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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — Sponsored by ZenSeekers Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
Responsible tourism uplifts travel experiences that create positive impacts for all involved – not just the traveller. Here’s how your travel plans can help build learning and respect and you spend and stay locally, think sustainably, seek and follow the wisdom of your Indigenous hosts and appreciate that travel is a privilege.
My friends at ZenSeekers and the Rural Island Economic Partnership challenge you to visit BC’s Rural Islands respectfully – here’s how!
Learning How to be a Respectful Visitor to BC’s Rural Islands
Gratitude and respect are essential in all healthy interactions–to preserve balance and demonstrate care.
‘Namgis First Nation Hereditary Chief William Cranmer inside the U’mista Cultural Centre in Alert Bay on Cormorant Island. Photo by Melissa Renwick for ZenSeekers.
Starting with Alert Bay on Cormorant Island, home to the ‘Namgis First Nation and one of Canada’s leading Indigenous cultural experiences, the U’mista Cultural Centre. Learn from from ‘Namgis Hereditary Chief William Cranmore and his people to gain perspective on what it has meant for the ‘Namgis to reclaim their heritage and come back transformed.
Whenever I put a rainy photo in my Things to do in Vancouver This Weekend post, there ends up being a gloriously stretch of sunshine Friday to Sunday. However, after months with no significant rainfall, and plenty of clouds with droplets appearing in my weather app, I hope this is an accurate representation of the next few days! But fear not event lovers, there’s still plenty to enjoy even if we need to dust off our Gore-Tex:
Things to do in Vancouver This Weekend October 21-23
In honour of Small Business Week in BC (October 17-21) the YMCA of Greater Vancouver is launching a free self employment program. This is designed to support for people who are unemployed and under-employed who have decided to take on small business operations as their next career step.
Free Self Employment Program from the YMCA
Unemployment numbers continue to be low, with many returning to work post-pandemic, though some remain unemployed or underemployed due to a myriad of disruptions in the economy. Through the pandemic, many have re-evaluated what they want for their career. Self employment provides an option to those who may need flexible work hours, to take care of their family and themselves.
Small Business Week is an opportunity to celebrate entrepreneurs and spark innovation. However, not everyone has the same access to the tools and resources to get their idea off the ground. The YMCA’s Self-Employment Program bridges this gap.
This 48-week, online program includes living supports up to $638 per week while in the program, and gives you the tools to launch your own business.
“Thousands of people have accessed our services in the 36 years of delivering Self-Employment Programs, and we know that with the right framework and support, people can build successful and sustainable careers,” says Kirsty Peterson, Director of Employment & Training, YMCA of Greater Vancouver.
The program takes participants from business concept, all the way to running day-to-day business operations. A highly skilled team of experts will provide blended support through one-on-one coaching, email, and the use of a Learning Management System. The YMCA’s Teams will coach participants to translate business concepts into viable business launches and each participant will create and deliver a comprehensive business plan at course completion.
Following the digital pivot of the company’s annual storytelling project, Zee Zee Theatre returns to a free, in-person model with The Rainbow Elders & Allies Collection. Co-curated by Allan Morgan, Melanie Ray, Alysha Collie, and Dallas Yellowfly, this year’s theme amplifies the stories of 2SLGBTQI+ elders whose histories have led to the advancements of Vancouver’s queer history, and future.
Zee Zee’s 12th edition of this community engagement project provides the opportunity for event-goers to speak one-on-one with a Rainbow Elder to break down their ideas of difference, twenty minutes at a time.
The Rainbow Elders & Allies Collection
When: November 5-6 and 12-13, 2022
Where: Vancouver Public Library, Central Branch (350 W Georgia St)
Admission: No RSVP necessary. Sign up at the door of the Third Floor Atrium
“The stories of our Rainbow Elders come from the perspective of a singular experience in the history of the world. Many of us navigated through a time where being homosexual was diagnosed as a mental illness, and societal disdain rampant and dangerous” says co-curator, Allan Morgan. “The changes we have witnessed and advocated for have changed the landscape immensely. Through these simple tales from our elders shared one-on-one with another human, we can help weave the tapestry of our rainbow cloth.”
Meant to build intergenerational understanding and dismantle misconceptions, Producer Jordy Matheson reminds audiences that this event “consists of storytellers of diverse sexualities, genders, and lived experience sharing true stories from their lives. As an audience participant you get the chance to sit across from one of these storytellers in a 20 minute one-on-one experience. Because so much of LGBTQ2SI+ history has not been documented, it is vital to listen to the people who hold this history, to remember them, and to carry these stories forward. Some are painful, others heartwarming, but all deserve to be told.”
Through these explorations of story, division is tackled head on in a safe, and accessible space in order to find common ground, and narrow the ideological gaps that divide us. As Vancouver’s Rainbow Elders battled power structures in order to live proudly today, The Rainbow Elders & Allies Collection reminds us that there is empowerment in experience, and perspective, as knowledge of our histories can only lead to a prouder and louder future.
For more information about Zee Zee’s upcoming events, follow on Facebook and Instagram.
Vancouver Opera is opening its 2022–2023 season this month with a full-scale production of Georges Bizet’s The Pearl Fishers and you can enter to win tickets!
This dramatic opera tells the tale of two devoted friends and the woman that comes between them. The famous “friendship duet”, Au fond du temple saint, is one of the most beautiful and recognizable pieces in the opera repertoire.
Vancouver Opera Presents the Pearl Fishers
When: October 22 and 27 at 7:30pm; October 30 at 2:00pm
Where: Queen Elizabeth Theatre (630 Hamilton St, Vancouver)
Tickets: Single tickets for the 2022–2023 season start at $50 and are available now through the Vancouver Opera box office online or at 604-683-0222. Those who want to become a member of the Vancouver Opera family can be come a subscriber. Choose from one of five subscriptions to experience Vancouver Opera with the best seats at the best price and a flexible refund policy.
From the composer of Carmen, The Pearl Fishers’ transcendent beauty, lush orchestration and Bizet’s trademark melodies will transport audiences. This is the first production of this classic opera in 28 years! It is directed by Vancouver favourite Rachel Peake, and Conductor Kamna Gupta will make her Vancouver Opera debut.
Cast in the tenor role of Nadir is Aaron Blake, making his Vancouver Opera debut. Singing the baritone role of Zurga is Canadian Phillip Addis who has performed all over the world. Audiences will remember him from Vancouver Opera productions of La Bohème and The Marriage ofFigaro. Canadian-Lebanese soprano, Miriam Khalil sings the role of Leila in her Vancouver Opera debut. Canadian-Armenian bass-baritone, Vartan Gabrielian performs the role of Nourabad.
Win Tickets
I have a pair of tickets to give away to the performant on October 27th, here’s how you can enter to win:
The Pearl Fishers is sung in French with English SURTITLES™ projected above the stage. You can learn more about the story on the website before you go. Follow Vancouver Opera on Twitter and Facebook for more information.
