As the cold snap approaches you can warm up with the Hot Chocolate Festival, some ice skating, or some concerts. Find these events and many more things to do in Vancouver this weekend listed below:
Collaborating with Eastside Arts Society, Indigenous artists, Asian Canadian artists, and more, The Lantern City installations for the Lunar New Year return to four sites around Vancouver in February.
The Lantern City – Miss604 Photo
The Lantern City Lunar New Year in Vancouver
In the Year of the Dragon, The Lantern City (as part of LunarFest Vancouver) encourages everyone to see beyond the familiar and imagine a community where we are all Born to be Free. With multiple lanterns spread across various iconic sites in the city where diversity shines, be sure to see these beautiful artworks by artists of different cultural backgrounds. Visit these stunning installations at the following locations:
Coastal Lunar Lanterns Location: Jack Poole Plaza Dates: February 9-27, 2024 Participating Artists: Atheana Picha; Cyler Sparrow-Point; Debra Sparrow & Isaiah Sparrow; Ali Istanda
Facing the waters, the Coastal Lunar Lanterns bring cultures together to celebrate the Lunar New Year. Featuring Indigenous artists from this area now known as Vancouver in a collaboration with C3 Society, and an Indigenous artist from Taiwan, the artworks are a physical and beautiful bridge across the oceans.
We Are Family Location: šxʷƛ̓ənəq Xwtl’e7énḵ Square (North of the Vancouver Art Gallery) Dates: February 9-28, 2024 Participating Artists: Damian John; Kristina Luu; Odera Igbokwe; Rashmi Tayagi; Jerry Whitehead; Studio 101 / Eastside Arts Society; Richard Hunt
A place that witnesses gatherings year round from people of all backgrounds, experiences, and ideas, this is the perfect place for our We are a Family lanterns.
Forever Young Location: Ocean Art Works (Granville Island) Dates: February 9-26, 2024 Participating Artists: Anita Ho; Sara Khan; Weiwei Xu; Seeroro; Studio 101 / Eastside Arts Society
Returning to Granville Island, the Forever Young lantern series captures the joy of our inner child. With bright colours that re-inspire our imaginations, a sense of the magical and the whimsical, these artists show us the sky’s the limit!
Location: Pendulum Gallery (885 W Georgia St, Vancouver) Dates: February 5 – March 1, 2024 Participating Artists: Leanne Lai Hildebrand
Facing the streets and right across from the We are a Family lanterns, Pendulum Gallery is joining The Lantern City lineup for the first time. The works of a Taiwanese Canadian artist will take us through cultural practices, identity reinvention, and new ways to view art. Discover how visual art allows us to truly be free with this free exhibition.
Read more about the artistic direction of The Lantern City this year for the Year of the Dragon and follow along on Instagram and Facebook for more information.
The #CHVCatchUp is a monthly series featuring the latest updates and news from Covenant House Vancouver (“CHV”). Miss604 is proud to be the Official Blog Partner of CHV. This month’s post has been written by Jason Bosher.
Thank You From Covenant House Vancouver
Covenant House Vancouver hopes that you had time to relax and enjoy yourselves and spend time with loved ones, over the holidays.
The holidays can be a challenging time for vulnerable youth in the community. However, so many of you showed youth that they are seen and loved that your support made such a positive difference throughout 2023 and over the holidays. We would like to share a few ways that community support impacted the youth that Covenant House serves.
Anti-Human Trafficking Toolkit: Thanks to funding by Women and Gender Equality Canada (WAGE), Covenant House was able to create a toolkit, the first of its kind, that will supply service providers with a means to help reduce the risk of trafficking and the barriers that prevent support, in an effort to co-create a safer future.
Foundations program: Thanks to you, Covenant House was able to open a low-barrier program to support youth who have identified working on their substance use as a primary goal. This program aims to provide crucial support to youth who are grappling with the detrimental effects of the pandemic on their mental well-being and the escalating, unregulated drug toxicity crisis.
Covenant House Gym – Photo submitted
Foundations is a program designed for youth who do not require medical detox and is a residential program based on harm reduction. Young people will focus on whole-person wellness and wraparound care supports that use a tailored, one-size-fits-one approach and will be guided by each young person’s individualized goals and case planning. Like our overall approach to care at Covenant House Vancouver, this helps ensure that precise supports and care are made available at the right time for youth, based on their journeys and specific needs.
Outreach and Drop-In Centre: Thanks to you, Covenant House was able to expand their Drop-In and Outreach services to 7 days a week. Vulnerable and homeless youth will have access to critical services through Covenant House’s Outreach teams meeting youth where they are at, and the Drop-In Centre, where youth can rest, do laundry, take a shower, receive a hot meal, and access support services.
Emergency Weather Beds: Thanks to you, in November of 2023, Covenant House Vancouver began providing emergency beds at 1280 Seymour Street, for 10 youth, age 16–24, whenever Extreme Weather Alerts are issued, typically for weather conditions that feel like 0°C. Additional staff have been hired to ensure that youth are safe and cared for.
Yesterday I was walking along Commercial Drive, something I need to do far more often, and I spotted a vintage neon Star Weekly sign. It’s been there for over 100 years and I had noticed it before in passing, usually in a vehicle, so I was excited to finally snap a photo of it from the sidewalk.
Star Weekly Sign in Vancouver
These signs appear in several Vancouver Archives photos, which I came across when I put together my Vintage Vancouver Coffee Shops post in 2016.
1940s. Richards Coffee Shop & Confectionary at Richards and Dunsmuir. Photographer: Jack Lindsay. Archives# CVA 1184-3280.
From Broadway and Commercial to Richards at Dunsmuir, the Star Weekly had several Bus Stop/Coffee Shop signs but the one I captured recently says “Grandview Smoke Shop” within the star then “Tobaccos” under it, where “Coffee Shop” is on the archives versions.
1940s. Grandview Highway bus outside the Bus Stop Coffee Shop. Photographer: Jack Lindsay. Archives# CVA 1184-3269.
According to Vancouver Neon, the shop sign has been there since 1921. “The Star Weekly was a national magazine inserted into local newspapers. The first edition of The Star Weekly was published on April 9, 1910. There were neon signs like these all across Canada.”
1940s. Pedestrians outside the A.B.C. Coffee Shop, 3700 E Hastings. Photographer: Jack Lindsay. Archives# CVA 1184-3277.
Until 1968, the publication shared many of the staff from the daily Toronto Daily Star. Notable contributors to the Star Weekly included Robert W. Service, Ernest Hemingway, Fred Varley, Nellie McClung, Pierre Berton, Robert Thomas Allen and Jimmy Frise, whose cartoon Bridseye Centre appeared in the magazine for several decades [source]. It was published until 1973.
What made me so excited to capture this on my walk was just seeing something I knew from the archives, in person – and in colour.
More Vintage Neon
In the 1950s Vancouver had approximately 19,000 neon signs – more than Las Vegas! The Museum of Vancouver had an exhibit about the city’s neon history (until 2022) with some resources still available online.
Enliven your senses with the traditional foods, music and culture of the 19th-century French-Canadian and Métis fur traders during Fort Langley National Historic Site’s annual Vive les Voyageurs Festival.
Vive Les Voyageurs at Fort Langley – Photo submitted
Vive les Voyageurs Festival at Fort Langley
Dates: Saturday, January 20 to Sunday, January 21, 2024
Times: 10:00am to 5:00pm
Adddress: Fort Langley National Historic Site (23433 Mavis Ave, Langley)
Tickets: Regular admission fees apply. $9 per adult; $7.50 per senior; Free for youth 17 and under & annual pass holders
From a spoon and jig demonstration with Maurice Guibord, to learning about trade routes with Rick Herfst, or Métis beading with Lisa Shepherd, the day’s schedule is packed with fascinating, engaging, and interactive events. A full schedule of the daily events is available online.
While you’re there, check out the Che’ Semiahmah-Sen, Che’ Shesh Whe Weleq-sen Si’am / (I am Semiahmoo, I am Survivor of the Flood) exhibit, which has been extended until April. Through the exhibit, the Semiahmoo First Nation people tell their story with a focus on their oral history, who they are as a people, and their place in the Lower Mainland.
Fort Langley National Historic Site falls within the unceded, ancestral lands of the Kwantlen, Katzie, Semiahmoo, and Matsqui First Nations. This exhibit provides context into how Fort Langley fits into the communities that have existed locally for thousands of years.
Other events at the Fort this season include a Bath Salt Soak Workshop (January 13th) with Deanna Miller (sxwnem) of Katzie First Nation.
