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by Guest AuthorDisclosure: Sponsored Post — Published in Partnership with the City of Coquitlam Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
It’s the season to be jolly, and Coquitlam knows how to put on a show that’s merry and bright. From festive lights to unique Christmas shopping opportunities, here are 7 ways to get wrapped up in the festive season.
Festive Activities in Coquitlam in December
1. Lights at Lafarge
Explore Metro Vancouver’s largest free outdoor lights display, featuring hundreds of thousands of lights in multiple themed zones. Lights at Lafarge grows bigger each year, attracting viewers from throughout the region. Hop off at Lafarge Lake-Douglas SkyTrain station to walk the 1 km path around Lafarge Lake in Town Centre Park. Watch for elfin creatures in the trees, swans illuminating the water and tulip lights lighting up your path. All this, and many surprises!
2. Visit Santa and do some shopping
In town for the lights display? A short walk away is Coquitlam Centre, where Santa is taking wish lists. The mall has nearly 200 stores and is located right at Lincoln SkyTrain station. Other highlights for kids within City Centre include Mastermind Toys and Chapters Indigo in Pinetree Village. Also nearby is Henderson Mall, which has some specialty shops and a food court with offerings from around the globe.
3. The Nutcracker
The holiday season wouldn’t be complete without this much-loved ballet set to Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker score. Presented by Ballet Victoria, take in this performance at Evergreen Cultural Centre on December 19 or December 20, 2018. Find ticket info here »
4. Go ice skating
Lace up to make some fond memories on the ice. You’ll find public skating at Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex, as well as many fun upcoming events including Skate with Santa on Sunday, December 16, 2018. Read Coquitlam’s Recreation Guide for further details.
5. Cosmic Clay Pots
Got crafty kids? Head to Evergreen Cultural Centre’s Art Gallery on Saturday, December 15, 2018 to take part in a free, drop-in art project from 1:00pm to 4:00pm. As part of Westminster Savings Family Day, children can find inspiration in the gallery exhibition before painting their cosmic scenes onto terracotta pots. Paint, splatter and sponge an artistic creation that can be given away as a gift.
6. Great gift ideas
Purchase locally crafted works of art at Place des Arts’ Christmas Boutique. You’ll find everything from handcrafted ornaments and decorations to artful gifts that hold year-round appeal. The boutique runs until December 22, 2018.
7. Catch a hockey game
Get your hockey fix! Why not cheer on the Coquitlam Express at an upcoming game at Coquitlam’s Poirier Sport & Leisure Complex? It will get the pulses racing – at a fraction of the cost of Canucks tickets.
Don’t forget about the Lights at Lafarge photo contest! Tag your photos with #ExploreCoquitlam AND @Miss604 online and you could win a Coquitlam prize pack!.
Stanley Park Brewing has launched a new seasonal beer, Layer Up, a Dark American Wheat Ale with a unique flavour combination of fig, raspberry, orange and ginger.
The new Layer Up brew was inspired by a recent trip to Nashville at the World Beer Cup, the most prestigious beer competition in the world. The Stanley Park Brewing team tasted a Italian olive cake with FROG (fig, raspberry, orange and ginger) jam for dessert and decided to find a way to bring these flavours to life through beer.
Layer Up represents the colder winter months and encourages people to embrace the season. It’s refreshing taste comes from its flavour profile from Southern USA and is a layered beer – at first, you can smell the raspberry, taste the orange and fig and its ends with a refreshing taste of ginger. Layer Up is dry hopped with Amarillo with a 5.2% alc./volume and and 18 IBU.
It’s the latest addition to Stanley Park Brewing regular beer line-up including Daytrip (Lager), 1897 Amber (Amber Ale), Windstorm (West Coast Pale Ale), Trail Hopper IPA (India Pale Ale) and Noble Pilsner (European Style Lager). Layer Up is now available to purchase and can be found in your favourite pubs and restaurants across BC and Alberta.
Win a Prize Pack
I have a Stanley Park Brewing Layer Up prize pack to give away that includes: Two 6-packs of Layer Up, a TenTree Backpack, a sweatshirt, t-shirt, toque, card deck, and glassware. Here’s how you can enter to win:
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by Rebecca BollwittDisclosure: Sponsored Post — Experience sponsored by Destination BC, Tourism Vancouver Island & Tourism Ucluelet Please review the Policy & Disclosure section for further information.
Experience sponsored by Destination BC, Tourism Vancouver Island & Tourism Ucluelet
For some, a rainy and windy day means hunkering down indoors with a good book or binge watching your favourite show on Netflix. For others, it means heading out to watch nature’s grand spectacle as billowing breakers crash on the rugged western coast of the continent. If the latter appeals to you, then you know you have to get to Ucluelet and Tofino during storm watching season, which is happening now until about early March.
Of course with the wind, rain, and unpredictable ocean swells, you’ll want to take in this wonder from a safe distance. I recently toured around Pacific Rim National Park with Parks Canada, and the Wild Pacific Trail with an interpretive guide, and they’ve shown me some of the safest, coolest places to storm watch: Continue reading this post ⟩⟩
Early Music Vancouver presents Bach Collegium Japan: Bach, Handel, Vivaldi on December 9th at the Chan Centre for the Performing Arts at UBC. Widely recognized as one of the world’s leading ensembles specializing in the works of J.S. Bach and his contemporaries, Bach Collegium Japan and acclaimed British soprano Joanne Lunn, led by music director Masaaki Suzuki perform a concert of music by J.S. Bach, Vivaldi, and Handel, as well as shorter works by Conti, Marcello, and Telemann.
When: Sunday, December 9, 2018 at 3:00pm Where: Chan Centre for the Performing Arts (UBC, 6265 Crescent Rd, Vancouver) Tickets: From $18, available online now or by calling (604) 822-2697
Pre-concert talk at 2:15pm in the Royal Bank Cinema with Masaaki Suzuki and Joanne Lunn hosted by Matthew White
Photo credit: João Messias
The highly anticipated Vancouver concert begins with a performance of Bach’s Orchestral Suite No. 2 in B Minor – BWV 1067. Blending the elegance of French dance suites with the energy and brilliance of Italian composers like Vivaldi, Bach likely wrote this work featuring the flute during his time as kapellmeister to the Prince of Anhalt-Köthen. The ensemble then plays Vivaldi’s beloved Concerto in D Minor for Two Violins from his collection of string concertos entitled L’Estro Armonico. Bach thought enough of this collection to transcribe six concerti from the set in various arrangements over the years.
Following these instrumental works, soprano Lunn joins the orchestra for a performance of Conti’s dramatic and virtuosic setting of an ecstatic sacred love poem, Languet anima mea. This work was included in Bach’s personal library and is said to have been performed by his wife, Anna Magdalena. It demonstrates the extent to which Bach was influenced by Italy’s vocal music as he was by its instrumental music.
The orchestra then will perform shorter instrumental works by composers that Bach admired – Marcello’s Oboe Concerto in D Minor and Telemann’s Paris Quartet No. 1 in D Major.
The concert will conclude with a performance of Handel’s spectacular sacred motet, Silete venti – HWV 242. Praised by audiences as one of Handel’s most thrilling sacred works for solo voice and chamber orchestra, it is an early cantata written during his time in Italy as a young man.
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