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.
During the Greater Vancouver Bird Celebration you can enjoy walks, workshops, talks, exhibitions, and lectures across the Lower Mainland, all aimed at celebrating our feathered friends.
Greater Vancouver Bird Celebration
From bird-nerd to bird-curious, there’s an event for everyone during the Greater Vancouver Bird Celebration from May 10 to 26, 2024. The event series is inspired by World Migratory Bird Day, a United Nations-sponsored initiative recognizing the importance of birds as key indicators of our environment’s health.
The Lower Mainland is home to more than 250 species of bird that can be seen during the month of May. Explore the online profiles of various bird species found in the Lower Mainland highlighting the diversity and beauty of local birds, and participate in one of many special events.
The Greater Vancouver Bird Celebration is organized through a collaborative partnership between Birds Canada, Stanley Park Ecology Society, Stewardship Centre for BC, Vancouver Avian Research Centre, and Vancouver Botanical Gardens Association assisting cities, municipalities and organizations in Greater Vancouver to celebrate birds throughout the region.
The 2024 Vancouver Sun Run is happening on Sunday, April 21st and for those participating or spectating, here is the route map and road closure information for the event:
The 2024 Vancouver Sun Run presented by HerbaLand Naturals takes place on Sunday, April 21, 2024 at 9:00am throughout Downtown Vancouver.
It is open to international elite competitors, recreational runners, joggers and walkers, wheelchair competitors, teams, schools and children. Included in entry is a shirt, personalized race bib with timing tag, water stations, live entertainment along the course, and the finishers party at BC Place. You can register up until Thursday, April 18th at noon.
Vancouver Sun Run Road Closures
Expect closures along the route from 8/8:30am until about 12:00pm. The run begins at Georgia and Thurlow, continues west on Georgia to Denman, south on Denman to beach Ave, souteast on Beach to Pacific, south over the Burrard Bridge, south on Burrard to 3rd Ave, east on 3rd to Fir, south on Fir to 4th Ave, east on 4th to 6th Ave, east on 6th Ave under the Cambie Bridge to 3rd Ave, east, 3rd Ave to Columbia, South on Columbia St to 6th Ave, East on 6th Ave to Quebec Ave, North on Quebec Ave to Terminal and continue on Pacific BLVD to Griffiths Way to finish.
For the Mini Sun Run and Finish Area in False Creek, expect closures from Pacific Blvd from Nelson to Carrall, Expo Blvd from Quebec to Pat Quinn Way, and Cambie Bridge Pacific Ave Exit from 5:00am to 1:00pm.
Vancouver Sun Run Route and Course Map
START AREA: Georgia, from Seymour to Bute FINISH AREA: Pacific Blvd – BC Place Stadium to Pat Quinn Way
To help runners get to the start line on Sunday, April 21, TransLink is starting service earlier on SkyTrain and SeaBus, and offering a special West Coast Express train. SkyTrain service on the Expo and Millennium lines will begin approximately 30 minutes earlier. SeaBus morning service will start one hour earlier, with the first sailings.
West Coast Express will operate the following special trains:
Westbound train departing from Mission City Station at 7:00am
Eastbound return train departing from Waterfront Station at 1:00pm
In a remarkable journey spanning four decades, the Vancouver Sun Run has solidified its status as a staple event in British Columbia’s event history. What began in 1985 as a vision to promote fitness and well-being among Vancouverites has grown into a massive celebration of athleticism, drawing participants from all walks of life. As the Vancouver Sun Run marks its 40th year, it not only commemorates its own history but also the stories of countless individuals who have made each step a part of their personal journey toward health and accomplishment.
Follow the Vancouver Sun Run on Facebook for up-to-date information and instructions.
