TELUS presents the Vancouver Santa Claus Parade, the largest Christmas parade celebrated in Western Canada, on the first Sunday in December. Join in the free, family-friendly fun with live entertainment and activities, along with supporting the Greater Vancouver Food Bank and the CKNW Orphans’ Fund.
Vancouver Santa Claus Parade
When: Sunday, December 1, 2019 12:00pm Free! Watch from your favourite corner in Downtown Vancouver Parade Route: The parade will start at West Georgia and Broughton (at 12:00 pm), travel east along West Georgia, turn south on Howe and finish at Howe and Davie.
This year’s Vancouver Santa Claus Parade will once again feature marching bands, dance troupes, festive floats and community groups, which entertain over 300,000 spectators.
Breakfast with Santa at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver
Where: Pacific Ballroom, Fairmont Hotel Vancouver (900 West Georgia St) When: Sunday, December 1st, 2019 8:30am to 10:30am Pacific Ballroom $59 per adult, $29.50 per child. Reserve online or by calling (604) 647-0517
Bring the family, continue the tradition, and celebrate Christmas at the castle! Join the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver for a delicious breakfast buffet and exclusive meet and greet with Santa before the parade. Children will have an opportunity to sit with Santa and confide their Christmas wish list, as well as receiving a keepsake photo of their visit, before jolly St. Nick presides over the festive parade at noon. The buffet will include a chef-attended pancake and waffle station, a hot chocolate station, and a decorate-your-own gingerbread cookie station.
Christmas Square
Join in on the family fun pre-parade festivities at the Vancouver Art Gallery North Plaza from 10:00am to 12:00pm. The Christmas Square includes a Food Bank drop off, face painting, Letters to Santa station, food trucks and more.
TELUS Photos with Santa
Free photos with Santa after the parade at TELUS Garden (510 W Georgia St, Vancouver) from 2:00pm to 4:00pm.
Vancouver Santa Claus Parade presented by TELUS on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram along with the tag #TELUSSantaClausParade.
Want to see more of Santa? Later that day he’ll fly over to Surrey for Big Rigs for Kids and the Surrey Santa Parade supporting the Surrey Food Bank and the Surrey Christmas Bureau.
The Robson Square ice rink opens for the season on November 30th, providing affordable family fun in Downtown Vancouver throughout the holidays and beyond.
Robson Square Ice Rink Hours
November 30, 2019 until February 29, 2020 Sunday to Thursday: 9:00am to 9:00pm Friday and Saturday: 9:00am to 11:00pm
Holiday Hours
Christmas Eve (December 24): 9:00am to 9:00pm Christmas Day (December 25): 12:00pm to 5:00pm Boxing Day (December 26): 9:00am to 9:00pm New Year’s Eve (December 31): 9:00am to 11:00pm New Year’s Day (January 1): 9:00am to 9:00pm
Skating is free with your own skates, otherwise rentals are available for $5/pair. The rink also features a concession stand with snacks and warm drinks. Skate rental ends 30 minutes prior to close. Helmet included with skate rental. Cash only. Please be advised that warm weather leads to warm ice! Robson Square Ice Rink may need to close unexpectedly.
Ice Rink Closures, Schedule Changes & Events Watch here for updates or call the Robson Square Hotline (604) 646-3554.
Giving Tuesday – Presented by Nordstrom
Get your skates on-and join us on Giving Tuesday for a skating party hosted by Nordstrom. On December 3, 2019, the cost of all skate rentals will be donated to BC Children’s Hospital Foundation. It’s an easy way for you to help us help kids in our community, and open up new possibilities in children’s health care for kids and families from across the province. Plus, there will be awesome holiday entertainment, delicious treats and photos with Santa.
Entertainment Lineup for the 12 Days of Christmas
Friday, December 13, 2019
6:00pm to 9:00pm
The Agency
Saturday, December 14, 2019
2:30pm to 4:15pm
Karla Sax
6:00pm to 9:00pm
Karla Sax
Sunday, December 15, 2019
12:00pm to 1:00pm
Vancouver Tuba Christmas
2:30pm to 4:15pm
Barron S
6:00pm to 9:00pm
Tom Arntzen/Hot Mamas
Monday, December 16, 2019
6:00pm to 9:00pm
PK3 Jazz Trio
Tuesday, December 17, 2019
6:00pm to 9:00pm
Malcolm Aiken Quartet
Wednesday, December 18, 2019
6:00pm to 9:00pm
Rumba Calzada
Thursday, December 19, 2019
6:00pm to 9:00pm
Caviar & Lace
Friday, December 20, 2019
6:00pm to 9:00pm
LeftCoast
Saturday, December 21, 2019
2:30pm to 4:15pm
Showstoppers
6:00pm to 9:00pm
Warren Dean Flandez Band
Sunday, December 22, 2019
2:30pm to 4:15pm
DJ El Nino
6:00pm to 9:00pm
DJ El Nino
Monday, December 23, 2019
6:00pm to 9:00pm
Phat Santa Swings
Tuesday, December 24, 2019
6:00pm to 9:00pm
Santa’s Brass
Tuesday, Deceember 31, 2019
6:00pm to 9:00pm
The Phonix Band
The The Robson Square ice rink will remain open until February 2020. Tag your photos with #robsonsquare on social media to share the fun. Robson Square is located at 800 Robson Street between Robson and Georgia, Howe and Hornby.
Holidays are a time to spend with loved ones and what better way than to see a show? Check out this list of shows on stage in Vancouver this Christmas:
On Stage in Vancouver This Christmas
Carousel Theatre for Young People: Kaitlyn Yott as Peter Pan. Photo by Tim Matheson.
Carousel Theatre for Young People
Peter Pan Date: November 20th, 2019 to January 5th, 2020 Location: The Waterfront Theatre (1412 Cartwright Street, Vancouver) Details: Pirates. Lost Boys. A ticking crocodile. And a child who never wants to grow up. With live folk music, this imaginative adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic story – Peter Pan – is a rollicking good time- with no wires, a pinch of magic, and bursting with playful exuberance.
Pacific Theatre
A Christmas Carol Date: November 29th, 2019 to December 21st, 2019 Location: Pacific Theatre (1440 W 12th Ave, Vancouver) Details: It’s Christmas Eve and Ebenezer Scrooge is drifting off to sleep… but he cannot imagine what the night has in store for him. Told with humour and Dickens’ own transcendent prose, Ron Reed embodies Scrooge and forty-three other characters in the greatest Christmas story ever written, A Christmas Carol. Can a life ill-spent be redeemed?
Tree House, by Jeremy Hatch (2006). Collection of the artist. Photo by Alina Ilyasova,
courtesy of the Museum of Anthropology at UBC.
Playing with Fire – Ceramics of the Extraordinary
Where: Museum of Anthropology (UBC, 6393 NW Marine Drive) When: November 22, 2019 to March 29, 2020 Exhibit Opening Reception: November 21, 2019 at 7:00pm
Showcasing a group of 11 highly celebrated BC-based artists, this premiere exhibition of ceramic works expresses strong opinions on urgent social issues and offers subtle perspectives on the state of our contemporary world. While at first glance these works may appear very approachable through a lens of nostalgia, beauty, or humour, upon closer inspection they reveal much deeper commentaries on social injustice, racism, identity, and censorship. This powerful exhibition invites visitors to explore the many layers of understanding each of these provocative works embody, boldly demonstrating clay’s myriad discursive possibilities.
Playing with Fire features the work of 11 internationally recognized BC-based artists — Judy Chartrand, Ying-Yueh Chuang, Gathie Falk, Jeremy Hatch, Ian Johnston, David Lambert, Glenn Lewis, Alywn O’Brien, Bill Rennie, Debra Sloan, and Brendan Tang — who are all acclaimed for their fearless innovation in ceramic work. Working in clay, the most accessible of mediums, and drawing inspiration from pop culture, art history, humour, beauty, hope, and nature, these artists bring fresh, playful, and challenging perspectives of the art form. Visitors will be encouraged to discover new meanings and uncover complexities hidden, often in plain sight, within the works.
Antechamber (detail), by Ian Johnston (2010-2012). Collection of the artist. Photo
courtesy of the artist.
For this exhibition, more than 35 ceramic installations will be on display — some of which are epic in scale, including Johnston’s The Antechamber (2010–2012), in which a 25-foot-long room is covered with a repeating, grid-like motif of ceramic elements, created through a vacuum-forming process. The result of these overlapping elements, hanging like roof tiles, evokes the massive scale of consumption of manufactured goods today.
Follow MOA on Twitter and Facebook for more information about this exhibition and more.
Win Tickets
I have a pair of tickets to give away to one lucky winner who will be able to visit the MOA for Playing with Fire. Here’s how you can enter to win:
Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
Click below to post an entry on Twitter
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I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Tuesday, November 26, 2019. The winner will be able to attend on the date of their choosing between November 22, 2019 and March 29, 2020.
