It’s Family Day Long Weekend in Vancouver which has contributed to an excellent line up events and activities for you to enjoy online and beyond this Friday to Monday. There is Valentine’s Day entertainment, Lunar New Year programs, Black History Month talks, take-home activities and crafts, free admission at some local attractions, and much more:
The Cultch presents Mx, a boundary-pushing, bouffon-inspired work that explores what it means to be mixed-race and Black in the world today. Using bold risks, sharp comedy, and African mythology, Mx cracks open struggles of identity and belonging through the lens of a character stuck in the in-between.
Emily Jane King, Lili Robinson, Alisha Davidson. Photo Christache Ross
The Cultch Presents Mx
Where:Online When: February 18-21 & 24, 2021 Tickets: Single tickets $29. Also available as part of The Fuse Box or The Cultch’s 2-Box Subscription Package.
Co-directed by Donna-Michelle St. Bernard and Jiv Parasram, written by Lili Robinson with dramaturg Joanna Garfinkel, and starring Lili Robinson, Alisha Davidson, Emily Jane King, and Ivy Charles.
Beneath layers of identity, can blood equal belonging?
What of our culture lives within us, and how much is determined by our upbringing? If a part of your identity has never been nurtured, do attempts to rekindle it amount to appropriation?
Seeking answers to these questions, our gender-questioning and mixed-race protagonist, Max, meets the famed Mz Nancy, our host for the night. Witty and glamorous, Nancy seems to have an answer for everything… but, as Max discovers, things are never black and white.
Post-Show Talkbacks
February 18, stay and hangout with the Mx team and other audience members in our digital re-creation of The Cultch on Gather.Town (created by The Cultch’s Digital Storytelling Team). Unlike a Zoom hangout, Gather.Town lets you choose who you want to talk with at any moment, join spontaneous smaller group conversations as you approach new people, and freely explore at your own pace.
February 19 & 20, join the Mx team for a post-show talk-back on Zoom following these performance—hosted by Community Partner BlackChat Vancouver.
For more information follow The Cultch on Facebook.
The BC Sports Hall of Fame presents its latest exhibit, Paddles Up! in honour of the The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival.
BC Sports Hall of Fame Presents Paddles Up
When: Fridays and Saturdays, 10:00am to 4:00pm Where: Gate A at BC Place Admission: Free February 12-13, 2021 in celebration of the Lunar New Year and Family Day, book online in advance. Regular admission rates apply
Paddles Up! explores the festival’s history since the sport’s arrival at Expo 86. Discover unique artifacts, including two full-sized dragon boats, hear stories from athletes of all backgrounds, and learn about the festival’s cultural heritage.
Produced in partnership between the BC Sports Hall of Fame and the Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival Society, the exhibit is a celebration of diverse cultural expression and sport in British Columbia. Explore the history, see unique artifacts, and learn about the festival’s rich cultural heritage.
More from the Hall of Fame
Purchase tickets now for your chance to win a unique piece of BC’s hockey history. The BC Hockey Hall of Fame is currently hosting an online raffle with the grand prize of 6 signed Vancouver Canucks jerseys. Each jersey is from a different era of Canucks history, and each signature is from a player who played in that particular era. In addition, each individual has also been inducted into the BC Hockey Hall of Fame.
Family Day in BC is coming up on Monday, February 15, 2021, with community centres, attractions, arts organizations and more preparing a lineup of online and offline activities around Metro Vancouver:
BC Family Day Activities in Metro Vancouver
On this site you’ll find searchable listings from the Government of BC, sorted by city/region. Here are local listings for Metro Vancouver:
New Westminster Family Day Weekend (February 13-15, 2021) Free activity kits and virtual workshops from local community centres and organizations.
Virtual Family Day at the Farm (February 13-15, 2021) Online programming from History Stewart Farm. Pick up take-home crafts on February 13th, do a virtual tour of the farm online, try Mrs Stewart’s cookie recipe and more.
Richmond Art Gallery Video Art Lesson (February 15, 2021) Learn how to draw the human figure with the whole family in this active video workshop. The Richmond Art Gallery’s art instructor will guide you and your family through movement activities inspired by the Brendan Fernandes ‘Inaction’ exhibition and then demonstrate how artists capture that sense of movement in figure drawing.
Museum of Anthropology: Sing Along – Sign Along (February 15, 2021) Join MOA on Family Day for an interactive music and American Sign Language lesson via Zoom. A fun-filled way for little ones to learn ASL through song.
Family Day Weekend with MONOVA (February 14-15, 2021) Join MONOVA for a ride, over Zoom, with two theatrical presentations exploring Streetcar 153 – the only surviving streetcar of North Vancouver and now permanently installed in the soon to be open Museum of North Vancouver.
LunarFest Vancouver (starting February 11, 2021) Virtual workshops, crafts, storytelling, and more visual arts programming for the Lunar New Year. Tune in for an online performance from Coastal City Ballet, make themed crafts at home with family, or visit the outdoor Coastal Lunar Lanterns installations.
Family Day Comics at Home (February 11-13, 2021) Stop by the Dunbar Community Centre to grab your own free Family Day Comic Kit. Includes supplies needed to make your own comics. Guides for story building, character building and layouts have been provided by Cloudscape Comics. One kit per family.
In Person
*Pre-registration may be required. Review each attraction’s website for COVID safety protocols before you visit.
The BC Sports Hall of Fame Presents Paddles Up!, a new exhibit in honour of the The Canadian International Dragon Boat Festival. Free admission February 12-13, 2021, book online in advance.
VMF Winter Arts is an augmented reality experience transforming public space across Vancouver’s core into an interactive, open-air gallery. Starting February 12, 2021, get the accompanying Vancouver Mural Festival app and visit installation locations.
Chinese shadow puppet from the Yutian Wenhua collection. Photo by Annie Katsura Rollins.
Hosted on Zoom by Annie Katsura Rollins—whose own “shadow puppet hunt” took the artist deep into tiny villages where the tradition survived both the Cultural Revolution and the realities of modern China—Gateway’s Chinese Shadow Puppetry Workshops offer a hands-on adventure into a 2000-year-old art form.
Gateway Theatre Chinese Shadow Puppetry Workshops
When: Monday, February 15, 2021 1:00pm to 3:00pm Where: Online via Zoom Registration:Register now for $5. Offered in English with a focus on children and families.
When: Sunday, February 21, 2021 1:00pm to 3:00pm Venue: Online via Zoom Registration: Register now for $5. Offered in English with translation in Mandarin.
Chinese Shadow Puppetry Forum at the University of Connecticut, photo provided by Annie Katsura Rollins.
With its origins in the Han Dynasty, shadow puppetry remains one of the most enchanting if precarious forms of Chinese folk art— and Gateway Theatre is proud to be part of the movement to preserve this unique art form through their Chinese Shadow Puppetry Workshops.
In this workshop, families will enjoy the rare opportunity to learn about the fascinating history of Chinese shadow puppetry and how these puppets are made through interactive photos and videos. Annie will then take participants step-by-step in creating their own shadow puppets to bring their shadows to life.
This two-part series kicks off with a Family Session geared towards kids aged 8-12 (February 15) while a Community Session includes a Mandarin interpreter for anyone eager to revisit a unique corner of their own cultural history (February 21).
For more information follow Gateway Theatre on Facebook.
