This year’s Victory Square Block Party happens this Sunday, September 5th in the iconic meeting place on the edge of Gastown.

Festivities will be at Cambie and Hastings from 2:00pm until 9:00pm and the Block Party is totally free for the public. Music and comedic guests include: The Pack AD, The Tranzmitors, Apollo Ghosts, Lord Beginner, Makeout Videotape, Sex Church, Ora Organ, Charlie Demers, and more.

The Victory Square Block Party is presented by the Music Waste Festival which you can follow on Facebook or Twitter for updates and events.

The Vancouver International Fringe Festival launches next week with over 600 performances from 83 shows at over two dozen venues around the city. From September 9th until the 19th Fringe will host shows from pop-up “Bring Your Own Venues” outdoors around Vancouver to seven main stages.

The Boy Who Had A Mother will be performed at the Festival this year from September 10th until the 18th at Studio 16.

“This dark comedy, written and performed by Jeff McMahan, follows the life of Dan McIntosh as he grows up with a father who doesn’t know best and a mother who thinks she’s given birth to the second coming of Christ. A young man grows up with a mentally ill mother and an ill-prepared father. We follow his life from conception to adulthood when he decides to move back into his mother’s house to help save her from herself. But it may be him who needs saving.”

I have two tickets to give away for this performance, on a day that can be selected by the winner. To enter to win, please leave a comment below. I will draw a winner tomorrow morning at 9:00am.

You can follow @AsylumTheatre on Twitter for performance and festival updates. This is the first of a series of Fringe Festival giveaways that I will be running this week.

Update The winner for this performance is Darko. Congratulations and have fun at the performance!

The Davie Day Street Festival in Vancouver’s West End takes place Saturday September 11th.

Davie Street will be closed from Burrard to Broughton for a full day of family-friendly entertainment and activities. This giant block party will feature a main stage for live acts, a market, and plenty of food from the restaurants along the way.

There will be 8 “zones” along the street including: Community, KidZone, Arts & Culture, Heritage, Lifestyle, Doggy, Sustainability, and Relax. It’s totally free to attend and the festivities will run from 12:00pm until 7:00pm.

One of downtown’s hidden gems is the Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art, just off Georgia, on Hornby Street. Here you’ll find a breathtaking collection of Reid’s art that varies from wire sculptures and a diamond necklace, to tribute carvings and statues.

I was fortunate enough to be given a private tour from Bill’s widow, Dr. Martine Reid. We walked around for about an hour as she spoke of intricate techniques as well as heartfelt personal stories about specific pieces. Continue reading this post ⟩⟩

On this day in Vancouver history, Elvis Presley performed one song at Empire Stadium before he had to leave the stage due to crazed fans battling with local police. He came back on stage after a few minutes and played four more songs [source]. The screams from the crowd were so loud that no one could even hear The King perform.

1957, Elvis kneeling on top of the CKNW reporter table
VPL Accession Number: 61263
Photo credit: Unknown

Red Robinson wrote on his website: “Vancouver was the biggest success story on the whole tour. I was proud to be part of the success that day as I had tried in vain to get Elvis here for a year and a half. This was the first celebrity to ever rent stadiums and he could do it because he was a giant, even then. He had completed two movies, had great success with his recordings up to that time going to the top of the charts and his appearances on the Milton Berle, Ed Sullivan, and Steve Allen TV shows were ratings monsters. He was a true sensation. I have always stated that this was his biggest show of that tour but to hear Elvis himself say that it was is the icing on the cake.”

1957, PNE officials and military restraining Elvis fans
VPL Accession Number: 61270
Photo credit: The Province Newspaper

1957, Elvis Presley with a CKNW reporter
VPL Accession Number: 61272
Photo credit: The Province Newspaper