The Honda Celebration of Light fireworks return this summer, filling the sky with bursts of colour as thousands gaze upward along the shores of English Bay. The participating countries for the the world’s largest offshore international fireworks competition along with the concert headliner have been announced for 2013.
Participating Countries
During last year’s barge tour Pyrotechnic Producer Patrick Brault introduced the concept of having different competing countries from different continents every year for the next nine years, which rings true this year.
For 2013, we’ll see displays from the United Kingdom, Canada, and Thailand on each of the three fireworks nights July 27, July 31, and August 3rd.
SHOREfest Concerts
“Stompa” your feet because four-time JUNO winner Serena Ryder will be headlining the opening night of SHOREfest this year. The free concert series presented by SHORE 104 will feature local and emerging talent on the English Bay stage and the Rogue Stage in Kitsilano. More SHOREfest artists will be announced as the fireworks nights draw closer.
You can also listen to the soundtrack for the fireworks displays on SHORE 104.3FM, on SHORE’s website, and through the Honda Celebration of Light app. Follow @CelebofLight on Twitter for more information about the fireworks, participating countries, free concerts and activities this summer.
The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Dreamgirls from May 9th to July 7th, 2013 at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage.
Karen Holness, Aurianna Angelique, and Starr Domingue. Photo by David Cooper.
Full of onstage joy and backstage drama, the musical Dreamgirls tells the rags-to-riches tale of a 1960s girl group, loosely based on The Supremes. Young, black, and with talent to burn, the hopeful divas Effie, Deena, and Lorrell fantasize about playing the Apollo Theater. After getting their big break, The Dreamettes seem unstoppable—until rivalry and betrayal enter the group. Share their elation and tribulations on the road to stardom, told through the unforgettable sounds of Motown.
Dreamgirls will run Tuesdays at 7:30 pm, Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8:00pm, and Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays at 2:00pm. Tickets are $29 to $70, inclusive of taxes and fees. Special events for this production include Sunday Coffee Talks (May 19th at 1:00pm); Wednesday High Teas (May 22nd at 1:00pm); Talk Back Tuesdays (May 28th); and VocalEye live audio description (June 2nd at 2:00pm).
Directed by Bill Millerd, eight shows are already sold out for this Motown Musical but I have a pair of tickets to give away this month. Here’s how you can win your way into this show:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
Follow the Arts Club (now in their 49th season) on Facebook, Twitter, and the Arts Club Blog.
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, May 8, 2013. The winner will be able to choose their show date between May 16th and May 29th excluding Saturday nights.
Update The winner is @NewGrad_RN!
The sound of 140 participants pouring out buckets of LEGO bricks simultaneously filled the room as children laughed and parents snapped photos feverishly at the sold-out Vancouver LEGO Games yesterday.
The Firefighter’s Club in Burnaby was packed with about 200 people in attendance from all corners of Metro Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Split into age groups (ranging from 5 years old to teens and adults) and colour-coded tables, children and adults alike competed for LEGO building glory in this friendly competition that saw proceeds benefit Canuck Place.
Members of the Vancouver LEGO Club brought in impressive pre-built pieces, including one of Poseidon that had moving parts. Children could also bring in pre-built pieces for the competition using the theme “What Vancouver Means to Me” as inspiration.
When the live build competition got underway participants were given a theme as well: “Play”. Hands and fingers moved quickly to assemble LEGO creations using only the bricks provided.
Refreshments were served at the back of the room and there was a general play area for younger children or those not competing. Kids got VIP badges worn on lanyards and LEGO gift bags, touches that would make anyone feel like a rockstar. A VIP in the LEGO world, Robin Sather, was also on hand for the day. Robin is Canada’s only LEGO Certified Professional.
T-Shirts for Canuck Place
If you missed out on the Vancouver LEGO Games you can still support the cause by purchasing an official Vancouver LEGO Games t-shirt online and $10 from every sale will go to Canuck Place.
Organizer Darian Kovacs told me that there was such a response on Facebook when they posted the design for their volunteer t-shirts that they decided to make more and sell them. “We had such a huge uproar of people wanted to buy them but we didn’t want to become t-shirt producers so we found that there was an organization called CauseShirts. They sponsor a new charity every week with a new t-shirt design. Because we already had a shirt design they adopted us right away.”
CauseShirts has graciously extended the Vancouver LEGO Games shirts/Canuck Place donations for a few more days so you can still make your purchase until Wednesday, May 1st.
Follow the Vancouver LEGO Games on Twitter and Facebook to find out about future events.
Discovery’s web series Refined: A Cross-Canada Search for the Finer Things in Life recently came out to BC to film a few episodes with host Patrick McMurray. Patrick is a Canadian restauranteur, a World Oyster Opening Champion, and the current Guinness World Record Oyster Shucker. In Refined, he finds people who are the masters of their own crafts and walks in their shoes for a day to explore their passions.
I was invited out to Chilliwack for their episode with April Vokey of Fly Gal Ventures as Patrick joined her on the Chilliwack River to learn about fly fishing.
Fly Gal Ventures is a unique fly-fishing company that specializes in guided/hosted trips, workshops and ladies apparel. Men, women and children, we cater to everyone in hopes that we can share our passion for the sport.
April is a Federation of Fly Fishers (FFF) certified casting instructor, dedicated conservationist, and is definitely an authority when it comes to fly fishing in these parts. Together with her trusty four-legged sidekick, Colby, the production team and I followed April into the river for this episode.
“One of the things that I do this for is to be able to truly live the way that we’re supposed to,” April explains in the episode. “A lot of us get caught up in the indoor life, with the computer scene and the fluorescent lights, and fishing is one of the last final ways that human beings can really get outside and just do exactly as we were meant to do. Even though we don’t always kill our catch, we’re still able to go outside and relive what our ancestors did.”
Previous episodes of Refined include Nasser Shoes (shoemaking), Garrison Bespoke (tailors), Camellia Sinensis (specialty teas), maple syrup, cheese, and guitar making. While in the Vancouver area Patrick also filmed with Milano Coffee, which will be the next episode to be posted in this twelve-part series.
On Saturday, April 27, 2013 the City of Surrey hosted Party for the Planet, BC’s largest Earth Day celebration, at Central City with a free family festival and live concerts. Activities included recycling stations, collecting free saplings, story times with the Surrey Library, learning with the Surrey Nature Centre, face painting, and meet and greets with Max and Ruby, kept revelers busy.
Under a cloudy canopy, thousands gathered for free concerts with acts like Shane Philip, The Matinee, Fighting for Ithaca, Hey Ocean and Lights who closed out the event.
The Matinee
Having just returned from JunoFest in Regina, The Matinee had fans jumping up and down as they kicked things off with L’Absinthe and played tunes from their latest release, We Swore We’d See the Sunrise like Who Stoned The Roses and their first single Young & Lazy.
Hey Ocean
Also returning from JunoFest, where they were nominees for Breakthrough Group of the Year, Hey Ocean had thousands of festival-goers, young and old, dancing their feet off to favourite singles like Jolene, and Big Blue Wave as well as a cover of Arcade Fire’s Sprawl II and Make a New Dance Up which slides into a cover of Whitney Houston’s I Wanna Dance with Somebody.
Lights
Lights brought her electro pop to Surrey sporting a new blond hairstyle and smiling at adoring (screaming) fans every chance she got.
The talented young Canadian (who won New Artist of the Year at the 2009 Juno Awards) played songs from The Listening (2009) and her latest release Siberia (2011) as the audience sang along.
That’s a wrap on another successful festival for the City of Surrey. Follow Surrey Events on Twitter for more information about the city’s events. Coming up soon we have the Surrey Children’s Festival in May followed by the annual Canada Day celebration in Cloverdale.
