Spring Break is almost here and what’s better than exploring, discovering, and enjoying some local attractions while school’s out? Enjoying them at no cost! Here are some recommended activities that will roll out a ton of fun, while not breaking the bank.

10 Free Spring Break Activities in Vancouver

Parks Canada: Did you hear? It was announced at the start of this year that admission to all national parks, national historic sites, and national marine conservation areas operated by Parks Canada will be provided free of charge for youth 17 and under. In Metro Vancouver, we have two Parks Canada attractions that are now free:

1) Spring Break at Fort Langley National Historic Site
March 17 to April 2, 2018
Learn more about the ecology of the river and its important connections with the Stó:lō people through Fort Langley’s Feature Presentation. Discover fishing tools and techniques used by the First Nations people during our hands on Historic Treasures program. Pack a barrel full of salmon in the Salmon Run Activity! Weekends only: Tag along on one of our NEW daytime walking tours through the town of Fort Langley.

2) Spring Break at the Gulf of Georgia Cannery
March 16 to March 29, 2018
Learn about Canada’s west coast fishing history with the whole family through the Cannery’s interactive exhibits. Kids 6-11 years old can pick up a Parks Canada Xplorer activity booklet filled with fun activities to help explore the spacious 55,000 square foot historic cannery. For little ones 5 and under, find fishy-themed toys, games, and dress-up inside the Cannery Kids’ Corner.

The next two attractions are both run by the Vancouver Park Board and have free admission (up to two free child admissions with the purchase of a regular price adult, senior, or youth admission) from March 1 to March 29, 2018:

3) VanDusen Botanical Garden
March 1 to March 29, 2018
Explore this 55-acre oasis in the heart of Vancouver with over 7,500 plant species and varieties from around the world. Spot and photograph local wildlife, find your way through an Elizabethan hedge maze, unwind in a serene setting, dine on the patios of Truffles Cafe or Shaughnessy Restaurant, or browse the garden-themed gift shop.

4) Bloedel Conservatory
March 1 to March 29, 2018
Bloedel Conservatory is a domed lush paradise located in Queen Elizabeth Park atop the City of Vancouver’s highest point. More than 120 free-flying exotic birds, 500 exotic plants and flowers thrive within its temperature-controlled environment.

5) Steveston Interurban Tram
March 17 to April 2, 2018
For 55 years, iconic interurban tram cars transported people throughout the Lower Mainland, from Steveston to the Fraser Valley. One of these tram cars, the 106-year old Interurban 1220, is now housed in a beautiful light-filled building on the corner on No.1 Road and Moncton Street. Get hands on with our new mobile discovery corner and make sure you pick up a special spring break Steveston History Hunters scavenger hunt that will also have you exploring the Steveston Museum & Visitor Centre.

One of my favourite local attractions, that combines seasonal events with local heritage is the Burnaby Village Museum:

6) Spring Break at Burnaby Village Museum
March 19 to March 29, 2018 from 11:00am to 4:30pm
Learn about lead type at the printshop, talk to the teacher in the one-room schoolhouse, watch a silent black & white movie, chat to the clerk at the General Store, explore the restored Interurban tram, hear and smell coffee grinding in the General Store. Free admission, always! And carousel rides are only $2.65 each.

Head up Highway 99 along beautiful Howe Sound and stop in at this attraction (free for up to three children, 12 and under accompanied by at least one adult) to enjoy fun activities and outdoor adventure:

7) Spring Break at the Sea to Sky Gondola
March 17 to March 30, 2018
The Sea to Sky Gondola’s forested trails are the perfect backdrop for unstructured play time in nature, and the summit’s viewing platform’s iconic views are the perfect place to break out the selfie stick for some candid family photos. Families can also discover mountain peaks and Howe Sound vistas from various scenic viewpoints and check out the 100-metre-long Sky Pilot Suspension Bridge before warming up with a hot chocolate and a snack in the lodge.

8) Metro Vancouver Regional Parks
Check out free drop-in programs at regional parks like the Enchanted Forest at Aldergrove Regional Park on March 29th, Follow Their Footsteps: Animal Signs at Kanaka Creek on March 18th, and Super Animal at Burnaby Lake Regional Park on March 20th. Don’t miss the Surrey Nature Centre’s Spring Fling on March 21st with guided walks, story times, face painting, and nature-themed crafts.

There’s a lot to do outdoors but if the weather doesn’t cooperate, then there are still some indoor options:

9) Story Time & Craft at HighStreet in Abbotsford
March 13, 20, 27, 2018
Every Tuesday inside the Marshalls Lobby on the Podium Level from 9:30am to 10:30am

10) Vancouver Art Gallery
March 19 to March 23, 2018
Kids 12 & under will receive free admission to the Gallery as part of an extension of their Weekly Family Programs. Children must be accompanied by an adult, and regular admission rates do still apply to the children’s parent or guardian. Admission includes access to all of the exhibitions as well as the Weekly Family Programs.

And an honourable mention to $2.99 movies at Cineplex Theatres showing Cineplex Family Favourites at 18 BC movie theatres March 12 – March 16, 2018. They also offer $2.99 admission to Cineplex Family Favourites at 11:00am on Saturday mornings. A portion of the proceeds goes towards supporting WE Charity.

Update Join Variety BC for a FREE screening of Sgt. Stubby – An Unlikely Hero on March 28th at the Scotiabank Theatre on Burrard. RSVP here »

This year, the Vancouver International Wine Festival, which ran from February 24 to March 4, celebrated its 40th edition with 51 events including tastings, seminars, and dinners. The festival showcased wines from 15 countries, with the spotlight on Spain, who had 38 wineries at the festival offering tastings, and Portugal, who had 20.

Seven years ago I attended the The Bacchanalia Gala + Auction at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver—a five-course dinner with nine wine pairings and a silent auction of rare wines—as someone’s date and had a really wonderful time but have not attended since. Each year, the festival would come and go and I’d wonder about the tastings and events but I felt really shy about attending; I had this notion it was for people who had a far greater knowledge of wine than I did. This year, however, I decided to take the plunge and started with the event the festival suggests—the International Festival Tastings. So I grabbed a girlfriend and together we attended the Thursday evening tasting and I went again solo on Saturday afternoon, and even by attending the event for two days, I only made the slightest dent into the 750 wines that were available for tasting but learned a lot about wine and my tastes nevertheless.

When I walked into the Vancouver Convention Centre and saw the amount of wines available, it was hard to know where to start. Regrettably, I didn’t come up with much of game plan before I arrived and quickly became overwhelmed. At times, I became distracted by the colourful characters swirling reds in the glasses (my girlfriend said the event felt like a mix of going to the opera and a trade show; however, Saturday afternoon, I found there to be a different crowd who were interested in wine more casually).

Anyway, I once I began tasting some of the wines, I did regain focus.

With the theme this year being “Celebrating Spain & Portugal” there were a lot of quality producers with wines from the various regions of the two countries, including a very reasonably priced wine from one of Rioja’s grandest houses, CVNE (Compania Vinicola del Norte del Espana). The Cvne Gran Reserva 2011 is 85% Tempranillo, 10% Graciano, and 5% Mazuelo and was glorious with flavors of blackberries, cranberries, and spices, and incredibly reasonably priced for what you get.

Unfortunately, I didn’t spend enough time in the Spain and Portugal section because it was incredibly crowded and busy, and ended up gravitating toward the French, Italian, and Chilean section. I have listed some of my reasonably-priced favourites from what I drank over two days. However, I must make a disclosure: I’m heavily biased toward French producers. Wines from Bordeaux, Burgundy, Beaujolais, Rhône Valley…I think such preferences took root on a school trip to France (with Rebecca!) when we were 14 years olds and visited a vineyard in Burgundy. Also, remember, I’m not an expert, but a wine enthusiast, but after attending the tastings, I will say my interest has been piqued — I’m now listening to wine podcasts and flirting with the idea of taking my WSET Level 1 this spring. So I definitely recommend people interested in wine to attend the Vancouver International Wine Festival as it’s a great starting point because of the quality and quantity of wines you’re exposed it.

My Favourite Wines from the Festival

Albert Bichot Chardonnay Bourgogne Secret de Famille 2015
Bourgogne, France
Notes: Fantastic value for a Bourgogne Blanc. Light, creamy, fresh, with great balance.

Jean-Luc Colombo Les Abeilles de Colombo Rouge 2015
Côtes-du-Rhône, France
Notes: (Organic) Medium-bodied. Silky, with licorice and and spice on the palate. Great value.

Jean-Luc Colombo Châteauneuf du Pape “Les Bartavelles” Rouge AOC 2015
Côtes-du-Rhône, France
Notes: (Organic) Wine Spectator gave the 2015 vintage a score of 91. Really good value for Châteauneuf du Pape. Red licorice on the nose. Cassis and plum on the palate. Anything by Jean-Luc Colombo is highly recommended.

Château de la Galiniere Côtes de Provence Rosé 2016
Côtes de Provence, France
Notes: (Organic) I don’t know much about wines from Provence but this was delightful rosé. Light, rose gold-coloured, dry. Floral nose with pink grapefruit and peach on the palate.

Undurraga T.H. Terroir Hunter Carignan
Valle de Maule, Chile

Undurraga T.H Terroir Hunter Carmenère
Peumo, Chile
Notes: All the reds produced by Undurraga I tried were incredible and of outstanding value. I didn’t quite catch the vintage but anything from their vineyards would be great.

Santa Ema Amplus Old Vine Carignan 2015
Maule Valley,Chile

Santa Ema Amplus Old Vine Carignan 2015
Notes: Anything by Santa Ema is something to look out for. These were some of my favourite reds and are of excellent value.

Okanagan Crush Pad Narrative Riesling 2016
Summerland, BC
Notes: The one BC table I stopped at (I’m a huge BC wine love but since there were so many wines from around the world, I didn’t spend much time in this section); I thought Riesling was a fun, unique, and tasted like summer to me.

Throughout the year, follow the Vancouver International Wine Festival on Facebook and Twitter for the latest wine updates and events.

The Vancouver South African Film Festival (“VSAFF”), now in its 8th year, is proud to present features and documentaries that explore the culture, history and politics of South Africa – films that inspire, inform, and entertain.

Vancouver South African Film Festival

Where: SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts (149 W Hastings, Vancouver)
When: March 23-25, 2018
Tickets: Available online now. Full festival passes are $89, or $109 to include the opening night gala (Friday, March 23rd at John Fluevog in Gastown). Individual film tickets are available for $15-$20.

VSAFF Film Lineup

The 2018 lineup includes ​a wide range of films ​exploring the intense Dusi Canoe Marathon, post-apartheid and post-Zuma South Africa, and the pain of being torn between cultures, as well as documentaries about Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and grandmothers in a historic fight for justice and dignity.

Each year VSAFF is also proud to present one film from an African country other than South Africa.​ ​Liyana is the stunning part animated, part documentary film from Swaziland that will delight the whole family.

Singabantu | Beyond the River
Screening Date/Time: Friday, March 23, 2018 @ 7:00pm
Two men’s lives are transformed when they team up to challenge the elements in the Dusi Canoe Marathon, one of the toughest and most extreme races in the world.

Winnie
Screening Date/Time: Saturday, March 24, 2018 @ 11:30am
The documentary “Winnie” sheds intimate light on Winnie Madikizela-Mandela’s life and contribution, from her rise to seeming fall from grace.

Wonderboy For President
Screening Date/Time: Saturday, March 24, 2018 @ 4:00pm
One of the most creative, hilarious, and politically astute films yet to appear in post-apartheid South Africa, “Wonderboy For President” is a mockumentary that sees a charismatic and innocent young man groomed for leadership.

Yellow Fever | Krotoa
Screening Date/Time: Saturday, March 24, 2018 @ 7:30pm
A young woman, torn between the Dutch culture she serves and her Khoi heritage she was removed from as a child, struggles to find her place in “Krotoa.”

The Giant is Falling
Screening Date/Time: Saturday, March 24, 2018 @ 2:00pm
“The Giant is Falling” turns its lens onto recent shifts in politics that signify the end of an era in South Africa.

Inxeba (The Wound)
Screening Date/Time: Sunday, March 25, 2018 @ 11:00am
As a group of young boys journey into manhood, a young man confronts his hidden self in this frank portrayal of homosexuality and exploration of the traditional Xhosa coming of age ceremony.

Every Face Tells a Story | Strike a Rock
Screening Date/Time: Sunday, March 25, 2018 @ 1:30pm
In “Strike a Rock,” two grandmothers lead their community in a historic fight for justice and dignity following a massacre in a poverty-stricken mining town.

Singabantu | Liyana
Screening Date/Time: Sunday, March 25, 2018 @ 3:30pm
“Liyana” tells the story of a resilient girl who braves violence, hunger and despair while bringing us her own brand of magic in this film that’s part animated fable, part documentary.

An Act Of Defiance
Screening Date/Time: Sunday, March 25, 2018 @ 7:00pm
“An Act Of Defiance” is an inspiring examination of political courage with compelling insights into the human cost of commitment and principle in the 1963 apartheid state.

Liyana

VSAFF is a non-profit event organized entirely by volunteers. All proceeds from the festival go to go to support Education without Borders to provide educational opportunities for disadvantaged and at-risk children through initiatives in South Africa and Canada.

Win Passes to the Vancouver South African Film Festival

I have two VSAFF festival passes 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

[clickToTweet tweet=”RT to enter to win passes to the Vancouver South African Film Festival @VSAFFest http://ow.ly/GXmM30iTXGb” quote=” Click to enter via Twitter” theme=”style6″]

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Sunday, March 18, 2018. Prize includes weekend festival passes, does not include opening night gala tickets. Follow the VSAFF on Twitter and Facebook for more information.

Update The winner is Jill!

There’s free admission for kids at VanDusen Botanical Garden in March! Take advantage of up to two free child admissions with the purchase of a regular price adult, senior, or youth admission at VanDusen – and at the Bloedel Conservatory – from March 1 to 29, 2018.

Browse all 55-acres that boast 7,500 plant species and varieties from around the world. Spot and photograph local wildlife, find your way through an Elizabethan hedge maze, unwind in a serene setting, dine on the patios of Truffles Cafe or Shaughnessy Restaurant, or browse the garden-themed gift shop.

Make your way over to the tropical Bloedel Conservatory and discover the plants inside the lush dome located at the top of Queen Elizabeth Park. Visit this indoor tropical paradise with over 120 exotic birds including macaws, parrots, pheasants and cockatoos, and 500 kinds of plants.

Events for kids at the Garden this month

March 17 & 24, 2018: Free Bird Activities

Friday, March 30 to Sunday, April 1, 2018: The VanDusen Great A-Maze-ing Egg Hunt. Kids aged 0 to 8 years are invited to experience the annual Great A-Maze-ing Egg Hunt at VanDusen Botanical Garden on Friday, March 30, Saturday, March 31 or Sunday, April 1. Enjoy an outdoor egg hunt in 6 different areas of the garden including the maze, participate in fun themed activities, and purchase tasty treats from on-site food trucks. Each child will receive a bag of chocolate at the end of their hunt. Please bring your own basket or container for collecting eggs. This event is outdoors and runs rain or shine.

VanDusen Garden is located at 5251 Oak St and open daily. Bloedel Conservatory is located at the top of Queen Elizabeth Park at 4600 Cambie in Vancouver.

Follow VanDusen Botanical Garden on Facebook and Twitter for more information. Offers are exclusive to each facility and cannot be combined with other promotions or discounts.

How about a selfie opportunity with the likes of Marianas Trench, Lights, or Arkells? The JUNO Awards are making that happen on March 24th with the JUNO Fan Fare at Metropolis at Metrotown!

Where: Metropolis at Metrotown (4700 Kingsway, Burnaby)
When: Saturday, March 24, 2018 from 12:00pm to 3:00pm
Tickets: Available online starting at 10:00am on Saturday, March 20, 2018. FREE! But they’re bound to all get booked up very quickly. Tickets are available on a first come, first served basis.

When the JUNO Fan Fare presented by CBC Music takes over Metropolis at Metrotown, Canadian music fans will get a once in a lifetime chance to meet and take photos with their favourite artists.

The afternoon will be hosted by CBC Music’s Odario Williams, Amanda Parris and CBC Vancouver’s Anita Bathe and offers fans a chance to get up close and personal with this year’s JUNO nominees (and others) as well as enjoy exciting live performances by Jess Moskaluke, High Valley, Ria Mae, Scott Helman, Tim Hicks and DAVE (Dave Ritter of The Strumbellas) will DJ the event.

Fans can participate in giveaways and photo opportunities while meeting their favourite artists.

Appearing at JUNO Fan Fare for Selfie Sessions are:

JUNO Fan Fare Presented by CBC Music runs from Fans can customize their experience from a selection of six artist photo sessions each featuring multiple artists.

The 47th annual JUNO Awards and JUNO Week 2018 will be hosted in Vancouver from March 19 through March 25, 2018, culminating in The JUNO Awards, on Sunday, March 25, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver.

This will be the fourth time that Vancouver will host Canada’s Music Awards ceremony; shows previously took place in 1991, 1998, and 2009. Follow the JUNO Awards online with the tag #JUNOS on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.