As we prepare to welcome the world in just 15 days I thought I would take a look back at the last time Vancouver hosted an event of global proportions. I was recently sent a copy of the book, Vancouver’s Expo 86 to read and review.
Expo 86 was a multi-month world’s fair that took place across, over and through downtown Vancouver by land and sea welcoming over 22 million visitors. With the theme of “transportation” its nickname became “Transpo 86” with some of its legacies being the SkyTrain, Canada Place, Science World and the Coquihalla Highway.
The bulk of Expo took place along the vacant industrialized shores of north False Creek. Once the fair moved out the area lay restless and dormant until the City of Glass began to be developed and the shimmering towers of Yaletown emerged.
The book, “Vancouver’s Expo 86” features an amazing personal collection of photographs from author Bill Cotter and I love that it highlights that it was also timed around Vancouver’s 100th birthday. The way its laid out is pretty much like a photo essay, which helps tell a very detailed story of how Expo even came to be and what it grew into.
Seeing photos of pavilions coming together is almost eerie as Vancouverites can walk around today and see the same sort of thing happening in some of the same areas. You can also view the McBarge in all its floating burger-selling glory as well as profiles of every participating nation’s pavilion.
Each chapter represents a “zone”… Purple, Red, Blue, Pink, Green and Yellow. The first thing that pops into my head are those colour-coded benches that live on in some form scattered across the Lower Mainland. To date, I have spotted some down along the promenade in White Rock and also at Cultus Lake Park.
All of the pictures are in black and white, which I assume is for consistency, and the book does end rather abruptly after profiling the USA pavilion. Other than that, it’s a great virtual photo-walk through Vancouver in 1986. I would recommend Vancouver’s Expo 86 for long-time residents (to take that stroll down memory lane) or those newer to Vancouver as the maps and images tell a story of a not-so-different time in our city.
Disclosure: cmp.ly/1 – I was given a review copy of the book.
Lead organizer and videogame veteran, Brenda Bailey Gershkovitch says, “Like many Canadians, our hearts go out to Haiti. My husband, Eli and I are both take action type of people and we decided to gather our network around a long-term sustainable project: clean drinking water. With Steamworks hosting the event and the help of friends in the music and digital media industries, we’re hopeful that Thursday night will raise enough money to launch this project for Haiti.”
Funds raised throughout the evening and from ticket sales will be donated to the Unicef Safe Water Project‘s initiatives in Haiti, with matching funds from CIDA.
The theme is “Beer for Water” and tickets can be purchased for $25. With each ticket you will get a beer and a choice of burger and fries. There will also be live entertainment from Adaline, DJ Revise, Echo Pilot and The Zoe Trio. The videogame sector has also donated prizes for a silent auction.
Register online to make your donation and stop by Steamworks tonight (January 28th, 2010) from 7:00pm until 10:00pm.
This morning a beautiful time lapse video of Vancouver was floating around Twitter (it’s the first video in the following series). This has inspired me to create a quick gallery post of some of my favourite time lapse videos of our fair city.
Simply put, the Vancouver 2010 Olympics would not be possible without the support of the Four Host First Nations (FHFN) who will share their land and culture with the world during the Games.
The Tsleil-Waututh, Musqueam, Lil’wat and Squamish Nations will be hosting over fifty free events for the public from February 12th until the 28th at the Aboriginal Pavilion. This will be located at West Georgia and Hamilton Street, in the plaza of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre.
Photo Credit: B Johnny – Artist’s rendering of pavilion & dome
“This Pavilion is our Longhouse. This is where we will welcome friends, family and visitors,” said Tsleil-Waututh Chief George-Wilson. “The Olympic focus on youth and on sport, combined with the experiences this Pavilion will offer, will become a very positive story to be told and celebrated by many generations to come.” – FHFN
Here are just a few of the activities that will feature the FHFN culture along with Inuit, First Nations and Metis:
February 12, 2010 Buffy Sainte-Marie
Performances at 9:30pm and 11:00pm
February 14, 2010 – February 28, 2010 We Are Here
A daily multi-media experience presented by the Four Host First Nations.
Six shows at 5:30pm, 6:00pm, 6:30pm, 7:00pm, 7:30pm and 8:00pm
February 16, 2010 Our Land, Our Nation, Our History
Presented by The Grand Council of the Crees and led by Grand Chief Matthew Coon Come and Deputy Grand Chief Ashley Iserhoff. Performers will present Cree songs, legends and storytelling according to the four seasons: Spring, Fruit of our Culture; Summer, Fruit of our People; Fall, Fruit of our Nation; Winter, Fruit of our Survival.
Four shows at 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm and 2:00pm
February 20, 2010 The People Behind the Inukshuk
Presented by Inuit Tapiriit Kanatami. The Canadian Arctic will warm up the audience to a national Inuit performance that celebrates traditional Inuit throat singing, Western Arctic and Eastern Arctic styles of drum dancing and traditional Inuit games of agility and strength.
Four shows at 11:00am, 12:00pm, 1:00pm and 2:00pm
February 22, 2010 Royal House of Hip Hop
DJs, rappers and hip hop royalty including Feenix, Team Rez Official, Ostwelve, Kaiva and Def 3.
Performance at 9:30pm until 12:00am
40 Years and Still Strong
Presented by the Dene Nation (Northwest Territories). Dene artists and athletes performing their unique, lively and fast paced handgames competition, exhibition and drum dancing. Come enjoy Dene culture, heritage and language at its finest with entertainment from across the Land of Denendeh.
Exhibit at 11:00am until 3:00pm
February 28, 2010 The Road Forward
Commissioned by the Vancouver 2010 Cultural Olympiad
Six shows at 6:00pm, 6:30pm, 7:00pm, 7:30pm, 8:00pm and 8:30pm
You can follow the Four Host First Nations account on Twitter for more information and daily updates. I would also like to encourage readers to check out the FHFN website as they have lots of images, history, and even ringtone downloads available.
Earlier this week I profiled all of the national pavilions and hospitality houses (that I knew of) that will be setup during the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games. Some were easy to look up while more research was required for others. One pavilion that has supplied me with more than enough material is the House of Switzerland Canada who will be setting up shop at Bridges on Granville Island and the Mountain Club in Whistler.
Here is a rundown of what they have planned over the next few weeks:
February 5th and 6th, 2010
From 4:30pm until 6:30pm there is public open house in both Vancouver & Whistler locations to learn about the House of Switzerland will be doing during the Games.
Daily Events from February 5th until February 28th, 2010
Medal ceremonies and celebrations for Swiss Athletes
‘Swiss Days’ celebration of traditional Swiss culture
Give-aways from Zimtstern (makers of my hat, among other things)
Culinary creations from Swiss Chefs
Live broadcasts of Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympic Games
Complimentary Pure Swiss bottled water for each guest
Childrens’ Entertainment by the famous Globi – the “Mickey Mouse†of Switzerland
Personalized Nespresso coffee, served by World Barista Champion Sammy Piccolo
Ricola give-away day
Free samples from cheeses of Switzerland
‘Swiss Biscuit Day’ with free samples from Swiss biscuit maker HUG
Live music with musicians from St. Moritz – daily ten-minute sets
Switzerland’s Official Broadcast studio set-up in Bridges Restaurant
Complimentary wifi for accredited media
Tweetups, watch @HOSCanada2010 for daily information
Valentine’s Day event (still a surprise)
When you visit you can also enter for a chance to win a trip for two to St. Moritz Switzerland valued at $10,000 including 5-star accommodation at luxurious Hotel Kempinski or Hotel Badrutt’s Palace.
You can get to Bridges by taking the new (free) Olympic Line Streetcar to Granville Island which will be home to many pavilions as the all-encompassing French Quarter. You can catch the streetcar from the Canada Line’s Olympic Village station.
As we prepare to welcome the world in just 15 days I thought I would take a look back at the last time Vancouver hosted an event of global proportions. I was recently sent a copy of the book, Vancouver’s Expo 86 to read and review.
