Rolling out of summer in and into September I’m finding that there is no shortage of festivals, concerts, and other activities to choose from in our region. While you’re getting back into school or work mode after some vacation time, here are some events that will help get your mind off the grind.
Wednesday September 1, 2010
Lonsdale Quay’s SummerFest (until September 5)
Penelope Sloan Design event at Tunnel
Thursday September 2, 2010
8th Annual Vancouver Latin American Film Festival (VLAFF) (until September 12)
The Agony and the Ecstasy of Steve Jobs at the PuSh Festival
Friday September 3, 2010
New Bright Lights Lecture Series: Urban Renewal vs. the Downtown Eastside
Saturday September 4, 2010
Little Women: The Musical
SFU’s first NCAA football game Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
Tomorrow morning you may notice something a little unusual outside the Vancouver City Centre Canada Line station. Scantily-clad businessmen will show how they’ve given “the suits of their backs” to promote the Moores Canadian Suit Drive this September.
Photo credit:
_Davo_ on Flickr
What: Moores first annual Canadian Suit Drive
When: Launching September 1st and running until September 30th at Moore’s locations
Why: To support non-profit organizations such as the John Howard Society, Dress Your Best and The Cinderella Project. More than 600,000 working-age Canadian men are currently unemployed. Great looking, professional attire can be the shot of self-confidence someone entering or re-entering the workforce needs to make the best possible first impression and land a new job.
How: Stop by a Moores location between now and September 30th with your donation of any of the following items: suits, sport coats, dress pants, dress shirts, dress shoes, sportswear (linen shirts, sweaters, vests, casual pants), outerwear (jackets, long coats, raincoats), ties and other accessories.
As a “thank you” for participating in the campaign you will receive 25% off toward your next purchase at Moore’s. You can location your nearest Moores location online including the downtown Vancouver at 524 Granville.
Being born and raised in Surrey we rarely came to downtown Vancouver to experience local attractions. Our usual escape route was out through the Valley and along the highways and biways of our grand Province. However, when our family did make trips to the big city (or I had a field trip with school) there were a few staples.
We went to the zoo at Stanley Park, the Vancouver Aquarium, Science World and the Museum of Anthropology. Up until two years ago I had never been to places like the Capilano Suspension Bridge, up the Grouse Mountain tram, or to the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.
It’s a given that Vancouverites have a different view of their city than visitors but I often wondered how Vancouver looks through the fresh eyes of the tourist. The Vancouver Trolley Company has offered up two hop-on / hop-off passes so that one of my readers can experience Vancouver as a tourist in their hometown.
Here’s what they suggest for your “Tourist in Your Hometown” route:
Start your day at Canada Place
Exchange passes with a Ticket Agent (in yellow) for tickets and coupon book for discounts at attractions and restaurants along the way
Hop-on the a Red Loop trolley (see map above) to Stanley Park
The first Red Loop trolley from Canada Place is at 9:00am, then they run approximately every 20 minutes
Hop-off at the Rose Garden and explore the Klahowya Village, then hop back on to go around the Park.
After Stanley Park hop-off the trolley at Red Loop #11 (Aquatic Centre) and use the False Creek Ferries coupon to Granville Island
After exploring Granville Island walk out to the entrance (West 2nd) and hop-on the Blue Loop trolley (at Island Market, next to Starbucks). On the Blue Loop you’ll see Yaletown, Chinatown, and Gastown. You can then come full circle and finish the day at Canada Place
Of course you don’t have to take the suggested route but it gives you some idea of what a day on the trolley line could be like. Tours also include audio commentary about the city, its attractions, buildings, and history. It was through a trolley tour with his parents in 2006 that John learned things like the amount of rent Starbucks at Thurlow & Robson is charged and the top-secret location of Jean-Claude Van Damme’s condo in Coal Harbour.
Here’s how to enter to win a day pass for you and a friend (valued at $76).
Leave a comment on this post listing your favourite Vancouver attraction (1 entry)
Share on Facebook and comment to confirm here (1 entry)
Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)
I will draw one winner at random from all entries Friday September 10th.
Update The winner is Linda. Thanks to everyone for your input! Looks like there’s a heck of a lot to love about Vancouver and I’m glad locals get out and explore some of our best features.
The ZipCar program will be stationed at 200 Granville Street today handing out free Frosters (Mac’s brand Slurpees) today.
John and I have been ZipCar members since 2008 when they sponsored my membership that year for National Digital Media Day. We then used the service about once a week after that for meetings or getting out to Surrey. You get gas included, 200kms for your trip, and most cars start at $6.30 an hour.
They have dozens of ZipCars located across Vancouver (including hybrids) and one of the selling points for me is that you can use your ZipCard to book cars in other cities across North America as well. We even used a ZipCar pickup truck to move Keira into her new apartment last year.
You can stop on by their setup today to learn more and scoop up a free Froster between 11:00am until 3:00pm.
This weekend we saw the world record for continuous high-fives get smashed at the PNE and coming up next month Vancouver Improv Anywhere will be trying to set their own record for most participants playing a game of Twister.
When:: Sunday, September 12th, 2010 at 2:00pm
Where: MacInnes Field at UBC
Cost: Free to attend however it is their intention to raise money for BC Cancer Research so all 1,150 Twister mats will be available at a minimum donation of $10.
You won’t need to BYOB (bring your own board) as the event is sponsored by Hasbro Canada.
You can RSVP on their Facebook event to receive updates and participants are being advised to arrive early on the 12th if they wish to secure a board.
Vancouver Improv Anywhere will need to confirm 4,200 participants in order to get the world record attempt underway so they’ll do so if you are interested, email improvancouver[at]gmail.com.
