Eats
If you haven’t made it over to the Chinatown Night Market yet, you should consider checking it out soon, if not for the food alone. There’s a booth from The Pie Shoppe, Vancouver’s smallest pie shop making handmade fruit pies, unique caramels by [in the oven] (featuring flavours like smoked salt and root beer), plus Keefer St.’s Bao Bei opens up a patio right in the midst of all the festivities. Check out their crispy pork belly and enjoy a cold bottle of Yanjing. There’s also a dumpling cook-off and eating contest hosted by Bao Bei on August 16, between 6:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. No matter what your taste buds prefer, there’s something yummy for every foodie.
Beats
The 37th annual Powell Street Festival fires up again from August 2 to 4. The festival will begin on August 2 with a multimedia performance by Omodaka, a combination of traditional minyo (folk music) with contemporary electronics and visuals. Other highlights include a performance by Doug Koyama, an improvisational loop-pedalist, a reading by Mariko Tamaki, the author of Skim and (You) Set Me on Fire, and the Jackson Avenue Block Party Performance space and marketplace. Events are happening at several venues around the city, and all daytime events are free! Check out powellstreetfestival.com for the full schedule.
Theats
The Vancouver Queer Film Festival is almost here! Featuring over 70 films from 20 countries, from Bollywood to Hollywood, drama to documentary, indie to big budget, the variety is endless. Events include Reflection / Refraction, performance art inspired by short films on August 1; the opening gala party featuring the film Magnificent Presence! on August 15; and Margarita, a film about a mexican immigrant facing deportation, showing on August 16 at SFU’s Goldcorp Centre for the Arts.
Elites
As part of SFU Public Square’s Summer Writes: Urban Tales series, City Centre: A Poetry Reading and Conversation About Life in Urban Vancouver is happening August 7. The conversation will take place between 7:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m. at SFU Vancouver campus and will feature Vancouver’s Poet Laureate Evelyn Lau in conversation with poet Daniela Elza. The evening will consider Vancouver’s mixed landscape of mountains and urban architecture with the unpredictable and rainy weather and how this environment affects each of the artists. The event is free, but seating is limited.
Treats
Ever wanted to learn swing dancing but didn’t know where to start? Royal City Swing is offering a Hand-to-Hand Charleston workshop on August 2. The workshop covers the basic movements involved in the hand-to-hand Charleston, as well as a few fancy moves in the second half of the workshop. It is recommended to be familiar with some level of 20s Charleston or tandem dancing prior to the workshop, but if you are a fast learner and are feeling brave, join in! Tickets are $10. Check out the Royal City Swing Facebook group for more details.
