The Fair at the PNE kicked off this weekend bringing attractions, exhibitions, mini donuts, the marketplace, SuperDogs, concerts, and more to the fairgrounds for the 102nd year. The PNE is a summertime staple for locals, tourists, and families from across BC.
Until 12:00pm today (Monday, August 20, 2012) gate admission is free for all. Here are a few more ways you can save on admission and get the most out of your PNE visit this year:
Free Admission for Children
The PNE has brought back its program offering free admission to the fair for children 13 and under, when accompanied by an adult. A maximum of 5 children can get in free with each paying adult (over 21 years old) on any day of the fair.
Vancity Member Day
Vancity Credit Union members are invited to the Fair at the PNE on Wednesday, August 22nd from 11:00am until closing for an admission price of just $5. Last year over 15,000 members presented their debit cards or enviro Visa cards to gain entry for themselves and a friend for $5 each. Visit the main gates (off Hastings and Renfrew) for this deal.
You can also save on admission and Playland ride passes by picking them up ahead of time at participating Safeway and 7-Eleven stores in the Lower Mainland.
Get more out of your visit to the Fair at the PNE by enjoying the WestJet Family Fun Series, Summer Night Concerts, and the nightly Pop City! fireworks celebration. Follow @PNE_Playland on Twitter and Facebook for more event information and possible deals this season.
The 12×12 Vancouver Photo Marathon takes place tomorrow as 60 photographers traverse the city to each capture 12 exposures of 12 subjects. This competition has skyrocketed in popularity in four short years, selling out early each time.
Participants, of all skill levels, get to combine their keen eye for photography with a sort of scavenger hunt all within a 12 hour timeframe. Themes or words to use as inspiration for subjects are announced every hour on the hour from the event’s home base at COFFEEBAR in Gastown. Once it’s all over and done, a panel of judges will review each snapshot from each participant and award prizes for creativity, aesthetics, theme interpretation, and overall series.
Once the rolls of film are developed, no one besides the organizers and judges gets to see the results until the Raw Talent Exhibit. Every single photo is presented, every photographer gets equal billing, every stroke of genius and disastrous technical malfunction is bared to the world. For one day. The photos then live on Flickr under a Creative Commons licence, available for anyone to share. A photographic documentary of a day in Vancouver as seen by the people who shape the city.
The Raw Talent Exhibit will then take place September 22nd at the Salt Building in the Village at False Creek. You can imagine that an exhibit of this magnitude (organizing 720 developed photos from 60 photographers) could use a bit of support so organizers have decided to crowdfund.
“12×12 brings people together to share a common love of art and photography,” says Morten Rand-Hendriksen, Creator of the 12×12 Vancouver Photo Marathon. “The Raw Talent Crowdfunding project is yet another way to build on this foundation. As all previous cycles of 12×12, this year’s exhibit is free and open to the public. It will also be brought to you BY the public thanks to the online fundraiser!”
If you would like to support the Raw Talent Exhibit, you can click to donate here and help make this unique event possible.
Follow the 12×12 Vancouver Photo Marathon on Twitter and Facebook and follow the tag #12x12YVR on Saturday, August 18, 2012 as the competition takes place.
The Westin Bayshore is one of Vancouver’s most iconic hotels. Jutting out from the downtown core, adjacent to Stanley Park and the Sea Wall, it offers 511 newly decorated (dog friendly) guest rooms fitness facilities, Vida Spa, dining, and plenty of local history.
I’ve been to the Westin before for events like the Juno Awards and the annual YWCA Women of Distinction Awards but there’s much more to this urban resort than meeting space (although there is 71,337 square feet of it). You can escape the city while still being right in the thick of it. Park and mountain views, water features, greenery, and more.
The hotel has a guest entrance right off the sea wall, a lounge with free WIFI, shops, a Starbucks, an indoor pool and an outdoor pool — the outdoor pool recently being named a “Top 10 Hotel Pool” by the Vancouver Sun.
To wind up your summer in style, the Westin Bayshore has offered up 5 pool passes and a $100 food and beverage credit for the Seawall Bar and Grill (excluding alcohol) to give away on my site. The pool is for guests only but with the passes you can enjoy poolside service and beat the heat with friends and family! Here’s how you can enter to win:
- Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
Follow the Westin Bayshore on Twitter and Facebook for more information and great deals for locals and travellers.
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, August 21, 2012. Each pool pass also has an additional $20 credit attached that will expire September 30, 2012. Passes are valid for pool entry for a full day, on the day they are redeemed.
Update The winner is Victoria! (Comment August 17, 2012 at 2:30 PM)
This Sunday WAVES Coffee House on Smithe and Howe in downtown Vancouver will launch a new concert series for a cause.
Stop by WAVES at 100-900 Howe on August 19th for free live music from local artists and $1 from every purchase made on that day (for coffee, baked goods, etc.) will be donated to Music Heals, an organization that provides music therapy programs in hospitals throughout BC.
Participating musicians are a part of the Melodies In Mind program, and will also be featured in a display at this WAVES location and in monthly artist showcase. Local artists benefit from exposure at WAVES and a great cause is supported.
Featured acts this Sunday, August 19, 2012 include: Tatiana Speed (at 12:00pm), Thomas Beckman (at 12:45pm), Sound Refuge (at 1:30pm), Monika Schwartzman (at 2:15pm), Kamile Kapel (at 3pm), Glenn Chatten (at 4:00pm).
Follow WAVES on Twitter, Melodies In Mind on Twitter, and Music Heals on Twitter and Facebook for more information about this collaboration.
The walk between the parkade and the international terminal at Vancouver International Airport (“YVR”) is dotted with the usual landscape like luggage carts, suitcases, tuckered out travellers, and taxi cabs. However, tucked between the two structures is a great green space called Chester Johnson Park.
The sign is visible when entering the parkade from the roadway and looks as though it labels but a small grove of evergreens. The triangular penninsula includes more than meets the eye to the urban explorer. The three K’san Totem Poles stand next to a small pond that is fed by a rocky waterfall and split by a path over a bridge. My niece, nephews, and I ventured down the path and came across flowers, conifers, nursery logs, benches, and curious shaded corners.
The air is cool and crisp, and the perfect getaway from a place where people go to do exactly that. We spent at least 20 minutes on the path and another 10 exploring around the small waterfall area. If you have time to kill the next time you’re at the airport, take a stroll down a path in Chester Johnson Park and get one last dose of West Coast life before you dash off into the terminal.
Tomorrow is another Take Off Friday at YVR Airport and a special hotdog eating competition will take place at the Japadog right in Chester Johnson Park at 12:30pm.
