Vancouver Adventures: Our Picks for May 27 to June 2

Celebrate art in the city, embrace your inner child at a children’s festival, take your downward dog outdoors + more

 

1. rEvolver – Wednesday, May 24 to Sunday, June 4

Emerging theatre companies and artists are given their time to shine at Upintheair Theatre’s annual rEvolver theatre festival, where audiences can see new works, works-in-progress as well as a range of theatrical performances at East Vancouver’s The Cultch.
Various prices (including free events), The Cultch, 4096 Commercial Street

 

2. Art! Vancouver – Thursday, May 25 to Sunday. May 28

Art lovers can check out work from international artists, enjoy a 15-minute speaker series, and see live artwork performed in a variety of painting mediums. Fine art will be on display from local, Canadian and international artists working with paint, sculpture and mixed media materials.
Tickets from $18.50, Vancouver Convention Centre – East

 

3. Surrey International Children’s Festival – Thursday, May 25 to Saturday, May 27

Kids are spoiled for choice this weekend with a second children’s festival in Surrey (read on for Vancouver’s annual International Children’s festival details), featuring three days of art activities, storytelling and dance performances, alongside international visitors such as Australia’s Grug and the Rainbow, which is based on the popular Ted Prior children’s books.
Site entry is free, $12 for Saturday festival passes (including parade), Surrey Arts Centre and Bear Creek Park, more information here

 

4. West of Main Art Walk – Saturday, May 27 to Sunday, May 28

Celebrate 25 years of Artists in Our Midst’s West of Main Art Walk. This year, their largest event yet, stretches from Point Grey to Main Street and from Granville Island to 41st Avenue. More than 50 artists will be sharing their works in garden studios, cafés, shops, and community centres.
Free, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

 

5. Sunday Seafood Dining Series – Sunday, May 28

‘Tis the season for spot prawns! Every Sunday until June 4 you can grab a bib and get stuck into a pile of them at YEW’s BC spot prawn boil. The three-course meal starts with a complimentary glass of CedarCreek Estate Winery Chardonnay and includes an appie, prawns, sides and a dessert. July and August brings Dungeness crab and lobster to the table.
Every Sunday from 6 p.m., 791 West Georgia Street

 

6. Mat Collective Yoga – Thursday, June 1 to Thursday, August 31

Free outdoor yoga? Yes, please! As well as the free Kits Beach yoga under the trees by the pool, Mat Collective will be adding a new location at Main Street’s Riley Park this year. Yoga classes take place daily across the two locations (classes are free, but tip your volunteer teacher to say thanks and get good karma).
More information here

 

7. Barbarian Feast – Friday, May 29

Get ready for a meaty feast at The Cascade Room with a whole roasted pig from Gelderman Farms in Abbotsford, and a selection of Two Rivers Specialty Meats, including sausages, roast beef, turkey wings, game hens and pork ribs. Live Celtic music will add to the atmosphere, as will legendary whisk(e)y ambassador Matt Jones who will be pouring generous samples of the entire Jim Beam whiskey line, plus Maker’s Mark and plenty of brown liquor lore.
Tickets $99 (includes all food, beverage, taxes and gratuity), 7 p.m., The Cascade Room, 2616 Main Street

 

8. Vancouver International Children’s Festival – Monday, May 29 to Sunday, June 4

Granville Island hosts this annual arts festival for kids, which aims to inspired and excite young minds through theatre, music, dance, circus, puppetry and storytelling. Feature performers include Canadian kids song legend Fred Penner (pictured above) and Pulse, an interactive theatre show that uses wooden blocks to engage with the young audience. An activity village keeps little ones entertained between shows and there will be special birthday events for the festival’s 40th anniversary.
For passes and individual tickets click here, Granville Island

 

9. SHIFT Festival – Thursday, June 1 to Saturday, June 3

Themed on Passion Projects and ‘fierce truth-telling,’ the 10th annual SHIFT Festival includes two new works: Pride, written and performed by veteran Vancouver actor Allan Morgan, and Unveiled, a collaborative project created by Fay Nass and devised in English/Farsi with an all-female, Iranian-Canadian ensemble. It will also feature Walls, a lobby installation by the Troika Collective, based on the book “Walls: Travels Along the Barricades” by Marcello Di Cintio, and a Saturday afternoon staged reading of Titillations, a provocative, feminist, and body-positive exploration of all facets of the female breast by playwright Yvette Dudley-Neuman.
Tickets $25 Evening Shows / $6 Festival Reading, The Firehall Arts Centre, 280 East Cordova

 

10. VMF Meets VCBW – Friday, June 2

Craft beer meets mural art to celebrate Vancouver’s brewing and art scene with live art, local craft beer and DJs at this behind-the-scenes look at the Vancouver Mural Festival and Vancouver Craft Beer Week before it kicks off on June 3.
Tickets $20, 7 p.m. to 11 p.m., 207-877 East Hastings Street