In a rare showcase of female-led Mexican music, Las Estrellas de Vancouver join forces with Los Angeles-based guest singer Melinda Salcido, and the dancers of Nahualli Folklore for an evening of melodic rancheras, intense sones, and romantic boleros during ¡Viva México! a celebration of women in the world of mariachi.

¡Viva México! is a Celebration of Women in the World of Mariachi in Vancouver

Where: Vancouver Playhouse (600 Hamilton St, Vancouver)
When: Friday, November 15, 2019 at 8:00pm
Tickets: Available online now for $25 »

More than just a concert, this not-to-be-missed experience is a journey through the contributions women have made to the world of mariachi.  

From the Golden Age of Mexican Cinema—beginning in the 1930s and lasting until the 1960s—to Las Adelitas, the first all-female group in Mexico City in the 1940s, the impact of women on Mexican mariachi music has been extraordinary.  

“I decided to create a show that kind of gives you a bit of everything in the culture and tell the story about mariachi and the contribution that women have made in mariachi music,” classical guitarist and Las Estrellas de Vancouver founder Michelle Cormier told me over the phone this week.

The genre is typically dominated by men but there is some change coming about. Cormier says she loves to see women in the forefront of male groups, which she says is really empowering — and really impressive.

“At Plaza Garibaldi, Mariachi Plaza, you may see one group of women amongst all the men. They have to really carve their way and work extra hard to be there and to be accepted.” She has traveled extensively to Mexico and Los Angeles over the years, and is bringing her cultural knowledge and musical expertise to the Vancouver Playhouse stage, with a lineup of special guests.

Melinda Salcido will perform with the group, while Vancouver’s Nahualli Folklore Ensemble highlight the connections between Mexican folk dance (baile, or ballet, folklórico) and mariachi music. 

Cormier’s goal is to give the Vancouver audience they story of mariachi, through this performance, and provide examples of all its different styles. “It’s very broad, it usually plays and presents the music of every region of the country and sometimes it’s rancheras, the songs and the love stories, sometimes it’s more virtuosic pieces.”

Based on the experiences of living musicians, and informed by research of Mariachi Women’s Festival producer Dr. Leonor Xóchitl Perez, Las Estrellas de Vancouver will perform pieces that capture this evolving musical genre.

“It’s a medley of songs,” Cormier says that she wants to present the way the big mariachi groups do in Mexico and the United States, with sometimes one song containing four others. “I wanted to create this to make the story that much more complete, exciting and authentic.”

Win Tickets

I have a pair of tickets to give away to this groundbreaking and entertaining evening. Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Click below to post an entry on Twitter

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 9:00am on Tuesday, October 29, 2019. UDPATE: The winner is Edwin!

Don’t miss the Surrey Tree Lighting Festival happening on Saturday, November 23, 2019 at Surrey City Hall Plaza. It’s become the official start to the holiday season, with free family fun, entertainment, community engagement, market shopping and more!

Surrey Tree Lighting Festival

Where: City Hall Plaza (13450 104 Ave, Surrey)
When: Saturday, November 23, 2019 from 12:00pm to 8:00pm
Admission: FREE!

Residents and visitors are invited to watch the 60 ft tall Christmas tree decorated with giant holiday ornaments, lights and a star tree-topper light up at 6:30pm to mark the start of the holiday season.

Presented by Coast Capital Savings, this year’s free event will feature new lights and interactive displays on the festival grounds including an illuminated Light Tunnel, Enchanted Forest, North Pole Stage and Candy Cane Dance Tent.

Other highlights include the popular Holiday Market and Village, featuring local vendors, crafters, free photos with Santa, and many more festive activities. The Holiday Fun Zone on University Drive will feature a variety of food trucks and sports activities, including road hockey, inflatables and amusement rides.

Over 30 local performers, choirs and children’s acts will offer free live performances across seven stages throughout the day. Award-winning Canadian pop singer Begonia will headline the Main Stage after the inaugural tree lighting at 6:30pm.

Additional performers include Fleetwood Mac tribute band Dreams, local alternative rock band, Hotel Mira and indie pop group Leisure Club. Holiday choirs will perform on the Tree Riser Stage, Snowflake Stage and in the City Centre Library.

The Surrey Food Bank, Surrey Christmas Bureau, Sophie’s Place and the Surrey Fire Fighters’ Charitable Society will be on site collecting donations. Follow the City of Surrey’s events team on Facebook and Twitter for more information.

Miss604 is a Proud Sponsor of the Surrey Tree Lighting Festival

Maan Farms is celebrating its 5th Annual Fall Festival with special event weekends with princesses in the pumpkin patch, dog days and a new haunted Pitch-Black attraction.

Maan Farms Annual Fall Festival

When: September 21st to October 31st, 2019
Where: Maan Farms, 790 McKenzie Rd, Abbotsford
Tickets: Available Online

Maan Farms Haunted Corn Maze returns as the scariest corn maze in Canada. This heart-pounding adventure features nightmare-ish installations, shocking visuals, live actors, chainsaws, and excerpts out of classic horror movies.

The multi-sensory Pitch-Black attraction is guaranteed to bring nightmares to life. Upon entering, guests will be confronted with the decision of exploring their darkest nightmares and interacting with the demons of the dark. Those who choose to engage may be touched, held back, sent into hidden passageways and even, temporarily, removed from their group.

For a more family-friendly experience there is the Lion King themed flashlight corn maze, Barn Yard Play Land (zip line, pedal kart track, play fortress and more), a petting zoo with baby goats or get your photo taken with Snow White in the White Pumpkin Patch and Cinderella in the Orange Pumpkin Patch from 12:00pm to 3:00pm every Saturday and Sunday.

Check out Mama Maan’s specialty Indian cuisine along with concessional favourites, such as mini donuts, kettle corn, pumpkin-spiced and salted caramel lattes and slushies, and homemade pumpkin pies.

For more information follow Maan Farms on Instagram and Facebook.

Happy Hour deals and set price menus are all featured now until October 27th during the 15th annual Taste of Yaletown. Presented by the Yaletown Business Improvement Associations (“YBIA”), this popular community event invites the public to try a variety of dishes from premier restaurants throughout the neighbourhood.

Taste of Yaletown

This year’s Taste of Yaletown is embracing Vancouver’s Happy Hour culture with their #MyHappyHour theme. Participating restaurants will offer Happy Hour menus for Taste of Yaletown, giving diners the chance to experience small dishes and select drinks from their menu. With #MyHappyHour, diners now have the choice between having a 3-course menu ($35, $45, $55) or grabbing a few bites and drinks after work.

Participating Restaurants

Taste of Yaletown is also presenting Iconic BC Red Wine Tasting by Swirl Wine Store. Enjoy 8 iconic BC wines from small-medium wineries during certain dates. 

New this year, #MyHappyHour FREE public Wi-Fi will take you directly to the best Happy Hour spots in Yaletown.

The YBIA is dedicated to supporting business in the neighbourhood and the Taste of Yaletown will be making a donation to the Greater Vancouver Food Bank. The event has raised over $115,000 in efforts to support the local community since the event began in 2004.

Follow the YBIA on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook for more info.

The Chan Centre for the Performing Arts presents Huff, the boldly conceived, darkly comic tale of three Indigenous brothers caught in a pattern of grief and solvent abuse following the death of their mother. Two performances on October 30th will be held in the Chan Centre’s Telus Studio Theatre as part of the interdisciplinary Beyond Words series.

Cliff Cardinal’s Huff

When: Wednesday October 30, 2019 at 12:00pm & 7:30pm
Where: Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC (6265 Crescent Rd, Vancouver)
Tickets: Available online now for $35 (adults) $15 (students) or by calling (604) 822-2697

In this highly anticipated theatrical return to Vancouver, playwright and performer Cliff Cardinal embodies over a dozen different characters in an unrelenting portrayal described as “stunning” by the Edinburgh Festival, and a “hard-hitting tour-de-force” by The Guardian.

As the story of Huff develops, the brothers’ gas-induced dream world oscillates in and out of reality as they are preyed on by the mythical Trickster in hallways at the old residential school, the abandoned motel they have come to love more than home, and within their own fragile psyches. Though the visceral play is fictional, “It reaches inside and grabs you so hard that you forget it’s make-believe,” (CBC), and its riveting story vividly confronts the devastating, urgent topics of youth suicide, sexual abuse, and the ongoing perseverance of Indigenous communities in the face of incredible adversity.

Huff is directed by Karin Radoja and debuted in 2012 as part of the SummerWorks Festival, where it won the Buddies in Bad Times Award for Risk and Innovation. Huff has completed two national tours and over 200 live performances, including presentations at the PuSh International Performing Arts Festival, Magnetic North Theatre Festival, and the High Performance Rodeo, and closed the studio season at Canada’s National Arts Centre in May 2014. Torontoist said “To call this play heartbreaking would be an understatement,” and the Globe and Mail said the “unflinching solo show…will take your breath away.”

Born on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, Cliff Cardinal is the son of iconic Canadian actress Tantoo Cardinal. He graduated from the playwriting program at the National Theatre School of Canada. His other plays include Stitch, The Andersons, Sidewalk Chalk (for young audiences), Romanceship, and Maria Gets a New Life.

Cliff Cardinal’s CBC Special—also in partnership with director Karin Radoja— debuted in August 2019. It’s a combination of words and music featuring folk songs, miraculous stories of familial resilience, legends of Turtle Island survival, and new contributions to the ongoing mythology of the Canadian experience. Cardinal is also working on a new solo project, (Everyone I Love Has) A Terrible Fate (Befall Them).

Follow The Chan Centre on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram for more information about the Beyond Words series and more upcoming shows. 

Win Tickets

I have a pair of tickets to give away to the 7:30pm performance to give away, here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Click below to post an entry on Twitter

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 9:00am on Saturday, October 26, 2019. UPDATE the winner is Wes!