The BC Lions are heading to Vancouver Island for Touchdown Pacific, where they’ll take on the Ottawa Redblacks on Saturday, August 31st at Royal Athletic Park in Victoria. Tickets will go on sale to the general public beginning on Thursday, March 28 at 10:00am.
Touchdown Pacific – BC Lions Game in Victoria
This Labour Day weekend clash serves as the main backdrop following a three-day festival celebrating the Canadian Football League on Vancouver Island.
There will be a free festival open to the public at downtown Victoria’s Ship Point Inner Harbour on Thursday and Friday before the game. The festival will be a celebration of Victoria and the Canadian Football League. Fans can enjoy food, beverage and musical entertainment.
BC Lions players and coaches will take part in community activities, including open practices and football clinics for kids of all ages.
“The response from our season ticket holders has been tremendous and we now encourage all of our fans to act quickly on the public sale. Our organization is proud to host a great football festival in Victoria for those coming from all over the country,” says Lions’ president Duane Vienneau.
Tickets for Touchdown Pacific start at $35 with prices ranging up to $95. There will also be a VIP hospitality section in the East end zone and the West end zone will feature our Coors Light Party Zone. Find more info regarding tickets, Royal Athletic Park, and this historic BC Lions home game and CFL event here.
Canada Day Long Weekend in the Cowichan Valley is Laketown Shakedown time, and this year’s lineup has just been announced. Join Gwen Stefani, Busta Rhymes, Bone Thugs N Harmony, bbno$, Grandson, and more at the 275 acre ranch on Vancouver Island.
Laketown Shakedown – Colin Smith Takes Pics
Laketown Shakedown with Gwen Stefani, Busta Rhymes & More
The 2024 Laketown Shakedown will host 3 days of live music across 3 stages in a truly spectacular setting, plus a festival village with food and other vendors, activities, multiple full-service bars, a dynamic VIP area, flush toilets, showers and more. Tickets are now available, including VIP and weekend passes.
The festival will feature two nights of world class Main Stage performances on June 29th & 30th, with a kick-off party slated for Friday, June 28th on the Lakenight Stage.
Kickoff Party Friday
Saturday, June 29, 2024
Sunday, June 30, 2024
Jesse Roper DJ Nu-Mark
Busta Rhymes Grandson Bone Thugs N Harmony Neon Steve
Gwen Stefani BBNO$ Miina Murge
Other confirmed artists for the include: Bankes Brothers, The Free Label, Illvis Freshly, The Steadies, Downtown Mischief, Burchill, Mt Doyle, Blase Blase, The New Groovement, Darrian Gerard, Base Collective, and many more.
Following the outstanding success of previous events, Laketown Ranch has solidified its place as the ultimate vacation destination in the Cowichan Valley. Laketown Ranch is a world-class facility, featuring the largest permanent outdoor stage in Western Canada on a 275-acre site only minutes from Cowichan Lake. Find more info on Instagram.
Vancouver Opera presents George Bizet’s beloved opera Carmen to close out its 2023-2024 season at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre. Audiences will have five opportunities to see this production of Carmen, one of the most widely performed works in operatic history.
Production image courtesy of Philadelphia Opera
Carmen at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre
Date:
April 27, May 2 and May 4, 2024 at 7:30pm
April 28 and May 5, 2024 at 2:00pm
Location: Queen Elizabeth Theatre (630 Hamilton St, Vancouver)
Rachel Peake returns to Vancouver Opera to direct Carmen at the Queen Elizabeth Theatre alongside conductor Leslie Dala for five-shows of richly coloured melodies and rhythmic vibrancy.
Animated by an all-star cast and audacious stagecraft, the conflicting worlds and failed romance of the rebellious Carmen and the possessive military man Don José burst off the stage. From the stirring Toreador Song to the tauntingly seductive aria Habanera, Bizet’s music cuts a compelling path through a story that intertwines the political and the personal. Carmen is sung in French with English surtitles projected above the stage.
Portraying the romantic title character are mezzo-sopranos Sarah Mesko (April 27, May 2 & 4) and Carolyn Sproule (April 28 & May 5). The fiery Don Jose is performed by Alok Kumar (April 27, May 2 & 4) and Matthew White (April 28 & May 5). Appearing in all five performances are soprano Jonelle Sills as Micaela, Nathan Keoughan as Escamillo, Alain Coulombe as Zuniga, and Luka Kawabata as Le Dancaire. Joining them are Vancouver Opera’s Yulanda M. Faris Young Artists Jeremy Scinocca as Le Remendado, Simran Claire as Mercedes, Heidi Duncan as Frasquita and Danlie Rae Acebuque as Morales.
This lush, grand-scale production updates the original setting from late-1800s southern Spain to an unnamed, pan-Latin city in the mid-1950s, where mounting political tensions and romantic desires match the scorching midsummer temperatures. Eye-catching but peeling billboards, bustling town squares and dive cafés, and costumes that range from proletariat denim to opulent bullfighting regalia give a vivid but distressed texture to this timeless tale of class division and teeming emotion.
Since 2006, bakeries and cafes around the world have dedicated March 20th as a day to enjoy sweet treats while bringing attention to important causes. You can celebrate and savour Macaron Day in Vancouver at these locations:
Cause: 50% of Macaron sales will be donated to the Burnaby SPCA in honour of Elena’s dearly loved and missed cat, Sasha.
In celebration of this famous French cookie and the arrival of spring, Elena will be bringing back her popular Sakura Strawberry Macaron. With distinct flavors of cherry blossom and strawberry, this limited edition seasonal treat won’t last long!
Where:Bon Macaron (545-1689 Johnston St. (Granville Island), Vancouver)
Visit throughout the day and receive 1 extra macaron for every 6 you buy – including an exclusive macaron you can snap a picture of and post to your social media to win a free workshop.
Journée internationale du macaron
Macarons (not to be confused with macaroons) are meringue-based confections commonly filled with buttercream or jam with a delicate soft and crunchy outer shell. Macaron Day was founded in France (Journée internationale du macaron) by Pierre Hermé in 2006. It’s a day to celebrate the colours of spring with a bright palette of treats. Macaron Day events will be happening overseas, in New York, and in Toronto. Over the last few years it has become a Vancouver tradition as well.
Massey Theatre presents the world premiere of Over the Ridge on April 13, 2024. The production explores the misconceptions and reflections on the Battle of Vimy Ridge by The Fugitives in collaboration with Jacob Williams.
The Fugitives. Photo Credit: Kevin Clark.
Over the Ridge at the Massey Theatre
Date: Saturday, April 13, 2024 at 4:00pm and 8:00pm
Location: Massey Theatre (735 8th Ave, New Westminster)
In 2020, Vancouver acoustic folk-roots group The Fugitives released Ridge, a musical storytelling film that examined the WWI Canadian soldier experience during the Battle of Vimy Ridge. It was named a Top 10 Arts Event of the Year by The Globe and Mail, and spawned the JUNO-nominated album Trench Songs.
In this world premiere of Over the Ridge, The Fugitives – headed by songwriters Brendan McLeod and Adrian Glynn along with Christopher Suen (banjo) and Carly Frey (violin) – collaborate with choreographer and Ballet BC dancer Jacob Williams to expand this narrative through dance.
Over the Ridge explores the misconceptions and offers reflections on the Battle of Vimy Ridge. The story is told through direct address, historical readings, dance, and new re-imaginings of the songs WWI soldiers wrote in the trenches.
Win Tickets
You can enter to win a pair of tickets to the 4:00pm performance, here’s how:
Developed in partnership with the Massey Theatre Society, with help from Ballet BC and Arts Umbrella, Over the Ridge adds original contemporary dance to storytelling, spoken word and live music, resulting in a kinetic ride through history that delves into our strong connection to the past and passionately argues against the exploitation of young lives.
