The Rick Hansen 25th Anniversary Relay has been making its way across Canada for the last 250 days with over 7,000 Canadians participating as medal-bearers. The relay is currently in Kelowna and will wind up in Vancouver on May 22nd where the Rick Hansen Celebration 25 event will wrap up this accomplishment in style.
What: Rick Hansen Celebration 25
When: Tuesday, May 22, 2012 at 7:30pm
Where: Pacific Coliseum, Vancouver
Tickets: Available online for $25 and all are welcome to this family-friendly event.
Who: David Foster, Sarah McLachlan, Jann Arden, Sean Jones, Marianas Trench, The Canadian Tenors, Shane Koyczan, David Suzuki, Craig Kielburger, Lauren Woolstencroft, and more.
The anniversary relay has retraced a segment of the original Man in Motion World Tour that Rick Hansen completed in 1987. From coast to coast, covering over 12,000km and stopping in over 600 communities, the anniversary relay continues to raise awareness for the Rick Hansen Foundation which has raised more than $250 million over the years to accelerate progress towards a cure for spinal cord injury, and a more accessible and inclusive world.
DOXA Documentary Film Festival opens this week with 72 screenings of 100 films (6 world premieres) in 5 different venues around Vancouver.
Opening night will be this Friday, May 4th with a screening of Bear 71 at Saint Andrewʼs-Wesley United Church. The closing film of the festival will be Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry on Saturday, May 12th at Empire Granville 7.
What: DOXA Documentary Film Festival 2012
When: Friday, May 4, 2012 to Sunday, May 13, 2012
Where: Saint Andrewʼs-Wesley, Pacific Cinémathèque, Vancity Theatre, Denman Cinemas, Empire Granville 7
Tickets: Single tickets are $12 (except opening night, which is $20). A full Festival Pass is available for $150 and 10-ticket packs are $55 or $100. A $3 membership will be required if you’re not already a DOXA member. Tickets are available online, at Peopleʼs Co-op Books (1391 Commercial Drive), and Zulu Records (1972 West 4th).
DOXA is presented by The Documentary Media Society, a Vancouver based non-profit, charitable society (incorporated in 1998) devoted to presenting independent and innovative documentaries to Vancouver audiences.
Follow DOXA on Twitter and Facebook for more festival information.
The Burrard Contest
As a festival partner and hotel sponsor, The Burrard has offered up a prize pack to one lucky reader of mine that includes a night at the hotel and a pair of tickets to the sold out screening of Coast Modern:
Coast Modern Film Trailer V.2 from Coast Modern on Vimeo.
Filmmakers Michael Bernard and Gavin Froome’s exquisitely cool film glides through the sleek interiors, and lush gardens of some of the most stunning examples of modernist architecture from Vancouver, San Francisco, Portland, and Seattle. But these houses are not museums—they’re homes for families and real people. In the words of Arthur Erikson: “Honesty was the rallying cry of early modernists and they reduced everything to absolute essentials.” The film traces the emergence of the modernist movement from its first incarnations in 1922 through to current day. Featuring interviews with architects and cultural critics, including a memorable turn from Douglas Coupland, Coast Modern pays particularly sharp attention to cultural values embodied in architectural form. –DW
The Burrard will give these movie passes to my contest winner as well as a room at the hotel for the night of May 8th, following the screening at the Vancity Theatre.
Perfect for a weekend in the city, The Burrard re-opened last fall after extensive renovations to its 1950s-era amenities. It’s now retro a gem in the heart of downtown, within walking distance to the entertainment district, shopping on Robson, Davie village restaurants, and more. Follow them on Twitter @TheBurrard.
Here’s how you can enter to win this prize package:
- Leave a comment here naming your favourite documentary (at DOXA, or not) (1 entry)
- Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
The winner will get one night at The Burrard on May 8, 2012 and two passes to the screening of Coast Modern. Contest closes at 12:00pm Thursday, May 3, 2012. Must be 19 years of age or older to enter and win. Estimated value is over $200. Prize cannot be redeemed for any other prize or cash value.
Update The winner is Ronald!
On April 30th 1886, Lauchlan Hamilton – a CPR land commissioner and surveyor – laid out the plans for the corner of Cambie and Hastings. This is the site of Victory Square today, and the subject of this week’s Vancouver Icons photo post.
1918: Land was left vacant at Cambie and Hastings Streets, after the old provincial law courts were demolished. Funds to develop a park there were donated by the Province newspaper, at that time right across the street from the new park, which would be named Victory Square (to commemorate victory in the First World War).
The iconic cenotaph was unveiled on Sunday, April 27th, 1924. Its inscriptions read: “Their name liveth for evermore” (facing Hastings), “1914-1918” (within a stone wreath), “Is it nothing to you” (facing Hamilton), and “All ye that pass by” (facing Pender).
Over the last century Victory Square has been the site of protests, reading of the riot act, Remembrance Day ceremonies, and community festivals.
Previous Vancouver Icons posts include: 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 to the public every day.
Last night the City of Surrey kicked off their two-day Party for the Planet, the largest Earth Day celebration in Western Canada. With a focus on free family fun, this major city event with an eco-friendly twist has already attracted thousands.
The Energy Dance Tent was particularly popular with live DJs spinning and dance groups showing off their moves.
The smell of mini donuts, popcorn, hot dogs, and more wafted through the open air last night with more food carts and options available today. You can also stop by the Surrey Food Bank tent and sign up to volunteer at the BC Summer Games which are taking place in Surrey this July.
The bike-powered main stage will focus on family entertainment (Bobs and Lolo, Backyardigans) but last night Raghav, The Boom Booms, and Down With Webster rocked it out.
Take transit right to the Surrey Central SkyTrain station or bus loop and there’s a free, secure bike valet available on-site.
Kids can explore the straw maze, learn about local recycling and environmental initiatives, play games, meet mascots, and dance their hearts out. The Party for the Planet is entirely free to attend. Things wrap up at 5:00pm today.
Miss604.com is once again a proud sponsor of Surrey’s Party for the Planet. All photos in this post are by John Bollwitt for Miss604.com. You can view all of John’s photos in his Flickr set.
Atlas Obscura Day is an annual event that happens around the globe as quirky, strange, and usual attractions open their doors and share their stories. While many of the activities are already sold out for the April 28th event, the celebration of exceptional and alluring spaces and places can provide ideas for future visits.
In Vancouver, our award-winning Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is hosting Obscura Day this year with Caves as Portals: Exploring the Grotto Beneath Ting Mountain. For the first time ever, they’re leading visitors into the wondrous caves at the garden. This event is sold out but here’s hoping that the garden will offer this special tour again.
If you’ll be in and around Seattle, there are two Obscura Day events:
Tour of Inscape building and Northwest Museum of Legends and Lore: Peek into Seattle’s past with a tour of the city’s 77,000-square-foot former Immigration and Naturalization Services building, plus a visit to the Northwest Museum of Legends and Lore for rare D.B. Cooper, UFO, and Bigfoot-related artifacts.
Cocktails & Bad Art at Seattle’s Official Bad Art Museum of Art: Visit Seattle’s Official Bad Art Museum of Art (OBAMA), located at Café Racer in Seattle.
In previous years, Vancouver’s Police Museum took part as well but if you look hard enough, you can find a few different types of tours happening year-round. Things like the Mountain View Cemetery, the Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition , and local history walks, to exploring Vancouver’s own Jimi Hendrix Shrine (that’s located in his grandmother’s old fried chicken restaurant).
