The Richmond Museum has announced that the 15th annual Doors Open Richmond (“DOR”) returns this spring as a free, in-person and online event from June 2–5, 2022. This year’s edition features 35 sites representing the city’s cultural diversity and rich heritage, including 21 that will welcome visitors in-person. There are also five new sites that are participating in DOR for the first time.
Anar Persian Cuisine, Gulf of Georgia Cannery, and Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site. Photos courtesy of the sites.
Doors Open Richmond 2022
When: All in-person activities will take place on June 4–5, and will be complemented by virtual content available from June 2.
Where: At 35 sites online and in-person
Admission: Free! Most in-person programs/tours require advance registration, with a select number of sites offering drop-in activities. Find drop-in and registration info online here.
The in-person program offers visitors a wide range of activities. Saint Germain Bakery, one of the new sites this year, will give tours of their central facility where cakes and pastries are produced. Tours will conclude with sample tastings. Richmond Media Lab will show how to bring drawings and figurines to life using the magic of stop-motion technology. Visitors can experience a day in the life of a firefighter at Fire Hall #1, Richmond’s largest and busiest fire hall, with hands-on activities and demonstrations. Family-run restaurant Anar Persian Cuisine will offer an introduction to Persian food, customs, and traditions.
A special shuttle tour will be available on June 4 taking visitors to various places of worship along No. 5 Road, also known as the “Highway to Heaven.” The tour will stop at the Az-Zahraa Islamic Centre, Lingyen Mountain Temple, and the Richmond Jamia Mosque.
The online component of Doors Open Richmond will be available from June 2 on the Richmond Museum’s website. Highlights include new videos that offer an inside look at the important work of Immigrant Services Society of BC and The Kehila Society, a partnership of Jewish communal organizations.
Site List:
In-Person
Anar Persian Cuisine Artefact Storage Facility for City of Richmond Az-Zahraa Islamic Centre Branscombe House Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site Fire Hall #1 Gulf of Georgia Cannery National Historic Site Lingyen Mountain Temple (Canada) Richmond Art Gallery Richmond City Hall Richmond Eastern Catholic Church Richmond Jamia Mosque (Sunni Muslim Congregation) Richmond Media Lab Richmond Museum Richmond Public Art Richmond Public Library Richmond RCMP – City Centre Community Police Office Saint Germain Bakery Central Facility [NEW] Steveston Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre The Blue Cabin Floating Artist Residency [NEW]
Online
Fairchild Radio AM1470 & FM96.1 Fairchild TV & Talentvision Immigrant Services Society of BC [NEW] London Farm Heritage Site Nanaksar Gurdwara Gursikh Temple Richmond Caring Place Society Richmond Family Place Society Richmond Olympic Experience Scotch Pond Heritage Site Sea Island Heritage Society Steveston Japanese Buddhist Temple Steveston Tram S.U.C.C.E.S.S Richmond Service Centre [NEW] The Kehila Society of Richmond [NEW] Vancouver International Buddhist Progress Society
Established in 2008, Doors Open Richmond is the longest-running Doors Open event in British Columbia.
The Vancouver Craft Beer Week (VCBW) Craft Beer & Music Festival is returning to the PNE Fairgrounds this summer. The Festival will feature over 150 craft beers and ciders, with an entertainment lineup led by Bedouin Soundclash, art displays, and Vancouver chef pop-ups and food trucks.
VCBW Vancouver Craft Beer & Music Festival
When: July 9-10, 2022
Where: PNE Fairgrounds (2901 E. Hastings, Vancouver)
After being taken over by seasoned new ownership, VCBW is on its way to becoming the largest craft beer, art and music festival in the Pacific Northwest.
Returning bigger and better than ever before, VCBW is set to be a summer celebration for all, attracting more than just craft beer fans from around the Lower Mainland and beyond. You can view the full beer and cider lineup here.
Entertainment Lineup
Attendees can anticipate live music performances from top Canadian artists Bedouin Soundclash, Titus Bank, Half Moon Run, Skratch Bastid and Missy D on the Stanley Park Brewing SunSetter Live Stage
Food Lineup
Vancouver chef pop-ups and food trucks including Rosie’s BBQ & Smokehouse, Indish Food Truck, Dos Amigos, The Real Patty Co, The Wandering Mollusk, Salty’s Lobster Shack, Cazba Persian Grill, BKH Jerky, and Jamoneria by ARC (Arc Iberico).
This May Long Weekend, events in Vancouver include baseball, theatre, comic arts, a bird celebration, movies and more. Around the region, check out another Burnaby Blooms event on Saturday at Central Park, enjoy free admission to Summer at Burnaby Village Museum, taste all the delights at the Richmond Night Market, and more!
The innovative youth academy Ethọ́s Lab is moving into their first permanent home in Mount Pleasant and will be celebrating with a public block party on June 18th. The Black-led organization has been offering virtual, STEAM-based education (science, technology, engineering, arts, math) within an antiracist, technology-forward framework throughout the pandemic, and will now be able to add in-person programming.
Ethọ́s Lab members Eden-Belle and Mary Lou take a break from mural painting. Photo submitted.
Ethọ́s Lab Opens in Mount Pleasant
What: Opening Block Party
When: Saturday, June 18 from 10:00am to 8:00pm
Where: 177 East 3rd Ave, Vancouver
Admission: Free!
Open to teens between 12–18 years old, the after-school curriculum includes weekly sessions led by industry professionals like engineers and artists, open studios where members can creatively apply the skills they have learned, and safe spaces to socialize.
“Ethọ́s Lab was founded to increase access and representation in STEAM,” says parent and founder Anthonia Ogundele.
“These past two years have shown us that this goal is more important than ever before. The ‘metaverse’ has become a hot topic since Facebook’s name change to Meta, the rise of NFTs, and the digital pivot the world underwent at the start of the pandemic. Parents are realizing that their kids need equitable access to tools and information that will help them challenge and shape a digital future that is quickly arriving upon us. We need young, diverse voices co-creating innovative solutions and leading change, in order to ensure we aren’t just perpetuating antiquated, unjust systems — whether those hierarchies are found in coding, urban planning, or the art market. We can’t wait to connect with even more young people with our new home in Mount Pleasant.”
The organization is housed inside a new building owned by the City of Vancouver and operated over the next 60 years by non-profit cultural organization 221A in collaboration with the Community Land Trust. In addition to a nearly 1,000-sq.-ft. dedicated space, Ethọ́s Lab has shared access to a 2,700-sq.-ft. production facility.
The site is the physical manifestation of the thriving community that Ethọ́s Lab built in their own proprietary metaverse over the pandemic, a virtual hub called Atlanthọ́s that was co-created with youth members and developed by local tech start-up Active Replica. Now, the organization will be a hub for the broader community, a place for members and their families to gather and collaborate.
The space features a mix of organic, sustainable materials and digital elements, and makes use of the site’s natural light. Local firm Tectonic Architecture, which prioritizes community-based work, led design discussions with youth members — also known as Ethósians — to ensure their vision was incorporated into the space. Comic artist and illustrator Jazz Gordon-Gillquist and Chase Gray (who recently designed the Vancouver Canucks’ First Nations Night warmup jersey) created an original mural in collaboration with curator Krystal Paraboo. Microsoft, Sony, and Heritage Office Furnishings equipped and furnished the space.
At the block party on June 18th, the public is welcome to drop in throughout the day to meet staff, Ethósians, and participate in the types of programming that the organization offers members. Activities will include virtual reality tours of Atlanthọ́s, a workshop on urban ecology, an OpenProcessing workshop on how to make art with code, a video game competition, and demonstrations from Microsoft and Active Replica. Barbecue will be available on-site in the afternoon and evening.
The party also marks the end of the organization’s $100,000 in 100 Days fundraising campaign. To date, $75,000 has been raised — Ethọ́s Lab hopes to reach its goal by the end of the block party. Donations can be made online here.
Summer Camps at Ethọ́s Lab
Registration is now open for Ethọ́s Lab’s two in-person summer camps, which are centred on the theme “Solarpunk Summer.” The July 11–15 camp will focus on sustainable fashion, with an emphasis on sneaker design, and the August 8–12 camp will explore urban wildlife and nature. Additional summer programs include an upcoming pilot project, Ethọ́s Lab Gaming Studio, with support from EA.
Follow on Instagram for updates about the Block Party, Summer Camps, general news and programming.
A cornerstone in the Japanese-Canadian theatre canon, Yellow Fever is an award-winning comic mystery by R.A. Shiomi. It will be closing out the Firehall Arts Centre’s reunion 2021-2022 season and this is the first time in over 30 years that the production will be presented in Nihonmachi (Japantown) here in Vancouver.
Yellow Fever at the Firehall Arts Centre
This special production will mount the production in the style of a radio play.
When: May 28 to June 12, 2022
Performance Times: Tuesday-Saturday 7:30pm; Saturday and Sunday 3:00pm; Wednesday 1:00pm (pay what you like)
Where: Firehall Arts Centre (280 E. Cordova St, Vancouver)
Yellow Fever is an award-winning comic mystery by R.A. Shiomi that follows hard-nosed private eye ‘Sam Shikaze’ as he investigates the disappearance of the mysterious ‘Cherry Blossom Queen’. Set on Powell Street in the 1970s,the play deftly navigates complex threads of political intrigue, racism, and police corruption with a sharp wit and fast-paced dialogue.
A cornerstone in the Japanese-Canadian theatre canon, this is the first time in over 30 years that Yellow Fever will be presented in Nihonmachi (Japantown), the neighbourhood in which it is set.
Enter to Win
I have a pair of tickets to opening night (June 1 at 7:30pm) to give away, here’s how you can enter to win:
“In choosing to bring Yellow Fever back to the Firehall for our Reunion Season – 34 years after we first produced it – I was considering how times appear to have changed, but have they really?,” says Spencer.
“In creating the work, playwright Rick Shiomi cleverly introduces us to a private detective whose beat is Vancouver’s Powell Street after the Second World War. It seems on the surface that times have changed, and a very determined Japanese- Canadian, Kenji Kadota, has been allowed to join the police force. However, when the Cherry Blossom Queen goes missing, his connection between civic duty and community are put into question. With Associate Director Raugi Yu and the wonderfully talented creative team, we are exploring a staging concept that is part radio drama and part live performance, with audiences taking a role as the studio audience, hearing and seeing the radio drama being created.”
Directed by Donna Spencer and featuring performances by Hiro Kanagawa, Craig Erickson, Yukari Komatsu, Henry Mah, Jay Ono, Evan Rein, Agnes Tong and Raugi Yu, with stage management by Caryn Fehr. Follow the Firehall Arts Centre on Facebook for more info.
