We were on the hunt for open spaces and fewer faces, and Yoho National Park was top of mind. During isolation, where an idea of an adventurous outing was to mask up and head to the grocery store once a week, I thought back to all the spectacular places I’ve been able to visit during my work travels around BC.

I yearned for nature, for stunning vistas, for the sounds and scents of the forest. I also wanted to get John out of the Downtown core. As an essential worker, he hadn’t left the Lower Mainland or taken more than a day off since February. All of these factors combined to inspire me to head east. Go BIG. And you can’t really get bigger than the Rocky Mountains here in BC.

The third annual Fort Langley Jazz and Arts Festival goes online September 4-5, 2020, streaming on Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and the festival’s website.

Fort Langley Jazz and Arts Festival

In addition to more than a dozen live-streamed and pre-recorded concert performances of world-class jazz, blues, gospel and soul acts, this year’s festival includes a strolling Mardi Gras-style parade, a virtual art walk, a salsa dance party, live interactive hosting, and more.

BC Culture Days invites British Columbians to experience the ‘unexpected intersections’ of creative connection and artistic discovery during its 11^th annual celebration of arts and culture, September 25 to October 25, 2020.

BC Culture Days 2020

• New this year, BC Culture Days will last a full month
• The lineup includes free, interactive events and activities hosted at socially distanced venues and live streamed events through a growing digital hub.
• BC Culture Days offers a wide selection of diverse content to suit all levels of comfort and accessibility as communities navigate the complexities of COVID-19.

BC Culture Days 2020 will officially kick off with a 45-minute virtual event on Thursday, September 24, 2020 at 4:00pm, hosted by the City of North Vancouver. The cultural event will feature performances by local artists, South Asian, Persian, and First Nations dancers, an Indigenous welcome ceremony by Dennis Thomas-Whonoak of Tsleil-Waututh Nation, messages from Minister of Tourism, Sports and Culture Lisa Beare and the City of North Vancouver Mayor Linda Buchanan, and introductory video clips from all five ambassadors. 

Richmond’s annual celebration of all things nautical will be embracing the change in the wind for 2020. The Richmond Maritime Festival will bring performances, hands-on fun, storytelling and much more to online platforms from Britannia Shipyards Museum August 28th to September 7th.

Richmond Maritime Festival

When: Friday August 28 to Monday, September 7, 2020
Where: Viewers can tune in daily to the @FunRichmond Facebook page or the festival website for a compilation of music, hands-on activities, story-telling and history from great local artists and performers.

“As with every year, we look forward to celebrating Richmond’s strong maritime heritage,” said Mayor Malcolm Brodie. “And though normally we would gather at Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site, we look forward to gathering in a different way and enjoying incredible performances and the spirit of the Richmond Maritime Festival from our own homes.”

For the first time in its 17 year history, the Festival will take place entirely online! The kick-off celebration on Friday, August 28th will feature a welcome from Mayor Malcolm Brodie and performances by a capella trio Cannery Mermaids, Mad Jazz and The Seabillys. Peppered in among the music will be stories by Kevin Lee and the Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site Society, a dance performance by Coastal Wolf Pack, and a hands-on activity by Richmond Maritime Festival artistic visionary Marina Szijarto. There will also be appearances by festival favourites Rikki the Rat and Lulu the Mermaid.

Enter to Win A Sailing Experience

Miss604 is proud to sign on once again as the Social Media Sponsor of the event and to present an awesome giveaway!

You can win a sailing on the Providence, flagship of the Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site, one of the stars of the Richmond Maritime Festival Re-Imagined and the oldest working vessel in BC waters.

The winner’s experience will include a 3 hour sailing leaving from Britannia Shipyards National Historic Site in Steveston or the Vancouver Maritime Museum at Vanier Park. The experience is available to one family of up to 10 people. Sail subject to evolving provincial health authority COVID-19 orders and guidelines. Deadline for use is June 15, 2021.

Here are up to four ways you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Follow Fun Richmond and Miss604 on Facebook (1 entry)
• Follow Fun Richmond and Miss604 on Instagram (1 entry)
• Click below to post an entry on Twitter

I will draw one winner at random from all entries on the last day of the festival at 12:00pm on Monday, September 7, 2020.

You can experience three exciting shows live at the Newmont Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre and Granville Island Stage with the Arts Club’s fall theatre trio.

The Arts Club’s Fall Theatre Trio

Tickets: Available online now

The Arts Club Theatre Company Artistic Director Ashlie Corcoran has revealed the company’s three-show fall theatre lineup, one she calls “a trio of bold, exciting one-person shows guaranteed to reinvigorate our audiences’ love and appreciation for live theatre.”

The performance and rehearsal models are uniquely designed to be as safe as possible for artists, staff, and audience members. Each show will have two rotating casts and crews, who will do seven performances each week and rehearse in separate halls.

“Though we were heartbroken over cancelling our original 2020–2021 season, we’re excited to begin producing theatre safely once again,” added Corcoran. “The Arts Club won’t be doing any big blockbusters this year, but we are still very much committed to bringing high-quality, inspiring theatre to our stages. These three small yet fierce shows are a testament to the resilience of the performing arts community during this time.”

Over 30 freelance artists have been hired to create these shows, some of whom were previously contracted to work on shows for the Arts Club’s original 2020–2021 season.

“These smaller, more intimate shows allow us to be nimbler than we would be with larger productions,” explained Executive Director Peter Cathie White. “This ‘bubble method’ of alternating casts and crews is a brand-new way of producing theatre for the Arts Club, and we hope it will become a model for performances going forward as we continue to navigate our new normal.”

Show Lineup

NO CHILD…
By Nilaja Sun
September 24 to October 25, 2020
Newmont Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre
This bold examination of arts education in public schools had its initial off-Broadway run at the Barrow Street Theatre in 2006 and has since garnered the playwright 21 awards—including an Obie Award and two Outer Critics Circle Awards.

BUFFOON
By Anosh Irani
October 22 to November 22, 2020
Granville Island Stage
This play—which follows the story of Felix the clown as he grows up, falls in love, and has his heart broken at the circus—had its world premiere at Toronto’s Tarragon Theatre in November 2019 and won the Dora Award for Outstanding New Play this year. It was originally part of the Arts Club’s 2018 ReACT: New Plays in Progress festival, which gave audiences a glimpse at plays in the early stages of development.

THE TWELVE DATES OF CHRISTMAS
By Ginna Hoben
November 19 to December 20, 2020
Newmont Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre
A bubbly holiday comedy about finding love in unexpected places. Hoben’s seasonal hit was inspired by both her own experience re-entering the dating world and her resolve to create more lead roles for women in holiday plays, which are dominated by traditionally male figures like Ebenezer Scrooge. It has been produced over 60 times across the globe and was previously programmed for the Arts Club’s 2020–2021 season.

All three shows will be staged in adherence to safety guidelines established by the BC government, including an audience cap of 50 patrons, staggered admission times, and a mandatory mask policy (with the exception of patrons with respiratory or other health concerns). The Arts Club is also taking additional precautions to reduce the spread of COVID-19 and protect the health and welfare of patrons, artists, staff, and volunteers.

In addition to the in-theatre experience, patrons will be given the option to purchase tickets to a digital recording of each of the three productions, which will be available to view for a limited time.