It’s described as the “biggest, wildest, sweateriest bash of the season” as the Original Ugly Christmas Sweater Party returns the 15th year in support of The Children’s Wish Foundation of Canada. Experience all the magic of Christmas you felt as a child with all the benefits of being an adult as you sport you best and brightest holiday sweater while supporting a great cause.

Original Ugly Sweater Christmas Party

Photo by Dwight Simon,courtesy of Now That’s Ugly Society

Where: Commodore Ballroom, Vancouver
When: Friday, December 23, 2016 doors at 8:00pm
Tickets: Available online now or by calling Ticketmaster at (604) 280-4444. Tickets are $35 and include one craft beer.

“What was a small house party among friends has become Vancouver’s must attend party of the year,” says Chris Boyd, Co-Founder & Organizer of The Original Ugly Christmas Sweater Party. “This year we will be celebrating 15 years of unbridled ugly sweateriness with hilarious holiday fun, super charged energy, and great people.”

The trend setting Original Ugly Christmas Sweater Party features live music from Groove & Tonic and holiday cheer including festive tunes, a dance party, a visit with Saint Nick, and souvenir pictures in Grandma’s living room. With prizes for Ugliest Sweater, Most Original Sweater, Best Mustache, and Group Costume on offer, party-goers are challenged to take their sweaters where no sweater has gone before.

“It’s jovial, it’s relaxing,” Co-Founder Jordan Birch told me last year. He says they create an environment where people automatically have something to talk about and a reason to connect. “It’s really all been about fun but it’s also about giving back.”

If you love the spirit of Christmas and celebrating the season, they dare you to get ugly in support of good cause – granting exceptional wishes for children with a life threatening illness. Last year the Now That’s Ugly Society donated $18,000 to the Children’s Wish Foundation, BC and Yukon Chapter!


Ugly Christmas Sweater Dash

Photo by Dwight Simon,courtesy of Now That’s Ugly Society

The Ugly Christmas Sweater Dash is a family-friendly component to this initiative, featuring an untimed 5km run, holiday music, craft beer, and family entertainment.

Where: Rocky Point Park, Port Moody
When: Saturday, December 3, 2016 10:00am
Registration: Register now online, or on site on the day of the Dash.

Parents with strollers, grandparents, and 20-somethings who cross the finish line and continue straight on into the craft beer garden are all welcome at this festive fun run in Port Moody. Registration includes an authentic Ugly Christmas Sweater Toque and all the hot chocolate you can drink.

For more information about the Ugly Christmas Sweater Party and the Ugly Christmas Sweater Dash follow along on Facebook and Twitter.

Win Tickets

I have a pair of tickets to give away to the Original Ugly Christmas Sweater Party! Here’s how you can enter to win:

• Leave a comment on this post naming your favourite Ugly Christmas Sweater decorations/features, from glitter and sequins to bows and vests (1 entry)
• Like, comment on, or share this post on Facebook (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

I will draw one winner on Monday, November 28, 2016 at 12:00pm. Must be 19+. Please enjoy responsibly.

Update The winner is Christine Byzitter!


Big Rigs for Kids in Surrey this season is another free event in Metro Vancouver that offers family fun while supporting a great cause. This lighted truck parade will illuminate Surrey, from Cloverdale to Downtown, and will be followed by live entertainment, snacks, and more.

Big Rigs for Kids in Surrey

• Where: City Hall Plaza (13450 104 Ave, Surrey)
• When: Sunday, December 4, 2016 4:30pm to 8:30pm, with trucks arriving at City Hall at 6:30pm
• Admission: Free! Donations to Surrey Food Bank & Surrey Christmas Bureau appreciated.

This is the 6th annual Big Rigs for Kids, with the lighted truck parade becoming a holiday tradition for many local families. The lighted trucks come from as far as Victoria and are decorated using hundreds of strings of lights to create beautiful holiday-themed displays.

The trucks start in Cloverdale as part of the Surrey Santa Parade and will arrive in Downtown Surrey around 6:30pm. They will be parked on University Drive in front of the City Centre Library till 8:00pm.

However, the fun begins long before that, and guests are encouraged to come early for some pre-parade face painting and live entertainment. Chris Hamilton will begin with a performance at 4:30pm and then lead the community in a Christmas carol sing-a-long by the 55-ft Christmas tree in the Plaza at City Hall.

There will be lots of ways to give back to your community at the event, as the Surrey Christmas Bureau and Surrey Food Bank will be on site collecting food, toy, and cash donations. The North Surrey Lions Club will also be on site selling hot dogs and hot chocolate, with all proceeds going to these charities.

Follow the Downtown Surrey BIA on Facebook and Twitter for more information about this event.

This weekend is the launch of many holiday events, fairs, and markets starting with the free Surrey Tree Lighting Festival at Surrey City Hall. It’s one of many free community events that we are fortunate to experience this season. Check out many more things to do in Vancouver this weekend in the big list below:

Things to do in Vancouver This Weekend

Events that run for longer than three days in a row are highlighted in green.

Friday, November 18, 2016
Light Up the Village at Park Royal
Love to Sew Expo
Music@Queens Concert Series
Alicia Tobin’s Come Draw with Me
West Coast Christmas Show
Britannia Christmas Craft Fair
Reach Gala Presented by 25toLife
Heritage Hockey Event
YOUth (a conference): Deconstructing the World Around You
Murrayville Holiday Market
30th Annual Crystal Ball for BC Children’s Hospital
Barbara Pentland Celebration
Behind the Scenes at Maplewood Farm, North Vancouver
Eastside Flea November Markets
19th Annual European Union Film Festival
Refresh Market, Squamish
Vancouver Alternative Arts & Fashion Week
Christmas at Hycroft
RENT at Centennial Theatre, North Vancouver
Eastside Culture Crawl
Miss Shakespeare at the Firehall Arts Centre
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Saturday, November 19, 2016
Sponsored by Miss604: Surrey Tree Lighting Festival
Mt Lehman Crafts for Christmas
Douglas Day at Fort Langley
Teenage Dirtbag with Jacob Samuel
Britannia Christmas Craft Fair
St Andrew’s Ball
St Thomas Moore Collegiate Christmas Craft Fair
Access Gallery Auction Fundraiser
Crofton House Winter Bazaar
Bloom Winter Market, Fort Langley
New West Craft
West End Community Centre Holiday Craft Fair
Vancouver Academy of Music Strawberry & Tea
Beyond Conference: Lead Through Action Presented by YWiB
North Surrey Handmade Market
Love to Sew Expo
Nat Bailey Winter Farmers Market
Behind the Scenes at Maplewood Farm, North Vancouver
Burnaby Village Museum Heritage Christmas
Refresh Market, Squamish
West Coast Christmas Show
Vancouver Alternative Arts & Fashion Week
Christmas at Hycroft
RENT at Centennial Theatre, North Vancouver
Eastside Culture Crawl
Eastside Flea November Markets
19th Annual European Union Film Festival
Miss Shakespeare at the Firehall Arts Centre
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat

Sunday, November 20, 2016
Blim Market
Straight Arrow Ethical-Business Panel and Market
Cannery Farmers’ Market
Hastings Park Farmers Market
West Coast Seafood Paella Dinner at YEW
St Thomas Moore Collegiate Christmas Craft Fair
Ridgeway Holiday Craft Fair
West Coast Christmas Show
Vancouver Alternative Arts & Fashion Week
RENT at Centennial Theatre, North Vancouver
Jingle Bell Walk & Run for Arthritis, New Westminster
Eastside Culture Crawl
Eastside Flea November Markets
19th Annual European Union Film Festival
Miss Shakespeare at the Firehall Arts Centre
Burnaby Village Museum Heritage Christmas

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Check out the full November event listings here and if you have an event to include, please send it in by email for a free listing. Follow Miss604 on Twitter for more daily updates.

Vancouver’s harbinger of all seasons, VanDusen Botanical Garden, is a delight to visit for the new blossoms in the spring, full foliage in summer, and the bright bursts of colour in the fall. When winter approaches, the garden is adorned with over one million sparkling bulbs during the Festival of Lights at VanDusen Garden.

Photo credit: Ann Hung on Flickr

Festival of Lights at VanDusen Garden

This family-friendly festival features both indoor and outdoor activities and attractions, plenty of photo opportunities, holiday treats, and much more.

• Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden
  5251 Oak St (37th and Oak) in Vancouver
• When: December 1, 2016 to January 2, 2017
  December 1 – 15 from 4:30pm to 9:00pm
  December 16 – 23 from 4:30pm to 10:00pm
  December 24 from 4:30pm to 9:00pm
  December 25 Closed
  December 26 – January 2 from 4:30pm to 9:00pm
• Admission: Buy in person or online in advance
  New! All Festival of Lights tickets include a free carousel ride.

Photo credit: TOTORORO.RORO on Flickr

Stroll with friends and family through interactive themed areas, enjoy the famous Dancing Lights show on Livingstone Lake, look for roving Scandinavian gnomes and reindeer in the garden, light a candle at the Make-A-Wish candle grotto, take a photo with Santa, and much more.

Experience the romance of Paris right here in Vancouver at Jardins de Paris. Stop by the Eiffel Tower to take a selfie under the dazzling lights and share on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using the hashtag #JardinsDeParis for a chance to win two economy tickets to Paris, courtesy of Air France and YVR.

Since there’s so much to see and do, you’ll probably need some holiday treats and warm beverages. Dining and snack options include Cin City Donuts, Community Pizzeria, Frosty’s Patio & Bar, Roasted Italian Chestnuts, Potato Tornado, Shaughnessy Restaurant, Santa’s Kitchen, Truffles Café, and Truffles Pop-up Café.

Follow VanDusen Botanical Garden on Facebook and Twitter for more information.

Education & Career Fairs (“ECF”) invites you to their 20th anniversary events to kick start your career this fall. When you visit ECF this year, you will experience all the exciting stages of planning the trip of a lifetime: pursuing your dreams. If you are looking for a job or training options, ECF makes it easy to get a new start since the Fair is free!

What’s New for 2016

Interactive Gallery – Let the Centre for Arts and Technology give you the full experience of what it will be like to pursue your passion with this interactive gallery. Every station offers a different experience. Look, listen and feel – view life through the lens of a professional camera, immerse yourself in sound or feel what it’s like to create and animate. Or perhaps you want to see what computers can really do in the Network Administrator Specialist gallery. Pop by and see that your passion is within reach.

Learning Lounge – Seminars, presentations and demonstrations by exhibitors will take place in the Learning Lounge. Listen to experts provide valuable insight on everything from high demand jobs, school applications, how to balance doing what you love vs. what pays the bills and more! Don’t miss out on these free Learning Lounge Talks, including “Paying for School Like a Boss” presented by Stenberg College. Plan ahead and view upcoming Learning Lounge Talks here.

Exhibitors

Find out which of the 100+ organizations can help you get trained and get hired, and take the “Plan Your Trip Quiz”.

Who Will Be There?

Abbotsford Education & Career Fair

Date: Tuesday November 29, 2016
Hours: 9:00am to 3:00pm
Where: TRADEX in Abbotsford (1190 Cornell St)
Tickets: Book free tickets online now!

Vancouver Education & Career Fair

Date: Friday December 9, 2016
Hours: 9:00am to 3:00pm
Where: Vancouver Convention Centre EAST, Exhibit Hall B (Canada Place)
Tickets: Book free tickets online now!

There will also be Education & Career Fairs in Nanaimo at Vancouver Island Conference Centre on December 1st and Kelowna at Prospera Place on December 5th.

Follow Education & Career Fairs on Facebook and Twitter for more information.