the Lions mountain peaks and old growth forest and back down to the city.

Saltspring Air is now located in the new Seaplane base at the Vancouver Convention Centre. Call ahead to inquire about scenic tours and follow them on Facebook and Twitter for seasonal specials and packages.

It’s the Canadian Red Cross’ Emergency Preparedness Week (May 6th to May 12th) which is an annual awareness campaign to encourage Canadians to be better prepared to deal with disasters in their communities.

Did you know that in a large-scale emergency it could take emergency responders 72 hours to reach you? Would you and your family have enough supplies to get you through 72 hours? Most Canadians admit that they aren’t prepared, even though every province and territory experienced a disaster within the past year. The Canadian Red Cross responded to over 2,300 disasters last year, including everything from house fires to wildfires, landslides, severe flooding, power outages, and hurricanes. Do you know the risks in your area?

To get you thinking about emergency preparedness, the Canadian Red Cross and I have teamed up to offer two unique prizes, thanks to ETON:

1) ETON MicroLink FR 170 Weather Radio – Stay connected in an emergency with this AM/FM Weather Radio with USB cell phone charger that receives audio broadcasts issued by Environment Canada for weather warnings and alerts. Includes built-in LED flashlight and USB cell phone charger. Powered by solar panel and dynamo crank. (Retail value: $36.95)

2) ETON SolarLink FR 370 Weather Radio – Enhanced weather radio that receives audio broadcasts from Environment Canada filtering only broadcasts that affect your area. Also includes an alarm clock. (Retail value: $67.95)

Here’s how you can enter to win one of these two prizes:

• Leave a comment naming the known disaster risks in your home or neighbourhood and/or a step that you have taken to prepare your family in case of emergency
  (1 entry)
• Re-Pin this post on Pinterest or pin a link/image on Pinterest that pertains to emergency preparedness. Be sure to tag @Miss604 and #CanadianRedCross
  (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw two winners (one for each prize) at random from all entries on Sunday, May 12, 2013 at 12:0pm. I also have two Red Cross Canada first aid fanny packs that I will award to two other random winners at that time. These products and more are available in the Red Cross Canada’s online shop.

I am a proud member of the Canadian Red Cross Social Media Team and had the honour of being a part of their Emergency Response Unit training last fall. The Canadian Red Cross has many helpful resources to help you and your family plan for an emergency. To learn more about how to make an emergency plan, what to pack in an emergency kit, and about the risks in your area, check out their online resources.

Update The winners are Jessica (ETON MicroLink FR 170 Weather Radio) and @TanyaJoyT (ETON SolarLink FR 370 Weather Radio). First aid kits go to Zaelia & Brenda A.

The Nanaimo Bar, famous for its layers of chocolate, custard, and coconut, is the inspiration for the Nanaimo Bar Trail throughout downtown Nanaimo. This tour, envisioned by Tourism Nanaimo’s Chelsea Barr three years ago, engages local businesses to remix the famous bar into drinks, cakes, and various other concoctions. Their innovative creations are featured on a self-guided walking tour.

Original Nanaimo Bars – Photo credit: edwardkimuk on Flickr

Back in 2010, Keira-Anne and I were treated to a Nanaimo Bar Cupcake, a Nanaimo Bar Martini, and a Deep-Fried Nanaimo Bar. Just recently, I visited the trail again with Chelsea and a media group to see what new creations have been added to the tour.

Real Food Fast
Feature: Nanaimo Bar Cake
Location: #3 321 Wesley Street
Link: Facebook

Dallas Collis said the goal was to get you past those first two bites of a traditional Nanaimo Bar that usually have you putting it down because it’s too sweet. The cake was much more soft in terms of sweetness and the creamy custard filling was a great fit with the moist layers of cake. The generous serving you see in the image above is also just a half order of the dish.

Mon Petit Choux
Feature: Gluten Free Nanaimo Bar
Location: 120 Commercial Street
Link: Website

Nanaimo’s “little taste of Paris” offers up a gluten free bar made with crisped rice on the bottom layer, buttercream in the centre, and a simple chocolate ganache on top.

Pirate Chips
Feature: Deep Fried Nanaimo Bar
Location: 1 Commercial Street
Link: Website

The novelty of deep frying a Nanaimo Bar makes it one of those “must try” dishes. Battered up with cinnamon sugar and beer, the bar on the inside melts enough to become soft and chewy, staying true to the original flavours.

ACMe Food Co
Feature: Nanaimo Bar-tini
Location: 14 Commercial St Street
Link: Website

This decadent drink is milky, nutty, and rimmed with chocolate and coconut. In 2010 I enjoyed Modern Cafe’s Nanaimo Bar Martini as well, which was a bit more chocolatey and contained espresso for that extra punch.

The Nanaimo Bar creations are getting more inventive while still celebrating the delicious flavours and textures of the original treat. New this year, Chelsea will be adding a new “non-edible” category to the list that will have inspired spa treatments, soaps, and other indulgences for the senses. The Nanaimo Bar Trail list is nearing 25 locations which are all within walking distance. Learn more by following Tourism Nanaimo on Facebook and Twitter.