February is here, adding a whole bunch of new events to the calendar with festivals, theatre, community fun and so much more all starting this weekend. Find the full list of weekend event in Vancouver below!
The Vancouver Art Gallery presents Celebrating Black Futures, a month-long program focusing on the intersection of art, film, and poetry. This bespoke line-up, brought together in honour of Black History Month, celebrates the exciting new wave of Black art and cinema from Vancouver and around the world.
Vancouver Art Gallery Celebrating Black Futures
The Gallery has partnered with the Vancouver International Film Festival (VIFF) to present four film screenings that speak to the future of Black and African cinema. The program presents a contemporary snapshot of the multilateral nature of African, African American, Caribbean and Black Canadian culture and cinema. The series launches on Thursday, February 8, with a special evening of live jazz followed by a screening of Sam Pollard and Ben Shapiro’s Max Roach:TheDrum Also Waltzes (2023).
In addition to the film lineup, the Gallery’s first-ever Poet in Residence Jillian Christmas will mark her residency with Day of Delight at the Gallery. The building will be brought to life through thoughtful conversations, workshops, flower crown-making and a poetic tour of the exhibition Denyse Thomasos: just beyond. Celebrate Black History Month as a family on Monday, February 19 at Family Day at the Gallery. Admission includes painting workshops, exhibition tours, poetry readings with I Dream Library, paper flower making and Jillian Christmas’ reading of her children’s book The Magic Shell.
Scheduled Events
Celebrating Black Futures Opening Night featuring jazz from the Feven Kidane Sextet and screening of Max Roach: The Drum Also Waltzes Thursday, February 8 at 5:30pm | VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver) Tickets available for booking online
Film Screening: All the Colours of the World Are Between Black and White Thursday February 15 at 6:30pm | VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver) Tickets available for booking online
Short Film Showcase Thursday, February 22 at 7:00pm and 8:15pm | VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver) Tickets available for booking online
Film Screening: When Morning Comes Thursday, February 29 at 6:30pm | VIFF Centre (1181 Seymour St, Vancouver) Tickets available for booking online
Day of Delight | Jillian Christmas in Conversation with David-George Morgan Friday, February 16 at 5:30pm | Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby At, Vancouver) Tickets available for booking online
Day of Delight | Beloved: Flower Crown Workshop Friday, February 16 at 2:00pm | Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby At, Vancouver) Tickets available for booking online
Family Day at the Gallery Monday, February 19 from 11:00am to 4:00pm | Vancouver Art Gallery (750 Hornby At, Vancouver) Tickets available for booking online
Follow Vancouver Art Gallery on Facebook for updates and more information.
Cultural celebrations, Family Day, community events, and lots of foodie experiences fill the February event list for Metro Vancouver. See what’s in store during this bustling month, and be sure to check this list often as it’s updated every day!
The Unknown Comedy Club has announced The Underground Comedy Railroad, a five city stand up comedy tour with 8 shows this month, is coming to Vancouver on February 24th.
The Underground Comedy Railroad Tour 2024
Date: Saturday, February 24, 2024
Time: 7:00pm and 9:00pm
Location: The MOTN (1826 Triumph St, Vancouver)
Admission: Tickets available online for the 7:00pm and 9:00pm shows in Vancouver
Each year The Underground Comedy Railroad invites local Black comedians to perform on each stop of the tour increasing their opportunities to reach a larger audience, and often to perform on stages they might not otherwise have the opportunity to perform on. The showcases celebrate the 12th anniversary of the annual tour that has travelled across Canada during Black History Month since 2012.
Beginning February 3 in Toronto, the tour hits the road with Black comedians from across Canada including tour co-founders Rodney Ramsey and Daniel Woodrow, plus Tamara Shevon, and Keesha Brownie, with special guests Travis Lindsay, Violet Gray, Akeem Hoyte-Charles, Simone Holder, and Peter Bowen.
About the Tour
The tour was created by Rodney Ramsey and Daniel Woodrow in 2012 to create opportunities and introduce the voices of black Canadian comedians to new audiences abroad. Every year a new line-up of comics is selected for their hilarious and uniquely Canadian comedic perspectives on everything from race to everyday life. The Underground Comedy Railroad is now well known for being the first ever all black comedy tour in the country, bringing diverse perspectives to regions who have never experienced this kind of unique cultural event.
The Year of the Dragon is almost here and there are community celebrations, workshops, the parade in Chinatown, and events all around Vancouver to ring in the Lunar New Year.
Chinatown Spring Festival Parade
The Chinatown Spring Festival Parade is happening Sunday, February 11th. Starting out at the Millennium Gate (near 88 Pender St) at 11:00am the parade will feature various dance troupes, community groups, and the largest assembly of lion dance teams in Canada.
The 1.3 km route starts at the Millennium Gate on Pender Street (between Shanghai Alley and Taylor Street), proceeds east along Pender Street, turns south onto Gore Street, turns west onto Keefer Street and then ends on Keefer at Abbott.
Marking the 50th anniversary of the Lunar New Year Parade in Chinatown, Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association (VCBIA) expects the event to draw over 100,000 visitors into the neighbourhood to celebrate the rich cultural heritage of the community.
Metropolis at Metrotown Photo Submitted
Attractions
Lunar New Year at Chinese Canadian Museum: The Chinese Canadian Museum is celebrating its first Lunar New Year February 10-11 with special tea tastings, craft workshops, lion dances, added guided tours, and Chinese calligraphy demonstrations.
The Lantern City Lunar New Year in Vancouver: Collaborating with Eastside Arts Society, Indigenous artists, Asian Canadian artists, and more, The Lantern City installations for the Lunar New Year return to four sites around Vancouver in February.
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden: During and after the parade on Sunday, February 11, enjoy Lunar New Year performances, fortune-telling, cultural street cuisines and more to begin a prosperous new year from 12:00pm to 5:00pm. Tickets are available online. Also at the garden, the Lunar New Year Let It Glow! Light Engraving Workshop is February 10th from 10:30am to 12:30pm. Tickets for that are also available online.
Celebrate Lunar New Year with a free family friendly event hosted by the Chinese Village Club at the Museum of Surrey on February 24th.
In the West End neighbourhood enjoy public art displays and an installation at Robson & Cardero, plus a lion dance ceremony at the Robson Public Market on February 10th at 3:30pm.
The Vancouver Chinatown Foundation presents Taste of Chinatown. The three-day festival will run from February 9 to 11 featuring a specialty food pop-up in the Chinatown Storytelling Centre, the Lunar New Year Parade, glowing lights and lanterns, walking tours, and a passport program that offers exciting prize draws, all throughout the 16 blocks surrounding Vancouver’s Chinatown.
Dragon Boat BC is hosting an open house of their new Chinatown Hub on February 11th.
Lunar New Year market at UBC Botanical Garden: The market, February 3-4, has expanded to include 40 vendors and four food trucks. Guests can expect family-friendly crafts workshops, as well as a lion dance and kung fu performances.
MONOVA (Museum & Archives of North Vancouver): On February 10th, explore traditional New Year customs, try writing couplets, and learn about dragon imagery throughout history while drawing your own dragon. Storytelling, snacks, and daikon cake tasting are also available throughout the day.
Oakridge Park is inviting the community to celebrate the Year of the Dragon at the Oakridge Park Lunar New Year Celebration at the Fairmont Pacific Rim. Now in its sixth year, the festivities are happening until February 25, 2024 with daily programming from 11:00am to 6:00pm. This will include family-focused activities such as children’s ballet classes in collaboration with the award-winning Goh Ballet Academy, Lunar New Year family portraits, floral arrangement workshops, live musical performances and more.
Shopping Centres
Guests in Metro Vancouver at CF Richmond Centre and CF Pacific Centre can immerse themselves in vibrant displays, providing picturesque backdrops for memorable moments. Enjoy festive live music featuring traditional Chinese instruments, paying homage to the Year of the Dragon, the zodiac sign for 2024.
Metropolis at Metrotown will host festivities February 9-24. BC’s largest shopping centre will usher in the Year of the Dragon with a series of performances, workshops, and traditional displays.
Lansdowne Centre hosts a LEGO display, artisan market, lions dances, family portrait session and more from February 3-25.
