The Eastside Arts Society welcomes art enthusiasts to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the beloved Eastside Culture Crawl and the indelible impact the event has made on the Eastside Arts District community over the past 25 years. The 25th annual Eastside Culture Crawl Visual Art, Design & Craft Festival will feature a new artist livestream schedule, a dedicated appointment-based preview weekend, and the Culture Crawl’s traditional open studio series. The event’s landmark edition offers arts patrons an enhanced opportunity to fully customize their Culture Crawl experience and visit the studios of 400+ artists.
Eastside Culture Crawl. Photo submitted.
25th Annual Eastside Culture Crawl
Preview Weekend:
November 12-14, 2021
Friday, 5:00pm to 10:00pm; Saturday & Sunday, 11:00am to 6:00pm
Reserved appointments only
Open Studio Weekend: November 18-21, 2020
Thursday & Friday 5:00pm to 10:00pm; Saturday & Sunday, 11:00am to 6:00pm
Where:
In-person at various Eastside locations between Columbia St, 1st Ave, Victoria Drive, and the waterfront, and online.
To maximize the Culture Crawl experience and open accessibility for all patrons in Metro Vancouver and beyond, the Eastside Arts Society has created further improvements to its digital presence, including a newly designed and user-friendly website, an artist livestream schedule, appointment booking software, and increased access to artists through 360° virtual studio tours.
For those visitors who wish to attend in-person, the Culture Crawl features two options in 2021.
Based on overwhelmingly positive feedback from 2020, when studio appointment bookings were created for the first time, this year’s event will once again provide a preview weekend November 12-14, reserved for appointments only, cultivating an intimate, quality interactive experience for both artists and guests. And for those Culture Crawl enthusiasts wishing for a more traditional event experience, open studios will return for the event’s main weekend November 18-21, offering patrons the exciting and dynamic energy the event is known for.
Mitch and Murray Productions, in association with Red Gate Revue Stage, presents the Canadian premiere of Snowflakethis December on Granville Island at the Red Gate Revue Stage.
Snowflake. Shimon Photo
The Canadian Premiere of Snowflake
When: December 10 to 23, 2021
December 14 at 8:00pm (2 for 1 Night)
December 15 at 1:00pm (Seniors Only Matinee)
Where: Red Gate Revue Stage (1601 Johnston St, Vancouver)
The critically-acclaimed festive hit by Olivier Award-winning playwright Mike Bartlett is a narrative about generational divides. Andy loves nostalgic television, pints down at the pub, and listening to the whole album from beginning to end. His daughter, Maya, wears good shoes, likes good arguments, and has a secret plan to bring down the government. The trouble is, three years ago Maya left home, and they haven’t spoken since. But this Christmas, she might be coming back. Andy knows she’s going to stay. Maya knows she’s not.
“As the world works to emerge from this global pandemic, we are thrilled to return to live performance with another great play and some inventive educational programming,” says Artistic Director Aaron Craven. “In addition to our December production of SNOWFLAKE, we’ll be community building with our annual Young Actors Scholarship as well as breaking down barriers of access to the arts with a new workshop, ACTING ATYPICAL, which is a foundational exploration of acting for teens and adults on the autism spectrum. Our tenth year promises to be our most rewarding yet.”
Directed by Jennifer Copping and featuring performances by Aaron Craven, Natasha Burnett and Anni Ramsay, SNOWFLAKE is an epic story about generational conflict, fathers and daughters, and whether we’re living in the best or worst of times.
I have two tickets to give away to opening night, live in the theatre, December 10th! Here’s how you can enter to win:
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[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win tickets to the Canadian Premiere of SNOWFLAKE presented by @mitchplusmurray & Red Gate Revue Stage on Granville Island http://ow.ly/Gt3Q50GERLM” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]
I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, November 9, 2021. UPDATE! The winner is: Karen M!
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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — Sponsored by Fort Berens Estate Winery Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
About four times a year (virtually during COVID), a group of old friends comes to together, each bringing a bottle of BC wine to showcase and share, and at the end of the night we vote on a club favourite. Even before my sister announced the theme varietal of our October wine club meeting on our group Facebook page I knew I would be prepared for whatever she selected, because of what arrived in my mailbox just a few days before:
I had just been sent the Fort Berens Estate Winery Explorer’s Pack, featuring six of their wines from their winery in Lillooet, which features a robust selection including: Riesling (2020), Grüner Veltliner (2020), Pinot Gris (2020), Rosé (2020), Meritage (2018), and Cabernet Franc (2018).
When the announcement was made that Riesling would be the theme, I gave myself a high-five as I knew I was bringing something special.
Fort Berens Estate Winery
Fort Berens has grown from humble beginnings selling 170 cases of wine in 2009, to over 10,000 cases in 2020. Today, they have close to 40 acres of vines in the ground, and a cabinet filled with regional, national, and international wine awards.
Growing grapes and producing award-winning wines caught many by surprise in a region better known for ranching and gold mining. The wine community began to take notice of what Fort Berens was doing in 2014 when they were awarded one of BC’s most prestigious awards: the Lieutenant Governor’s Award for Excellence in BC Wines for their Riesling. This was a defining moment. Not only had they shown the viability of grape growing in Lillooet, but having a Fort Berens wine recognized as one of BC’s best wines proved that grapes from Lillooet can be exceptional quality.
They are very committed to working with others in Lillooet and facilitating more grape-growing and wine production in this area. They are also excited about the continued growth of other vineyards in this region. There are now four additional vineyards in Lillooet, and 2019 saw the opening of the second licensed winery in Lillooet with Cliff & Gorge opening on the majestic Texas Creek Ranch. As a region, Fort Berens was thrilled when Lillooet was recognized as a new appellation, reflected with the Lillooet VQA designation.
Their vineyards are planted on sagebrush-covered benchland along the Fraser River with a rain shadow from the Coast Mountain range. This means not only little precipitation but also a very high number of sunshine hours. Average temperatures, growing degree days, and average length of the frost-free period are all similar to the South Okanagan. While Lillooet is located about 180 km further north, its elevation is about 100 meters lower. Very low humidity during the summer and a fairly constant breeze keep their vineyards free from diseases and pests.
The soils are relatively young, deposit from the last ice age, 15,000 years ago. Fluvial glacial deposits, characterized by gravelly, sandy soils, poor in nutrients with rapid draining provide ideal growing conditions for their grapes. Fort Berens’ location in Lillooet is positioned opposite the largest gap in the Coast Mountain range where Cayoosh Creek runs down to meet the Fraser River. This has the advantage of giving them additional sunlight hours and heat from mid-September through early November, when the sun sets in this valley. This gap extends their growing season in this important period for ripening their grapes.
The Explorer’s Pack
When all was said and done, the Fort Berens Riesling was voted the group favourite at wine club. The best part? Someone else brought it too so we were all winners!
2020 Riseling Tasting Notes: On the nose, this lively and fresh Riesling has delicate notes of lychee, rose petal, lemon grass, and dried apricot. It is nicely balanced, slightly off-dry with a rich, creamy texture, and lingering acidity.
I also brought the Grüner Veltliner to wine club, to fit the unofficial Oktoberfest theme and no one had tried that varietal before. This wine features an array of tropical fruit aromas, with hints of ripe stonefruit, yellow apple, honeysuckle, and fruit punch. This very food-friendly wine has a rich, creamy and nutty texture, followed by a zesty aftertaste.
You can order your own Explorer’s Pack – or put together your own pack – to sample the best of this exciting wine region. Use promo code: Ship5 to save $5 on shipping. Throughout the month of November, you can also get the Fort Berens Riesling for $1 off at your local BC Liquor Store or Save-On-Foods.
The province has opened up and so have ticket sales for so many events! As we head into the holiday season, after we pause to reflect on Remembrance Day, there are a lot of fun things to do around the region. Seasonal activities are back, family fun experiences are back, live concerts and theatre are back… it’s going to be a great month.
Join the Unique Get Together Society (“UGTS”) on December 1st for the Get on Board Gala in support of their Black History Month events coming up in February 2022.
This event has been postponed until December, 2022
Get On Board Gala
When: December 1, 2021 from 6:00pm to 11:00pm
Where: The Pipe Shop (115 Victory Ship Way, North Vancouver)
COVID Protocols in place. All guests must be fully vaccinated and be able to show proof of vaccination via QR code at the doors. Guests will also be required to wear a mask when they are not seated. Mingling at other tables will also not be permitted. There will be extra masks and hand sanitizer at your disposable.
Enjoy local entertainment from Northburn Records while savouring an authentic Jamaican dinner by Kiss Yo Mama Jamaican Cuisine and Catering. Guests will have an opportunity to bid on items in our auction, and purchase wine from a wine wall from a local winery, Peller Estates.
Raffle prizes and and live auction products donated by One Thing Designs, Karibu Handcrafted Soaps, Scandinave Spa Whistler, and more. Guests will have an opportunity to browse the live auction upon arrival and browse the wine wall through out the night.
All proceeds will go towards funding the All Aboard: Black History Month Celebration events.
About the Unique Get Together Society
UGTS provides services to assist Indigenous and marginalized families, and individuals, get through hard times, whether that’s through trauma recovery, food hamper delivery, support programs, activities, and more:”
“At Unique Get Together Society, we believe celebrating and learning about all histories and cultures of Canada is important to continue on the path to equity and equality. Many of us don’t have the opportunity to learn about BIPOC history and our present accomplishments that helped shape many cities and provinces in Canada, including Vancouver.
Black History is just as significant as colonial history in North America and gives insight to the many complexities of systemic racism and how that is still affecting BIPOC communities today. We rely on donations and funding to help create these safe spaces for black community members and artists, where they can tell their stories and share their experiences, in order for us all to learn and grow together.”
