It’s another big year for Vancouver as the city celebrates 125 years since its incorporation and to boot, it has been designated a Cultural Capital of Canada for 2011. This means we can expect public celebrations, exhibits, performances and more throughout the year (many of which are already listed on the CelebrateVancouver125 website). In honor of this recognition and designation, local blog VancouverMom is putting the call out to find the “30 Best Family-Friendly Places to Explore the Arts in Vancouver”.
Some of my picks would be…
The Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art
Museum of Anthropology
Vancouver Art Gallery
Public art walking tours (on your own)
West End or Coal Harbour Community Centres
Granville Island for the Carousel Theatre
Granville Island for the Arts Umbrella
Public can submit their favourite places online until January 31, 2011. VancouverMom then will have the task of putting together the ultimate list for family-friendly art destinations in Vancouver. Follow on Twitter for updates about the poll and everyday family resources.
For the third year in a row, the Food Network has partnered up with local chef and program host Anthony Sedlak to present the ZANTAC® Chili Challenge. Over the last few months recipes have been submitted and today, the top three finalists will cook up their chilis for a panel of judges (including myself) at The Dirty Apron Cooking School.
The winner from the Vancouver competition today will join other regional champs for the national finals in Toronto, February 3rd, 2011. There, the regional winners will square off against two-time reigning chili champ, Mike Callaghan, in a live chili cook-off challenge hosted by Sedlak.
Vancouver isn’t quite known for its chili (however the Gastown Blues Festival hosts a competition each year as well) but it is known for its creative culinary talent. And, while my competition judging experience in the past has involved beer pouring, chowder, and mixology, I’m looking forward to sampling a warm bowl of chili (or three) on this blustery morning.
After the event, I will have photos, recipes, and hopefully the winner’s name so that we can cheer on our local champ when the Food Network finals air.
Update We had a great morning and early afternoon at The Dirty Apron. Three chilis were prepared and sampled, and only one contestant was victorious.
Lori from Invermere with her “Jubilee Whiteout” (chili #1 below) will be heading to the national finals in Toronto. Each was different from the next with ingredients varying from peanut butter and coffee to beer and beef bone marrow.
Contestant meeting with Anthony pre-game
Chili #1
Chili #2
Chili #3
Winner & Anthony
@cwistal showing @anthonysedlak how to add Twitter contacts during a break
It was great to meet Anthony Sedlak and hang out again with Erin Ireland. More photos from the event can be found on Flickr.
It may just be my English blood, or the fact that I saw a great movie recently, but I have become increasingly interested in the visits of British royalty to Vancouver throughout the last century.
May 1939 – King George VI & Queen Elizabeth greeted by Mayor & Mrs. Telford at the C.P.R. Station.
Archives Item# Q P3.2
It was in the summer of 1939 that His Royal Highness King George VI toured across Canada with his consort Queen Elizabeth, “to bolster trans-Atlantic support in the event of war, and to affirm Canada’s status as a self-governing kingdom sharing with Britain the same person as monarch.” Vancouver was included in the trip by rail and the regal pair stopped at the CPR station in Gastown, City Hall, New Westminster, and Surrey.
May 1939 – King George VI & Queen Elizabeth arrive in Vancouver. Archives Item# CVA 371-100
While parks, theatres, and schools bear the name Elizabeth or Elizabeth II today, King George VI has but King George Boulevard (formerly King George Highway & Peach Arch Highway) and subsequently King George SkyTrain station in Surrey named in his honor.
May 1939 – King George VI & Queen Elizabeth. Archives Item# K and Q P8
King George VI passed away in 1952 and was succeeded by his daughter, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. His wife Elizabeth – or as I she was referenced when I was growing up, The Queen Mother – took kindly to Canada and visited more often than others on official and private trips. She was even quoted as telling two war veterans in Quebec, “I am a Canadian!”
May 1939 – King George VI & Queen Elizabeth on viewing stand at City Hall. Archives Item# K and Q P2
His Majesty’s name may not be emblazoned on the title line of plaques or building names in Vancouver however his visit in 1939 was monumental. George IV and Elizabeth II officially opened the Lions Gate Bridge on May 26, 1939 and in 1958 a statue was carved of the king, which now stand by the Woodward Biomedical Library at UBC.
If you have some extra time one day, and if you search very carefully, you may even find the King George VI oak tree that was planted near Brockton Point in Stanley Park on May 12, 1937 on the day of his coronation.
Surrey Winterfest returns for the fourth year next month for a full day of free family fun at Central City. John and I have been covering Winterfest since it first started in 2008 and it’s been fun to watch it grow — especially last year when it transformed into one of the most successful Vancouver 2010 celebration sites. This year the kids activities, food vendors, and maybe even the stilt walkers return Saturday, February 26th, 2011.
Festivities and concerts will run from 12:00pm until 10:00pm with an Olympic Flashback Ceremony at 6:00pm over on the main stage. Free activities include the toboggan hill, the outdoor skating surface, curling zone, road hockey, Kids World, Storyville, the Sustainability Zone, Right to Play / Adaptive Sports, and more.
Live entertainment includes performances by Stef Lang, Shaun Verreault of Wide Mouth Mason, Dr. Strangelove, Kyprios, and headliners Hot Hot Heat. On the secondary stage on the SFU mezzanine they’ll have the Surrey City Orchestra, Surrey Celebration Dance Team, SOULdiers & B-Boys, and Elite’s Most Wanted Bhangra. All shows are free and open to the public.
Winterfest is accessible by SkyTrain, located near the Surrey City Centre station and you can follow @Surrey_Events on Twitter for updates and information.
It’s no secret that Vancouver breeds and nurtures some amazing artistic talents; from Group of Seven members to the contemporary artists of today who get to showcase their works in cafes, galleries, and under the spotlight of the PuSh Festival or last year’s Cultural Olympiad. Some of my favourite Vancouver art is that which depicts our own surroundings — and it’s not always created by locals.
Our colleague Jason has been putting together a wonderful blog called Illustrated Vancouver where he simply posts images of Vancouver that have been sketched, drawn or painted, throughout modern history.
Windy Day, Vancouver from the 1940s, a numbered print seen
for sale by alexandremaps.com at the Vancouver Antiquarian Book Fair, 2010.
Post Link
Seabus by Jessica Gabriel; a large scale oil paint, mixed media and carving on board.
Opening Tuesday, November 30, 2010 till January 2, 2011 at the Cultch.
Post Link
Ode to Kingsway, Volume One, featuring Wally’s Burgers, drawn by Bambi Edlund
Post Link
Ovaltine Cafe, 2010 oil on canvas by Will Rafuse, as seen at the Ian Tan Gallery
Post Link
The site is updated several times a week so I recommend browsing the archives and visiting often to check out the street scene and landscape eye-candy from the talented artists whose works are featured.
