Wrexham AFC are coming to BC Place to take on our Vancouver Whitecaps FC in a friendly match on Saturday, July 27th as part of their Wrex Coast Tour. The fairytale team from North Wales, backed by owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, is riding high off of back-to-back promotions, securing a spot in League One (the third tier of English soccer) next season.
Tickets: Whitecaps FC season members will receive an email with details on their priority pre-sale window. Tickets for the general public will be available at 12:00pm PT on Thursday, April 25th.
Wrexham have shot to prominence globally since Reynolds and fellow Hollywood star McElhenney purchased the club in 2020. The club has been featured in the immensely popular Welcome to Wrexham docu-series on FX.
Founded in 1864, Wrexham is the oldest professional soccer club in Wales, and the third oldest in the world. With their proud Welsh support at their back, Wrexham have recently risen back up through the divisions and have just confirmed a second-successive promotion, which elevates them back to League One (the third tier of English football) next season. The club has a hugely supportive fanbase and is excited to return to North America for the second successive preseason.
“Last year Rob got to bring Wrexham to Philly. This year it’s my turn,” said Wrexham AFC co-chairman Ryan Reynolds. “I am so excited my hometown club the Whitecaps will get to square off against the Red Dragons. My official stance on the match will be a very friendly ‘neutral’ even if I will be screaming for a Paul Mullin hat trick.”
Wrex Coast Tour
The Red Dragons’ per-season “Wrex Coast Tour” in North America will also visit Santa Barbara, California to play AFC Bournemouth on July 20th; and Santa Clara, California to take on ChelseaJuly 24th.
The event is being hosted by TEG Sport (TEG), producer and promoter of live sporting events featuring the world’s biggest sporting teams and brands.
Southsiders at a Whitecaps FC match at BC Place – Miss604 photo
The Welsh-Canadian clash is sure to be entertaining. Whitecaps FC are having a great start to their season, maintaining in top positions in the MLS Western Conference Standings. July 27th is also a Honda Celebration of Light fireworks night featuring Team United Kingdom so it will be a fun summer night out in the city.
Vancouver Whitecaps FC is the longest-running professional soccer club in Canada or the United States, celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year. Originally established in 1974 in the former North American Soccer League, the ’Caps joined MLS as the seventeenth club in 2009. Since the debut season in 2011, Whitecaps FC has become an integral part of MLS, and gone on to win three Canadian Championships, the domestic cup for all Canadian professional and semi-professional clubs.
Fans are permitted to bring approved tifo, signs, flags, and/or banners into the stadium to exhibit their support for the club provided they do not obstruct the view of guests or block stadium signage.
Update – Upper Bowl Open
Due to the strong demand for tickets during the initial on-sale period, tickets in the upper bowl of BC Place will soon be available for this match. Ticket Members will have exclusive access to the new upper bowl ticket release from 9:00am PT June 3rd, with general public sale for the upper bowl commencing on Tuesday, June 4th at 9:00am.
Update – Mullin Will Not Travel
Wrexham AFC can confirm striker Paul Mullin will miss the summer’s Wrex Coast Tour as he has undergone minor spinal surgery to correct a long-term lower-back/hamstring issue.
Mullin underwent surgery in London in the middle of June to ensure he is fit for the majority of the 2024/25 campaign, as the Club looks ahead to their first season back in Sky Bet League One. There is no timeframe as yet on Mullin’s return, who will work through rehab with the Club’s medical department to ensure he can return to full fitness.
Update – Men in Blazers x Wrexham FC
Those looking to connect with even more Wrexham AFC content in Vancouver can get tickets to the Men in Blazers x Wrexham FC live event happening a few days before the match. Manager Phil Parkinson, Executive Director Humphrey Ker, and more will take to the stage for a conversation at the Hollywood Theatre on July 25th. Tickets are available here.
Update – Patio Party
Terry Fox Plaza pre-match patio opens at 1:30pm on Saturday on the 100 block of Robson Street. Other stops on the Wrex Coast Tour have included pop-up merch tables, player signing opportunities, and more. We’ll see what Vancouver’s experience will be!
BC Place has the full fan guide online, although it states the patio will open at 1:00pm and the official fan email sent on Thursday, July 25th says 1:30pm.
Update – Meet Players
Space is limited, so arrive early! Fans will be able meet their favourite Whitecaps FC and Wrexham AFC players, take photos and get autographs. Arrive by 2:00pm at the West Entrance of BC Place off Expo Boulevard and look for Whitecaps staff who will guide them into the stadium. Whitecaps players will arrive between 2-2:45pm, and Wrexham players will arrive between 2:50-3:00pm at BC Place.
During the month of May, you can observe Asian Heritage Month at the Chinese Canadian Museum with tours, stories, experiences, and unique artist contributions on display.
Asian Heritage Month at the Chinese Canadian Museum
Date: May, 2024
Location: Chinese Canadian Museum (51 East Pender St, Vancouver)
On April 27th, the museum is launching a new talk series, Chinese Canadian Convos, the first featuring Arlene Chan, who is a writer, historian, and cultural consultant for Disney Pixar’s Turning Red movie. During this event, Chan will be discussing cultural authenticity and representations of Chinese Canadian culture in cinema. The session also includes a special documentary screening of Embrace the Panda: Making Turning Red.
There will be special fermentation and liqueur making workshops with master distiller and fermentation specialist, Kristine Hu, best known as Miss Brewbird on YouTube. In recognition of Asian Heritage Month, a selection of Asian fruits, teas, herbs and botanicals will be featured as well as other ingredients. Her workshops are scheduled for May 14th and May 22nd.
The Paper Trail to the 1923 Chinese Exclusion Act, the museum’s feature exhibition curated by Catherine Clement, focuses on the 100th anniversary of the Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, also known as the Chinese Exclusion Act.
The Journeys Here, a painted wall mural by Chinese Canadian artist Marlene Yuen, highlighting Chinese Canadian journeys and experiences past to present.
Odysseys and Migration, an exhibition in the introduction gallery space exploring the Chinese diaspora from the early waves to present day.
Period Rooms: Historic School Room & Living Room, a recreated school classroom from 1914 and a 1930s period living room with interactive antique objects that bring visitors back in time to when the original Wing Sang Building owner, Yip Sang, and his family lived in Chinatown.
Embracing Diversity, a commissioned art sculpture piece by Musqueam artist Susan Point and her son Thomas Cannell to honour the strong connection and the historical ties of the Indigenous peoples and early Chinese migrants in Canadian history.
For Asian Heritage Month, the museum has also commissioned local Chinese Canadian ceramic artist Freda Lin from Bad Potters Ceramics to design and create rice bowls which will be available for purchase on site.
About the Chinese Canadian Museum
The Chinese Canadian Museum Society of British Columbia is an independent, non-profit organization established in March 2020 to create a museum honouring and sharing Chinese Canadian history, contributions, and living heritage. Guided by its mission statement “Connecting to the Chinese Canadian story – addressing inclusion for all”, the Chinese Canadian Museum aspires to provide an invigorating and transformative experience for present and future generations through its exhibitions and educational programming throughout BC and Canada.
It’s time for the city’s favourite springtime festival: Burnaby Blooms! Visit Deer Lake Park throughout the day for free tours, workshops, family entertainment, and more.
Burnaby Blooms Spring Festival 2024
Date: Sunday, May 5, 2024
Location: Shadbolt Centre for the Arts & Deer Lake Park Festival Lawn (6450 Deer Lake Ave) in Burnaby
Tickets: Free!
This vibrant and festive event promotes the long-term sustainability and the ecological health of the community in a fun and creative environment.
Activities throughout the day include workshops where you can: plant an eco-scupture, create a floral mask, plant a flower, create a paper bird, make a puppet (and join the puppet parade), paint a ceramic garden stake, and make poetry cards.
Don’t miss the photobooth, the Chinese brush painting demo, Mindful Movement drop-in for kids, ACE Burnaby bike safety tips, and more from the Burnaby Potters Guild and the Burnaby Photographic Society.
8:30am to 10:00am and 11:00am to 12:00pm Tour: The Birds of Deer Lake with George Clulow
11:00am to 12:00pm Talk: Bees and Blooms with Beekeeper Cassie
11:00am to 12:30pm Tour: Mushroom Walk with mycologist WIllougby Arevalo
11:30am to 1:00pm & 2:30pm to 4:00pm Tour: The Indigenous Natural History of Deer Lake
12:30pm to 1:30pm Talk: For a Healthy & Vibrant Garden Avoid These Common Mistakes
1:00pm to 2:00pm Tour: Spring Birds and Blossoms
2:00pm to 3:00pm Talk: The Art of Ikebana: Japanese Flower Arrangement
2:00pm to 2:30pm Tour: Century Gardens: Growing a Grander Future
3:15pm to 4:00pm Talk: The Wonderful History of Herbal Gardens
There will also be micro-events at Burnaby Mountain Conservation Area on May 18th and on the BC Parkway (Metrotown and Patterson Stations) on May 25, where you can participate in activities and demonstrations while enjoying free entertainment. RSVP on Facebook to get event updates.
It’s that time again! You can support the only pediatric palliative care provider in BC and the Yukon when you purchase your Canuck Place Spring 50/50 Raffle tickets.
Canuck Place Photo Submitted
Canuck Place Spring 50/50 Raffle 2024
Tickets:Buy online for 3 for $5, 7 for $10, 50 for $20 or 150 for $50
Anticipated Prize: $500,000 to be split with the winner
Ticket Sales Close: Wednesday, June 5, 2024 at 11:59pm
Draw Date: Friday, June 7, 2024 at 11:00am PST
Tickets may be sold and purchased only in British Columbia. Ticket purchasers must be 19 years of age or older. Know your limit, play within it.
Since launching in Fall 2020, the Canuck Place 50/50 has raised close to $4 million! Half has gone to the lucky winners, and half goes to support exceptional Canuck Place inpatient care in hospices in Vancouver and Abbotsford, and community-based care in-home and in-hospital across BC and the Yukon.
Canuck Place operates 13 patient beds and 8 family suites through two hospices in Vancouver and Abbotsford. Services include in-hospice medical respite and family support, pain and symptom management, provincial 24-Hour Clinical Care Line, music and recreation therapy, education and art, grief, loss, and bereavement counselling, as well as end-of-life care.
For close to three decades, Canuck Place has been providing exceptional complex medical care, while helping children and families embrace living fully with the time they have left together. But not without donor support. That’s where your 50/50 ticket purchase can make a difference.
The new AZUR Legacy Hotel on West Pender will add another highlight to Vancouver’s hospitality scene, welcoming guests to its Lavantine Restaurant & Skybar which is opening in May.
Lavantine – AZUR Hotel Vancouver Rooftop. Photo Submitted
A New Skybar in Vancouver
Located in Vancouver’s newest 5-Star boutique hotel, the only member of the Leading Hotels of the World in Western Canada, the Lavantine garden-style rooftop restaurant will be open daily from 4:00pm to 11:00pm (except Monday). It will have an open-concept kitchen and ambiance complemented by sweeping views of the city skyline, ocean and mountains.
This joins a (small) fleet of other Vancouver rooftop lounge/patios such as The Parker, D6, Darby’s, and Joe Fortes. There was a “Skybar” lounge in Vancouver on Granville and Smithe in the early 2000s which eventually became Ceilis (until 2017) and currently it’s the Slate Event Space.
AZUR Chef duo Shyam Longani and Daniel Kenney and their culinary team have created menus inspired by the flavours and recipes of the Levant region as well as the fresh, locally sourced ingredients available from purveyors throughout the Pacific Northwest.
Guests will enjoy dishes such as Watermelon Saladwith whipped feta, mint, olive crumble, sour apple, passion fruit and poppy seed vinaigrette, a Mezze Platterfeaturing baba ganoush, muhammara, hummus, pita, crudité and pickles, and Grilled Halloumi with wildflower honey and figs, among others, with ingredients like molasses, pistachios and pomegranate featured prominently throughout the menu.
Entrées will include Kofta Kebab and Short Rib Tagine with ras el hanout, batata harra, horseradish labneh and crispy Brussels sprouts, or a 24 oz Cowboy Steak seasoned with red wine jus and smoked sea salt. Finish your dining experience with a dessert course of Baklava andPistachio Gelato.
AZUR Bar Manager Serhii Kulikov has curated an array of classic and contemporary cocktails, wines that showcase the very best vines from Old and New World alike and some of the best craft beer from BC’s burgeoning brewing community.
Opened in August 2023 at 833 W Pender Street, Azur Legacy is an art deco-styled hotel offering lavishly appointed guest rooms and penthouse suites. Follow the hotel on Instagram for the latest information about the grand opening date.
