NEW FESTIVAL DROPS ANCHOR IN VANCOUVER HARBOUR
Land ho! Vancouver will celebrate west coast style and maritime fun with the new SeaVancouver Festival this July. From July 6 – 10, the city’s harbour and shores will make a splash with a host of grand adventures from paddling competitions to outdoor concerts to gun battles and boat cruises. SeaVancouver will also welcome the return of the international tall ships in the “Pacific Tall Ship Challenge 2005″, an international tall ship race and rally series expected to attract 400,000+ visitors to the water’s edge.
To herald the arrival of the tall ships, spectators will line the shores to welcome the fleet as it sails under the historic Lion’s Gate Bridge into the Vancouver harbour during the “Parade of Sail” on July 6. Other festival highlights include:
• Evening performances from floating stages, including a production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s comic operetta “HMS Pinafore.”
• A non-motorized paddle-sport racing regatta featuring Taiwanese and Chinese dragonboats, Outrigger canoes and First Nations long boats.
• A seaside stroll with a 12-foot mermaid of glass and fire, a colourful school of life-sized bubble-blowing fish, a pod of singing sirens along the seawall and an above-water pond of glowing water lilies.
• A Pro-Am beach volleyball tournament.
• Museum-quality art exhibitions featuring nautical and historic themes.
• A water-based finale bringing English Bay on Vancouver’s waterfront to life with illumination, special effects, spectacular performances and an original musical score.
SCULPTURE BIENNALE TO TAKE OVER PUBLIC SPACES
Vancouver has joined Venice, Sydney and Prague as the latest city to host its own “Biennale”, a bi-annual citywide art exhibition. The inaugural Vancouver Sculpture Biennale: “Open Spaces 2005/2006″, will highlight Vancouver’s public spaces with an 18-month installation of major public art sculptures. Beginning in June, works of art from around the world will be installed throughout Vancouver. The Biennale will officially launch in September making it the largest public art exhibit and festival in Vancouver and the only event of its kind in North America.
20 major sculptures by Canadian and international artists will be installed in various locations around the city including English Bay beach, Granville Island and Coal Harbour (adjacent to Stanley Park). Among the participating artists are Magdalena Abakanowicz (Poland), Dennis Oppenheim (USA), Yoko Ono (USA), Bernar Venet (France) and Bill Reid (Canada). In addition to the public sculpture exhibits, the biennale will also feature several special events such as: a citywide photo contest, Vancouver Sculpture Month and a cell phone public tour – where visitors can use technology to turn mobile phones into personal tour guides.
www.vancouverbiennale.com
THE VANCOUVER STORIES
Since when do hotels publish books? The Listel Vancouver Hotel and Raincoast Books have collected the city’s best stories into the most definitive Vancouver anthology yet. And the best part? A copy will be in every guestroom of the Listel for guests to enjoy during their visit. Vancouver… stately, diverse metropolis or surf’n'turf theme park? Home to a bunch of Birkenstock-wearing, haze-and-rain-addled hippies, or the progenitor of the brightest minds in Canadian writing? Vancouver is a young city of varied stories, identities and legacies, and there’s no better proof of this than in The Vancouver Stories.
Explore the dark side of Vancouver’s haute cuisine with Timothy Taylor or walk through historical Chinatown with Wayson Choy’s quiet grace as your guide. Experience William Gibson’s bleak predictions for the future then search for hope and meaning in a dread-plagued life with Zsuzsi Gartner. Framed by an introduction from west coast author Douglas Coupland, the wide array of short fiction in this collection presents the experience of Vancouver-living here, visiting or just passing through-filtered through the imaginations of some of Canada’s most famous fiction stylists. Want to take a copy home? The book will also be available for $24.95 CAD (approximately $18.50 USD) in bookstores.
www.listel-vancouver.com
GOODBYE SALMON FRY
May 14, 15, 21 – 23
Be there for the first leg of their incredible journey to the Pacific. This May, visitors to the Vancouver Aquarium can help release young salmon fry from the Stanley Park hatchery into a nearby stream. There will be guided tours of the stream and hatchery, games and gyotaku fish painting (Japanese folk art of painting fish) with salmon releases taking place between 11:00am and 3:30pm.
www.vanaqua.org
TOUR FOR YOUR TASTE BUDS
Savour the flavours of Vancouver during a unique dining tour of Vancouver. Viva Vancouver has announced its debut “Wine & Dine Tour”, which offers fine dining in the city’s most renowned eateries. Viva has made it easy for visitors to book their all-inclusive, gourmet tours with just a phone call. The basic package includes fine dining at 3 top-tier restaurants and the ease of a chauffeured limo with door-to-door service.
Viva Vancouver’s tour begins with the arrival of your chauffeured limousine, whisking you and a select number of fellow diners (minimum 6, maximum 20) to the first of three fabulous restaurants. You’ll travel in style accompanied by a seasoned wine representative – who will introduce you to the best of British Columbia wines for your dining selection. From appetizer through to dessert, you’ll be pampered in style – your only task is to relax and enjoy the tastes and ambience of your destinations. Tour is $218 CAD per guest, per tour (approximately $165 USD), and the fee includes all entrées, wine and limo service for the duration of the evening. Bi-weekly tours are currently running Tuesday through Thursday evenings only – check the home page for up to date tour dates.
www.vivavancouver.ca
CELEB SLEEPOVER
Think you’re up for the glam celeb lifestyle of Halle Berry and John Travolta? Opus Hotel provides the test drive with their “Urban Oasis Package” – a taste of the exclusive package featured by Opus in this year’s Academy Awards® presenter gift baskets. Consider this your glam tour of Vancouver’s well-heeled neighbourhood, Yaletown, and a package guaranteed to pamper even the most manicured diva.
Tuckered out from traveling? A healthy hit of oxygen from your personal handheld oxygen canister is sure to cure jetlag. After unwinding in your luxe room, head downstairs to Opus Bar to sip crantinis and enjoy dinner in the intimate Velvet Room at Elixir Restaurant.
The next morning, enjoy a sumptuous breakfast in bed before a day of shopping, celebrity-style – chauffeured by Opus Hotel’s luxury Mercedes. Afterwards, de-stress from your retail exertions with “Facialiscious” treatments at nearby skoah spa (www.skoah.com) and airbrush treatments at Pelagia salon. Dinner at award-winning Blue Water Café (www.bluewatercafe.net) is the perfect end to your day.
Total package: $1249 CAD, double occupancy (approximately $925 USD)
ALL-INCLUSIVE ATTRACTIONS PASS
Canada’s first Smartvisit Card attractions pass is now available for visitors to Vancouver. The card allows unlimited entry to over 40 top attractions, tours and outdoor adventures, such as the Vancouver Aquarium, Capilano Suspension Bridge, the Museum of Anthropology and the Vancouver Art Gallery, for either two, three or five days. The card is available for both adults and children, and comes with a free map and guidebook. Prices for the adult Smartvisit Card start at CAD $89 (approximately $65 USD).
www.seevancouvercard.com
MINTER GARDENS MAKES A SPLASH
Celebrating 25 years of growing beauty and providing sensory refills, Minter Gardens has become one of the world’s must-see garden attractions. The “sound of water” is this season’s theme, with a 30-foot tower of water that can be seen from all adjacent highways, a series of ‘splashable’ ponds in the Cherry Walk and a 50-foot long by 10-foot high wall of water near the Arbour Garden.
www.mintergardens.com
TRAVEL IN PEACE AND QUIET
Had enough of the hectic atmosphere and stress that comes with certain modes of transportation? Well, have we got some solutions for you! How about a quiet car on the Amtrak train, quiet lounges on BC Ferries or passenger lounges at the airport?
Amtrak offers “quiet cars” on several of their trains, providing a quiet atmosphere for those who want to work or rest without distraction. Passengers in the quiet car may not use cellphones, pagers or any other devise that makes noise. And the best part? Seating in the quiet car is complimentary and on a first-come, first-served basis.
www.amtrak.com
Visitors traveling between Vancouver and Victoria on BC Ferries can enjoy a pay-per-use “quiet lounge”. As part of the refit of the Spirit of British Columbia, passengers will be able to enjoy the amenities of the lounge, including satellite Internet access, newspapers and refreshments, for a fee of $7 CAD (approximately $5.50 USD). The refit also includes upgrades to the cafeteria, new washrooms and an improved pet waiting area on the car deck.
www.bcferries.bc.ca
The Vancouver International Airport is home to North America’s first ‘pay-per-use’ passenger lounges. These lounges are available to all travelers and include: shower facilities, private resting suites, a pressing service for flight wrinkled clothes, a self service bar and buffet, television and movie area, library, email and Internet access and a business centre including secretarial services, high-speed photocopying, faxing and printing.
www.yvr.com
MEET ME AT THE MARKET
Imagine tasting the first summer strawberries, proudly handed over by a local grower or sampling home-made crusty bread direct from the oven that morning. Vancouver’s farmers’ markets are scattered across the Lower Mainland, and remind us what fresh produce, baking, seafood and meat are meant to be. Vancouver’s balmy climate and focus on quality local ingredients is evident in the abundance and variety of products available – including Millan’s tomatoes (used to stock many of Vancouver’s top restaurants), local seafood, handpicked flowers in jars and all-natural breads and cheeses. Most farmers’ markets run on weekends from June to October.
www.bcfarmersmarket.org
ASIAN NIGHT MARKETS
Whether you’re hoping to sample some steamed dumplings, grab a tin of jasmine tea, or test drive a Hello Kitty hula hoop, you’re bound to find what you seek at one of the following night markets. Visit historic Chinatown in downtown Vancouver to see a different side of the city, or head to the city of Richmond (just a 20 minute drive from downtown Vancouver) for an entertaining market experience with 300 booths and over 50 food vendors. Both markets are held throughout the summer months on Friday, Saturday and Sunday nights.
Throughout the summer, both Pender and Keefer streets in historic Chinatown (downtown Vancouver) are closed to make room for the Chinatown Night Market. The market becomes alive with people, lights and scents, with shoppers browsing booths and sampling food from vendors lining the streets. There are a multitude of unusual and everyday items available, from dried barks, teas and seafood to Pikachu and Pokemon. The market runs every Friday and Sunday night from 6:30pm – 11pm and on Saturday night from 6:30pm – midnight, May 20 – September 11.
www.vancouver-chinatown.com
The Richmond Night Market is an all-out event. This market feels like a summer festival with up to 15,000 visitors in one night. Over 300 booths are set up for exhibitors selling merchandise from all over the world and over 50 food vendors are on-site cooking up a storm to please both curious and hungry samplers. Entertainment is also a big part of the market and there are various performers during the evening. Open from 7pm to midnight on Friday and Saturday and from 7pm to 11pm on Sunday, the market is currently located on a spacious 12-acre property at 12631 Vulcan Way (behind Home Depot) in Richmond.
www.richmondnightmarket.com
March 31, 2005
Posted in: Canada