The Stanley Park Train remains inoperable but there’s another miniature railway option for families and train enthusiasts. The Burnaby Central Railway (“BCR”) in North Burnaby is opening up this long weekend for its 30th season.
Burnaby Central Railway Photo Submitted
Miniature Burnaby Central Railway is Open
Where: Confederation Park in North Burnaby (120 N Willingdon Ave, Burnaby)
Tickets: $4.50 for a single ride, all passengers 3 years old and up. $40 for a 10 ride passes (may be used over multiple days, no expiry)
Starting Friday, April 7th it will run 11:00am to 5:00pm on weekends and statutory holidays all the way through to Thanksgiving weekend in October.
The BCR provides an authentic railroad experience that attracts crowds every season. Cars are easy to ride for children and adults alike. Glide along mere inches off the track, so you can feel every rail and corner. Trains consist of multiple cars carrying 20 or more passengers on a two-mile, outdoor ride through the woods, with bridges, tunnels, crossovers, and spirals. A single ride takes approximately 10 minutes.
Each train is pulled by a miniature – but real – steam, diesel, or electric locomotive. The engines, plus rolling stock, track and maintenance shops, are owned and maintained year-round by the volunteers of the British Columbia Society of Model Engineers (“BCSME”).
“What we have here are genuine steam, diesel and electric trains to ride. It’s literally the real thing, just smaller,” says Ken Lear, president of BCSME, which has been around for 94 years. “Our trains look, act and even smell like the real thing because they are real, at one-eighth the size of a full size locomotive.”
Volunteers Wanted
BCSME is also signing up new members interested in helping run the railway throughout the season, and who want to be part of a new generation of members ready to help run and maintain the railway. Lear says: “If you’re a railroad buff, or you would like to learn about how our trains work inside and out, come to the park, take a ride, see what we’re all about, and join us!”
Opening Day
Members of IAFF323 Burnaby Firefighters will be on hand to join in as honorary members and volunteers on Friday, April 7th from 1:30pm to 3:00pm. Proceeds from opening day will be donated to the Burnaby Firefighters Charitable Society which raises funds for more than 60 charitable and community organizations.
The Abbotsford Tulip Festival (which moved away a few years ago) is BACK this year, with new ownership and new product. Lakeland Flowers has announces six months of flower festivals beginning with the Abbotsford Tulip Festival.
Abbotsford Tulip Festival – Lakeland Flowers Photo
Abbotsford Tulip Festival Returns to the Fraser Valley
The Abbotsford Tulip Festival is open from 6:00am to 8:00pm seven days a week, starting on April 14th and ending May 14th. Photo spots include bicycles and swings. Visitors are also welcome to pack a picnic and, on select weekends, guests can enjoy live music nights and food truck meals.
Online tickets are available one week in advance with tiered pricing options for weekdays and weekends. It is strongly recommended that visitors purchase tickets online, to not only receive reduced pricing, but to secure a time-slot. Daily field reports will be provided on the Lakeland Flowers’ website and social media channels (Facebook, TikTok, Instagram).
Positioned as Canada’s largest tulip festival with 27 acres and over 70 tulip varieties, the flowers are set to create a dazzling display of every colour. Highlights including kilometres of walking trails, specialty varietals that have been imported from Holland, including fringe tulips and double tulips, and a legacy tulip named after Peter Warmerdam.
“Initially, our plans were to host smaller crowds to enjoy the flower fields. After hearing how the crowds wished that Abbotsford still had a tulip festival, we decided to bring it back and planted tulips, winter canola, daffodils, blooming cover crops, hydrangea, peonies, lavender, and sunflowers,” says Nick Warmerdam, farmer and owner of Lakeland Flowers.
Located in the Sumas Prairie, Lakeland Flowers opened in the spring of 2021 with a smaller u-pick operation, but could not move forward the following year due to the devastating floods that occurred in November.
The team managed to overcome these challenges and planted over 100 acres — 27 acres of tulips, 20 acres of sunflowers, and 5 to 10-acre plots of various other flowers. After tulip season ends, visitors are invited back to experience the other flower festivals.
“We love seeing families and friends create memories at the farm. Visitors will be able to see the flowers from multiple angles,” says Warmerdam. “BLOOM, the original Abbotsford Tulip Festival, was a successful event that brought hundreds of thousands of people to Abbotsford to experience 10 acres of vibrant flowers. Owner and organizer, Alexis Szarek (nee Warmerdam), did an excellent job of creating and operating this festival. To have a tulip festival of this size is fantastic and we are excited to welcome the crowds back to Abbotsford,” says Craig Nichols, Executive Director of Tourism Abbotsford.
The field is located at 3663 Marion Rd, Abbotsford off exit #99 from Hwy 1.
Battered Women’s Support Services (“BWSS”) has launched the Justice Centre at BWSS, a community-based legal clinic providing trauma and violence informed, multilingual, and culturally responsive legal services to diverse women who have experienced violence in BC.
This is an all-encompassing one-stop-shop that supports women survivors of violence to navigate the complex Canadian legal system and have access to justice which is crucial for women’s long-term safety and freedom from an abusive partner.
Staff, legal interns, and volunteers from the Justice Centre at BWSS – Photo credit BWSS
The Justice Centre at BWSS
The Justice Centre at BWSS is a substantial expansion of the Legal Services and Advocacy Program (“LSAP”) at BWSS, providing women survivors of violence improved and thorough legal assistance as they navigate intricate legal systems, encompassing family, immigration, child protection, sexual assault, and criminal law.
This is urgently needed to address the systemic barriers that the Canadian legal system creates for women survivors of violence, especially given the continual cuts to government funding for support services. These barriers leave survivors with more obstacles than opportunities, highlighting the critical need for comprehensive legal supports like those offered by the Justice Centre.
One woman or girl is killed every 48 hours in Canada. From 2019 to 2022, there was a 27% increase in killings of women and girls involving a male accused.
Documented femicide numbers were the lowest in pre-COVID 2019 but there has been a steady increase of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women and girls during COVID-19; with a 16 percent increase in 2020, 20 percent increase in 2021, and a projected 24 percent increase in 2022. With rising rates of IPV in Canada and progressive cuts to Legal Aid since 2002, there is an urgent need for a Justice Centre to provide legal advocacy and safety for women survivors.
80% of women accessing BWSS need support with at least one legal issue. Between March 2020 and March 2022, BWSS has received an alarming 94,736 outreach attempts from individuals who have experienced domestic or sexual violence.
Canada’s biggest plant-based event, Planted Expo Vancouver, returns May 27-28, 2023. Attendees will hear from vegan product creators, sustainability divers, inspirational speakers, and plant-based authors while exploring more than 200 vegan lifestyle exhibitors.
Planted Life – Planted Expo (2021)
Planted Expo Vancouver 2023
When: May 27 – 28, 2023
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre West, 1055 Canada Place (Vancouver)
Tickets: Available for purchase online, $20 adult, $15 youth and senior, kids free
Planted Expo continues to gathered leading voices in the culinary, scientific and fitness world to speak on the importance of plant-based choices. These insightful, informative, and inspirational speakers will be at Planted Expo alongside 200 plant-based edible and lifestyle businesses.
Planted Vancouver speakers include Dotsie Bausch the oldest athlete in history in her cycling discipline, founder of non-profit Switch4Good, and featured in the documentary The Game Changers, Meagan Duhamel winner of Season 6 of CBC’s Battle Of The Blades, a CBC Sports Analyst, and 2018 Olympic gold medalist in Canadian pair figure skating, and Lauren Toyota a vegan content creator and author with a knack for creating vegan versions of popular comfort foods.
View the lineup of vendors, workshops, and more online and follow Planted Life on Facebook for updates.
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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — Sponsored by Tandem Exhibitions Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
UPDATE: Due to logistical issues and impossible time constraints, the Frida Kahlo: The Immersive Biography exhibition will not be able to make it to Vancouver this May as originally planned. Anyone who has purchased tickets to the exhibition can be refunded at point of purchase or through TicketLeader at ticketleader.ca.
The Western Canadian premiere of the world’s only official exhibition of Frida Kahlo: The Immersive Biography is coming to the PNE Agrodome in Vancouver this May.
Frida Kahlo The Immersive Biography in Vancouver – Photos submitted
Frida Kahlo The Immersive Biography in Vancouver
When: Opening May 3, 2023
Where: PNE Agrodome (2901 E Hastings St, Vancouver)
Tickets: Buy online starting Tuesday, April 4, at 10:00am. Discounts available for students, children, and families. VIP tickets and virtual reality add-ons are also available for guests interested in delving deeper into Kahlo’s world.
Frida Kahlo: The Immersive Biography, a co-creation of the Frida Kahlo Corporation and Layers of Reality, the renowned digital arts centre in Spain, presents the biographical story of the life and artistry of one of the most influential artists in history in a unique and immersive way.
The exhibition utilizes seven distinct transformational spaces, including an optional award-winning VR experience, enabling visitors to enter the life and work of the Mexican artist, Frida Kahlo. Unlike other art exhibitions, this exhibit does not include reproductions of Kahlo’s paintings. Instead, it utilizes a range of innovative techniques, including historical photographs, original films, digital environments, artistic installations, collectors’ items, and newly created music, to create an immersive experience that captures the essence of Kahlo’s life and art.
“Today, the Frida Kahlo brand is considered one of the most significant and renowned on the planet, which has enabled us to venture into new cultural and commercial projects with a global, innovative, and disruptive approach, similar to how Frida lived her everyday life. Consequently, we aim to create a space that portrays Frida Kahlo in an authentic, genuine, and comprehensive manner, incorporating diverse sources of information. This has given rise to Frida Kahlo: The Immersive Biography,” states Beatriz Alvarado, CCO and Head of Global Trends, Frida Kahlo Corporation.
Frida Kahlo The Immersive Biography in Vancouver – Photos submitted
“Frida Kahlo’s artistry continues to be more relevant than ever, and this immersive exhibition is a must-see for anyone who admires her work and legacy,” said Paul Dupont-Hébert, President of Tandem and who is also behind the success of Imagine Van Gogh, Imagine Picasso, and Imagine Monet across Canada and the USA over the past three years.
After unprecedented success in Spain and across Europe, the exhibition toured the US and made its Canadian debut in Montreal before arriving in Vancouver. Produced by Montreal-based Tandem Productions, Frida Kahlo: The Immersive Biography is designed to be an unforgettable experience for visitors of all ages.
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