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Polar Bear Swim © Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation

Polar Bear Swim

Leaping into icy water in the middle of winter may not be everyone's idea of fun, but the annual Polar Bear race has been running for nearly 90 years in Vancouver and every New Year's Day, thousands flock to English Bay to take the plunge and celebrate the beginning of the year, led by the Vancouver Polar Bear Swim Club (one of the oldest and biggest of its kind in the world). Outrageous costumes are the order of the day and many come to participate in the Peter Pantages 100 yard (90m) race, named in honour of the founder of the club in 1920. Participants must register before the event at the English Bay bathhouse on New Year's Day and receive a commemorative badge after the swim. Registration and participation in the event is free, and for those not brave enough, a good spot on the beach with a mug of hot chocolate is the perfect (and warmest) way to view the goings-on. For more information contact the Vancouver Board of Parks and Recreation on (604) 257 8400.

Venue: English Bay beach
Date: 1 January
Time: 2.30pm



Illuminares Lantern Festival

Basking hippos, floating fish, dragons and fairies come alive at the annual Illuminares Lantern Festival at the picturesque Trout Lake Park in Vancouver. This event is a family favourite, and the best way to enjoy the festival is to go early and picnic, and then watch the park transform into a twinkling, glittery magical realm as the sky darkens. There is plenty to see and do and people relish the opportunity to go all out, with fantastic lanterns of all shapes and sizes on display, and outrageous costumes too. Fire jugglers, spinners and dancers; fairies on stilts and roving singers all create a carnival atmosphere, and a group of drummers parade around the lake, with people joining in, lanterns ablaze. Lantern workshops are on offer at the Trout Lake Community Centre several weeks before the festival, as well as the day before. There are also several food stalls available and the event is free.

Venue: John Hendry Park
Date: 28 July 2007
Website: www.publicdreams.org


Alcan Dragon Boat Festival

The International Dragon Boat Festival is an annual event that has become one of Vancouver’s most eagerly awaited family summer events. It is the largest and best dragon boat celebration in North America with more than 100 national and international teams taking part. A variety of entertainment accompanies the races, including cultural activities, food from a number of the city’s most popular restaurants, stage entertainment for the whole family, and an arts and craft market.

Venue: Concord Pacific Place, Science World and Creekside Park
Date: 21-22 June 2008
Website: www.adbf.com


Vancouver International Jazz Festival

As one of the biggest musical celebrations in the world, the International Jazz Festival is the most popular cultural event in Vancouver, with performances by more than 1,000 blues and jazz artists from around the world. The 10-day programme is full of famous names that play at various venues throughout the city, from formal concert theatres to open-air stages.

Venue: Various
Date: 20-29 June 2008
Website: www.coastaljazz.ca/index.php?page_id=47


Vancouver Folk Music Festival

For nearly thirty years, one of Vancouver's favourite events drawing old and young alike is the annual Folk Music Festival; with a host of performers spread across seven stages, set in the heart of the Jericho Beach Park. Day, evening and weekend tickets are available at varying prices, with 'early bird' tickets on sale from April. Food stalls, a bustling market and a fantastic atmosphere add up to a wonderful weekend's entertainment and for those who can't afford a ticket, the beach and the park on the perimeters of the fenced concert area are perfect places to still catch some of the music, picnic, or browse the many stalls lining the beach, selling anything from corn on the cob to First Nations crafts, tie-dyed t-shirts and jewellery.

Venue: Jericho Beach Park
Date: 18-20 July 2008
Time: Friday 5pm; Saturday and Sunday 9.30am
Website: www.thefestival.bc.ca


Setting the sky on fire

HSBC Celebration of Light

The annual HSBC Celebration of Light musical fireworks competition draws a crowd of an estimated 1.5 million viewers over the four nights, and people swarm over various viewing points in the city to enjoy the show. A team of pyrotechnic experts from Canada, as well as two other countries (it differs each year) wow the crowds with their spectacular firework displays set off from a barge anchored in English Bay, and the incredible explosions are perfectly co-ordinated to music (which can be picked up on local radio station Rock 101, 101.1 FM in simulcast). The event is free and it is advised to go early because the beaches fill up, particularly at English Bay, Vanier Park, Jericho Beach and Kitsilano and negotiating the crowds can be difficult.

Venue: Various viewing points, fireworks in English Bay
Date: 23 July 2008
Time: 10pm
Website: www.hsbccelebrationoflight.com/fireworks


Vancouver Pride Parade © Geraldine Minuk-Eliot

Vancouver Pride

The Vancouver Pride Week is a colourful, vibrant affair, celebrating the city's Gay, Lesbian, Bi-sexual and Transgender (GLBT) community and its many supporters in a variety of shows, festivals, parties and the ever-popular Pride Parade. Each year, a special team comes up with a theme and specific image for the Pride Week, and in recent years, the focus has been on issues and battles faced by the GLBT community, but in a more celebratory than political manner. In 2005 the theme was 'No Turning Back', a celebration of the passing of gay marriage federally in Canada and the fight it took to have the bill passed countrywide (gay marriage was recognised in several Canadian provinces prior to this). It may seem all very serious, but that is hardly the case. For a week, beautiful Vancouver is transformed into a rainbow-coloured riot, fun is the order of the day, and the more outrageous the costume, event or party, the better.

Venue: Pride Parade starts at Denman and Robson Streets
Date: Parade: 3 August 2008
Website: www.vancouverpride.ca


Bard on the Beach site © Bard on the Beach/David Blue

Bard on the Beach

One of Vancouver's most endearing summer events is a picnic in Vanier Park followed by an evening performance of Shakespeare. Plays are performed in huge open-ended tents overlooking the picturesque English Bay with a mountain backdrop. The plays of 2007 are Twelfth Night, King Lear, The Tempest and Titus Andronicus.

Venue: Vanier Park
Date: 29 May to 27 September 2008
Website: www.bardonthebeach.org

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