The Seaforth Highlanders will host a Highland Homecoming on September 24th. This day of celebration will include a parade and ceremonies as the Regiment returns home to the Seaforth Armoury at 1650 Burrard Street, after four years away.

1936: Seaforth Armoury on Burrard. Photographer: Stuart Thomson. Archives # CVA 99-4876.

The day’s festivities will begin with a march led by the Seaforth Pipes & Drums, from the Jericho Garrison, where the Seaforth Highlanders have been stationed for the past four years, to the refurbished Seaforth Armoury. The official ceremony to reopen the Armoury will be followed by a formal parade and a Drumhead Ceremony. The afternoon will end with an entertaining and spirited military tattoo with musical performances.

Seaforth Highlanders Homecoming

Where: Seaforth Armoury (1650 Burrard St at W 1st)
Admission: Free for all to attend
When: Saturday, September 24, 2016

• 10:30am: Parade to exercise the Infantry Regiment’s Right of Freedom of the City lead by the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada Pipes and Drums. Route: Regiment and Cadets will depart Jericho Garrison, 4050 West 4th Avenue, march down West 4th to McDonald, left on McDonald, right on Cornwall and finally right on Burrard. The parade concludes at 1650 Burrard Street.
• 11:30am: Canadian flag raising ceremony at the Seaforth Armoury doors, 1650 Burrard St.
• 1:00pm: Parade and Drumhead Ceremony on the parade square. In honour of having the Afghanistan Battle Honour emblazoned on the Regimental Colours, veterans of the Afghanistan Campaign, from across the Lower Mainland, have been invited to parade with the Regiment.
• 2:00pm – 3:45pm: Highland Homecoming Military Tattoo connecting Vancouverites to the Military through music and Military exercise. Bands, singers, and highland dancers will entertain. The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada will provide training exercises, equipment demonstrations, and a broad sword set demonstration.

Approximately 250 Seaforth Highlanders of Canada members, Cadets and Regimental Association Members will participate in the day. Music and entertainment will be provided by the Seaforth Highlanders Pipes and Drums, the Band of the 15th Field Regiment, the Vancouver Police Pipe Band, Shot of Scotch Vancouver Highland Dancers, male vocal choir Chor Leoni, along with many others.

“Before”. My photos from when I had a tour of the building four years ago before renovations began.

During the past four years, the Seaforth Armoury has undergone extensive seismic upgrades and had its building services modernized to allow the Seaforths to continue to respond to domestic emergencies such as earthquakes, wildfires, and floods as well as train to serve overseas in Afghanistan and elsewhere. The Armoury was originally opened in August 1936, and is the home of the Seaforth Highlanders of Canada and two Cadet Corps.

“Before”. My photos from when I had a tour of the building four years ago before renovations began.

Vancouver’s Infantry Regiment, The Seaforth Highlanders of Canada, celebrated their 100 year anniversary in 2010. Formed in 1910 by members of the local Scottish community, the Seaforths have served as volunteer soldiers, supporting Canada in every major Canadian Forces overseas mission, including the two World Wars and most recently Afghanistan.

For more information about the Homecoming event, follow Seaforth Highlanders on Twitter and Instagram.

The 35th annual Vancouver International Film Festival (“VIFF”) has announced the Canadian co-production Maudie, about real-life Nova Scotian artist Maud Lewis, will be its Opening Night film and the Terrence Malick IMAX documentary, The Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience as its Closing Night film. The two films exemplify both the exceptional content being produced in this country, and the ambitious artistry of today’s filmmakers bound to inspire audiences during VIFF, which runs from September 29th to October 14th.

VIFF Opening Gala Film

September 29, 2016: Maudie stars Sally Hawkins as the arthritic artist who overcame her physical disability to become one of Canada’s most famous folk artists. Ethan Hawke co-stars as her husband in this story of perseverance. Director Aisling Walsh will be on-hand to introduce the film.

VIFF Closing Gala Film

October 14, 2016: Coinciding with VIFF’s 35th anniversary, The Voyage of Time: The IMAX Experience took almost four decades to come to fruition and was shot in 35mm at the hands of auteur Terrence Malick. The documentary, narrated by co-producer Brad Pitt, transforms the birth of the universe into pure visual spectacle.

Special Guests

VIFF also unveiled this week, a sampling of the hundreds of guests that are expected to attend the festival. Spiritual author and public speaker Eckhart Tolle will make the world premiere of Milton’s Secret on September 30th, which is based off Tolle’s book of the same name. The actors of the film, Mia Kirshner, David Sutcliffe, and William Ainscough will be joining him.

On October 1st, writer-director Nate Parker is expected to attend for his film, The Birth of a Nation, which he also stars in. Meanwhile, Canadian actress Tatiana Maslany is expected to present the drama The Other Half. Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files, will be honoured with the Industry Builder Award for his sustainable production methods on The X-Files revival season at the Sustainable Production Forum on October 7. Finally, Canadian musician and actor John Mann will attend the BC Spotlight Awards Gala screening of Spirit Unforgettable on October 8th.

Tickets

Screening tickets start at $15. Passes and ticket packs became available online September 1st, with single tickets available online starting September 8th and in-person September 15th. Tickets for talks and events will also be available at this time. All tickets will be available for purchase at online.

Each year VIFF relies on the hard work of more than 1,000 volunteers to assist in running the festival. Volunteer registration is now open. Follow VIFF on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram for more information about the festival, its events, special guests, and films.

The Dunbar Village Harvest Festival returns to Dunbar St, between W 26th & W 30th, this Saturday. Hosted by Dunbar Village Business Association, this year’s festivities bring locals a variety of activities for adults and kids, group presentations, live music and entertainment and a scavenger hunt with the chance to win an iPad!

Dunbar Village Harvest Festival

Where: Dunbar St, between W 26th & W 30th
When: Saturday, September 10, 2016 from 11:00am to 3:00pm
Admission: Free!

Performers headlining the Shoppers Drug Mart stage include family-friendly acts such as Harrison the Yoyoer, School of M.O.V.E.S with Dianna David, Lights Up Musical Theatre School performing The Little Mermaid and Juno nominated and award winning CBC kids’ artist Ginalina Music.

The festival is also offering activities for both adults and kids such as Sumo Bouts with Elements Academy, a climbing wall by The Edge Climbing Centre and a dunk tank hosted by Stong’s Market. Guests have the opportunity to take part in a scavenger hunt and win an iPad by completing store trivia in three separate areas of the Dunbar Village Harvest Festival.

Food trucks will be on site at the festival and Stong’s Market and Save-on-Foods will be manning two separate barbecues to feed patrons. Donations from the Stong’s BBQ are going towards the BC Cancer Foundation and Save-on-Foods is donating its proceeds to BC Children’s Hospital. Shoppers Drug Mart will also be hosting a sidewalk sale benefiting the BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre Foundation.

For more information about the Dunbar Village Harvest Festival, follow Dunbar Village on Facebook and Twitter.

The anticipated premiere of Moosemeat & Marmalade‘s second season airs today on the Aboriginal People’s Television Network (“APTN”). This season, co-hosts Art Napoleon and Dan Hayes go around the globe, exploring new realms of adventure — both in the kitchen and in the wild, taking farm-to-table cooking to a whole new level.

Moosemeat and Marmalade

In the first season of the show, Art and Dan discovered each other’s culinary philosophies and expertise. Art is an acclaimed First Nations bush cook and Dan is the chef and owner of The London Chef, a dynamic and interactive cooking school, pantry and catering kitchen located in Victoria. The second season sees the duo explore their different cultures collaboratively, in rich and diverse ways. Together they investigate what sustainability and food production look like in a modern world, while foraging for food in every country and city they visit.

This season, Art and Dan travel from BC to Ontario and over to England and Scotland in Europe, where the chefs explore a host of classic and not-so-classic cuisines while cooking with guests including the acclaimed UK game hunter Mike Robinson and the eccentric wild rice farmer James Whetung from Northern Ontario. We see the duo venture into some extreme food tastings (singed Porcupine, anyone?) while investigating seaweed farming, and diving for the world’s best scallops off the Isle of Mull, Scotland.

Each week, audiences will get an insider look at some of the world’s most noted experts sharing their expertise around distilling, trapping, foraging, ice fishing and more. Recipes from each episode will be posted online for viewers to print and make at home. A free interactive e-book (iPad only) also offers exclusive additional content and technical step-by-step tutorials for some of the chefs’ favourite dishes from the show.

Win a Rustic Moosemeat and Marmalade Getaway

You can enter to win a stay at Mile High Resort, where part of an episode has been filmed! This is a rustic cabin getaway, nestled lakeside on Face Lake just outside of Kamloops.

Here’s how you can enter to win this back to nature experience:

• Leave a comment on this post (1 entry)
• Post the following on Twitter (1 entry)

Watch Moosemeat & Marmalade on APTN, check your local listings for times. Follow the show on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for more information.

I will draw one winner at random from all entries at 12:00pm on Wednesday, September 14, 2016. The winner will receive a voucher to book their stay at Mile High Resort. Prize is for 2 nights, up to 4 people. Dates based on availability, no long weekends, the week leading up to or after Christmas. Read full resort details here.

Update The winner is Amanda Smith!

Lush evergreens, waves lapping at a pebbly beach, snow capped peaks, are all images that would make any local homesick for the Pacific Northwest. However, the soaked streets, glistening reflections from headlights and neon signs, and a couple huddled under an umbrella are scenes that really get me. I can’t help but feel something for my hometown, something for my partner, and something about those early fall nights in the rain that are so full of darkness, but full of love.

It’s these scenes that artist David Wilson has captured so beautifully, and meaningfully, in his latest collection that will be on display at the Kimoto Gallery this month.

Stay With Me, acrylic on canvas, 2016 David Wilson

“I stepped away from sort of the literal representation of the scenes that I have traditionally painted and I started inserting a bit more abstraction to the work and then a little bit more of myself,” Wilson told me just a day before his show ABSENCE opens at the gallery.

“Some thoughts and ideas that have always been present in the work but I think by actually writing some of those thoughts down and putting them on a canvas, making them a bit more overt has added a different element to the work.”

Wilson feels that this is his strongest exhibition to date. After health issues sidelined him a few years ago, he now feels a renewed vitality and energy. “In the last year and a half I have had good health and I think that’s reflected in the work. I’m very happy with the direction it’s going.”

For this collection, he started off by trying to create something new, and something a bit more personal, so he began with a series of studies, which is a canvas or panel he works on to flush out his ideas.

“I do that initially as a way to prepare myself for the large canvas. Because with a large canvas, if you’re not getting it right you have to start all over again and it’s a fairly large investment of time and energy.”

“I learned a lot about myself as a painter going through that process, it was really quite enjoyable.”

When trying a new approach, Wilson is very aware of the challenges that might come with it. “There’s always that risk that people will look at what you do, that’s new, and think that’s not what I want to buy anymore, that’s not what really interests me.” He finds that in time, however, as an artist it’s a great opportunity to grow and gain a greater understanding of what he is doing. “I like to keep moving, I don’t really like to sit still very long.”

The new process seems to have paid off, as he accumulated over 30 pieces for the Kimoto Gallery show. “I wasn’t really paying attention to how many [pieces] I had and when I pulled them out to do an inventory check I had 33 paintings to deliver to the gallery and that’s a lot!”

Wilson says that he does try to produce a larger selection of work to provide opportunities for different price points, different tastes.

Never Far Away, acrylic on canvas, 2015 David Wilson

A common theme in his paintings is Vancouver — whether it’s the Sea Wall, a rainy night in Gastown or on Commercial Drive, or the recognizable neon of Vancouver’s entertainment district.

“I think the cityscapes they create an opportunity to tap into a shared experience that most Vancouverites have here, I think that’s why people respond so well with the umbrellas and the rain. We all have that experience and initially when I started doing this work it was a bit of a shock for people to look at it and say, ‘Oh, it doesn’t look so bad when it’s raining here in Vancouver after all!’ We like to complain about the rain but I think we have this love/hate relationship with it too.”

“For the most part I just paint Vancouver because that’s where I live and it’s a city that has grown near and dear to my heart.”

Wilson moved to the city from Powell River 25 years ago and has raised his family here. His family has thought about living in other cities, but they just love it here so much, plus they still get to travel.

“This city is conducive to art making, for a variety of reasons, it’s just a great city to live in. The quality of life is pretty high here, it’s clean, it’s safe, it’s expensive but that’s just one aspect of it. It’s beautiful here.” The artists Wilson knows are also very supportive of each other. “I think there’s a lot of good art being produced here.”

With so much inspiration around every corner, but a new approach to this exhibition, Wilson’s subject matter blends some of his old favourites with new symbols — especially when it comes to Granville Street, which you’ll see quite often in his collections.

Dont Look Back, acrylic on board, 2016 David Wilson

“For this exhibition in particular I sort of stepped away, I do have some paintings of Granville Street, just because it’s sort of like a magnet that draws me back to it, but my emphasis was on the figure walking with the umbrella in the rain. I like the symbolism associated with the umbrella.”

For the show’s outline, he told Kimoto Gallery: “It is a nod to my limited abilities to form an envelop of protection or safety around the ones I care most deeply for and to the fragile nature of life itself as the vagaries of life frequently remind me of my limited abilities to control circumstances. When caught in a downpour an umbrella may keep much of you dry but you’re still going to get wet.”

With this, he has managed to capture a view of Vancouver through the watery lens of a downpour without making it dark or chaotic, but warm.

“Anybody that lives in this city has had to get under an umbrella at some point. I think that’s probably the direction I’m moving towards more, sort of the personal experience that we have, rather than the locations. That will always be a part of what I do, at least for now, but that’s where I’m heading.”

ABSENCE New Works by David Wilson at Kimoto Gallery

Location: Kimoto Gallery, 1525 West 6th Ave (at Granville)
Exhibition: September 9th to October 8th, 2016
Opening Reception: September 9th from 6:00pm to 9:00pm
Artist Talk: September 17th at 1:00pm

Follow David Wilson on Twitter & Facebook, Kimoto Gallery on Twitter & Facebook for more information.