You are invited to a Hot, Haunted & Hoppy Halloween event being held at the Terminal City Glass Co-Op. Terminal City Glass Co-op is Canada’s first and only nonprofit glass arts co-op. They offer courses in glassblowing, flameworking, beadmaking and sandblasting to everyone and provide access to glassmaking equipment as well as resources for the development of emerging and established glass artists. The event on October 29th is a fundraiser to help support the community building activities at the Co-op which includes artist slide shows, open houses and other events that promote glass as an art form. Artists will demonstrate how to create pumpkins from molten glass, and will also blow glass into an actual hollowed-out pumpkin and create a fire-breathing glass jack-o-lantern. The event happens at their studios located at 1191 Parker Street on Saturday, October 29th from 7:00 pm to 10:00 pm. They will be hosting a glassblowing workshop and a beer tasting which we presume will go in that order, or well things could get a little dangerous, just saying. The beer tasting portion of the event will feature 9 local breweries including Bomber, Callister, Faculty, Postmark, Powell Street, Steel & Oak, Steamworks, Storm and Strange Fellows. Tickets for these evening of art, fun and beer are $55 with tickets available online from TerminalCityGlass.com.
Hot Glass Cold Beer Pairs Beer Tasting With Glassblowing October 29th
24 Oct
The Little Mountain Pop Up Shop Celebrates 1 Year Anniversary August 16-21
18 Aug
The Little Mountain Pop Up Shop is a great space located at 4386 Main Street. If you haven’t already checked out this amazing space, we highly recommend you do. Outside of it being a beautiful space run by two fantastic ladies, it is an entrepreneurial hub. Right now, creators of this space, Natasha and Alice are celebrating 1 year in this space. They have created an amazing showcase of over 20 local makers for a special One Year Anniversary Pop Up Shop which includes:
Explorer’s Press
Bag Of Holding
Missy May Bags
SAXX Underwear
RVCA
Nine O’Clock Gun
MACCS
Smash + Tess
Tuck Shop Trading Co.
Feelin’ It Decals
Lisa Warren Pottery
Bloc
G Ceramic And Co
Agnes in August
Lover’s Tempo
Amara Blue Designs
Erinlaura
Wheat Kids Clothing
Mawdsleyloves
Glitter & Spice
Beauty In The Backcountry
Peregrine Supply Co.
West Coast & Co
KAITCREATIVE
Sarah Hammond Studio
Tuzla Interiors
One of many makers participating in this Pop Up Shop is East Van’s Amara Blue Designs. Creator, Kassandra Taylor, makes beautiful hand stamped jewellery which will be available for this Pop Up Shop.
On Thursday, August 18th, you are invited to a celebration night with treats from 6:00 pm to 9:00 pm which will feature Salt Spring Coffee cold brews and beers from Postmark Brewing. All donations will go toward a friend’s Ride to Conquer Cancer fundraiser. The Pop Up Shop is open 10:00 am to 6:00 pm daily until Sunday, August 21st.
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Best of Craft BC At The Wise Hall August 17th
10 Aug
Liberty Merchant Company presents the Best of Craft BC tasting event on Wednesday, August 17th at the Wise Hall, 1882 Adanac Street. The event will feature craft beers, cider, mead and spirits from all over BC. There will also be some tasty samplings from Commercial Drive food purveyors. This event is also a fundraiser for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society which helps provide food for up to 25,000 people in need each week. All ticket sales and draw prizes directly support the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. Tickets are $24.99 each plus a food donation (canned tomatoes have been requested). You can purchase tickets at all Liberty Wine Merchant locations. In East Vancouver, visit them at 1622 Commercial Drive or call them at 604.633.1922. The event gets under way at 7:00 p.m. and goes till 9:00 pm.
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Wine & Cheese Tasting At les amis du Fromage
25 Jul
If you haven’t stopped in at les amis du FROMAGE on 843 East Hastings, you are missing out. If you love cheese or want to learn more about cheese, this is the place to go. This fall they will be again be sharing some of their vast knowledge of cheese and offering some great classes in store including:
Wine and Cheese 101 – September 14th 6:30 – 8:30 pm $60
One of the owners Allison Spurrell will provide you with a roadmap for matching various cheese types and the wines that best suit them. Allison will introduce cheese basics, including milk types, textures, flavours, how to care for and serve fine cheeses. You will learn how best to pair wine with cheese. And yes, of course, there will be samples so you can discover what is perfect for you.
Vive la France – October 26th 6:30 – 8:30 pm $65
Allison will take you on a tour of taste with a selection of French cheeses and the many regions they come from. This tasting we hear will will feature some of the best France has to offer and will include wines from the Alsace, Loire valley and Bordeaux.
If you hadn’t heard les amis du FROMAGE has been voted “Best Cheese Shop” by readers of The Georgia Straight, The Westender and The Courier. They have another location in Kitsilano, but the tasting events are being held at the East Van location. Tickets for these are available online. Although these classes seems a little ways off into the future, note these classes do sell out quickly. So if interested, we suggest you reserve your spot(s).
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Self-Guided Food & Culture Tour Around Mount Pleasant
21 Jul
We recently organized a group walking tour in Mount Pleasant which included a bit of food, some libations as well as some local culture. We thought we’d share with you some of the spots we hit and in what order for those that wish to replicate some or all of the spots we hit in whatever order you see fit. Geographically, we started South on Main Street and worked our way North down the hill. We have listed out below all of our stops along the way with some alternate suggestions for those that wish to customize the list to their personal preferences. We had a blast on this tour and, of course, the local businesses, loved new faces being introduced to the products/services they offered. 
So enough of the preliminaries, let’s get touring. Our first stop was at 49th Parallel/Lucky’s Doughnuts at Main Street & 13th Avenue for great coffee and donuts. We were a group of 10, so lots of space on their outdoor patio for a larger group as well as inside. After coffee, we headed to Bird On A Wire Creations which is packed with so much great stuff by BC artisans and local makers. If you need to find a gift for someone, there’s a good chance you will find something here. If you are at Bird On A Wire on a Saturday, you may find Bouquets by Mary which is a floral pop up within Bird On A Wire Creations. While at Bird On A Wire, we encourage you to pop into another great store literally next door, Much & Little. Much & Little has some very cool items including 
clothing and accessories. Our find, coveted pens that write on glass and plates aptly named Wine Glass Writer. Next stop took us to Sips Cocktail Emporium where one of the owners Darcy is always on hand with advice and suggestions on how to make the prefect cocktail. Next up we headed for lunch and libations at Chicha Restaurant which features delicious
Peruvian food and delicious pisco sours which was a perfect spot for a late lunch/brunch before carrying on. For dessert, we headed over to French Made Baking where you can find an amazing array of macarons, flaky croissants and a variety of sweet treats. Next stop was Dandelion Emporium which again if you are looking for gifts, this is another spot with unique gift ideas. Then of course, right next door was Pulp Fiction Books which had a great selection of books. Next up was some stops across the street to check out a couple of the vintage shops on or near Main Street, F as In Frank and Scout Boutique (MOVED) whilst another group stopped into RX Comics. After that everyone got thirsty, so we made our way to Brassneck Brewery which was a great spot, but as a larger group, we did have to wait for a bit which we were fine with, but it’s a popular spot for those not wishing to wait. As many may know, there is quite a hub of craft breweries in this area, so there are a number of other great options including 33 Acres Brewing, Main Street Brewing & R&B Brewing which will soon also be an ale and pizza house. Our next intended stop was Beta 5 Chocolates which if you didn’t know makes world class chocolates and hosts Ice Cream Socials on the weekends in the summer months. We apparently spent some time hanging out in the brewery, so they were closed by the time we were ready to go. So we carried on to other two sweet spots. Firstly, Cartems Donuts which was literally a few feet from Brassneck Brewery and then down to Earnest Ice Cream at Quebec & 2nd to finish things off. Of course, if you prefer gelato, Mario’s Gelati isn’t far at 1st and Quebec. For those trying to figure out timing, we started our day about 11:30 am and finished up about 6:00 pm, but it was a leisurely day of wandering and catching up with friends and introducing them to some of the things I love about East Van. We invite you to do your own self-guided tour and visit as many of the spots noted above, they are all worth stopping in to see.
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Pizza & Beer August 17th At The Italian Cultural Centre
18 Jul
In case you hadn’t heard the news, The Italian Cultural Centre now has it’s very own outdoor brick pizza oven which had its inaugural run on June 17th. The pizza oven is located at the Italian Cultural Centre’s outdoor space which is adjacent to Beaconsfield Park. Within easy view is their still fairly new community garden and a playground for the wee ones. So we were pleased to hear about this collaborative event coming on August 17th called Good Grains which incorporates many things we love. The event is being billed as a celebration of pizza and beer and is a collaboration between FarmFolk, City Folk, the Bauta Initiative, the Italian Cultural Centre and East Van’s newest brewery, Luppolo. The evening event will give you an opportunity to meet local grain growers, hand-mill flour, take a peak at a demo size brewer and best of all eat and drink local. This is a family friendly event that gets under way at 6:00 pm. Early bird tickets are available for $20 (until July 21st) after which they will be $25 person, save for children which are $5. Tickets are available directly the Italian Cultural Centre at 604.430.3337, or you can purchase them online.
Photo Credit: Italian Cultural Centre
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Vancouver Brewery Tours Starts Walking Tours In Brewery Creek
17 May
Are you interested in getting a little fresh air and tasting a little craft beer along the way? Well Vancouver Brewery Tours has just announced a new tour that combines these two things perfectly, the Walking Tour of Brewery Creek. This area of Vancouver plays host to some great up-and-coming breweries and at the turn of the century, was in fact a vibrant local brewery scene. It now is home to Main Street Brewing, Brassneck Brewery and many others. You can now explore this area on a guided tour which starts off at CRAFT Beer Market in the heart of the Olympic Village. From there, you will walk to Main Street Brewing, Brassneck Brewery and R&B Brewing (soon be R&B Pizza and Alehouse). The tour will take approximately 3 ½ hours and will include 3 behind the scenes brewery tours with some very knowledgeable tour guides and well, of course, beer tastings. The tours will run on Monday and Wednesday afternoons at 2:00 pm at a cost of $65. You can reserve your seat online anytime, just visit Vancouver Brewery Tours. Cheers!
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Blue Dirt Girl Production Presents A Chautauqua At Backspace March 5 & 6
1 Mar
You are invited to check out a very cool event that’s happening this weekend. A Chautauqua is happening this Saturday at Backspace, 1318 Grant Street. Yes, it’s a little off the beaten path in East Van. Entry is from the back alley. What is A Chautauqua? Think of a traveling tent-show “Chautauquas used to move across America” and produce “popular talks intended to edify and entertain, improve the mind and bring culture and enlightenment to the ears and thoughts of the hearer.” – Robert Pirsig
This weekend Blue Dirt Girl Production brings together live music by Nohearums and blue dirt girl conversations with a human library, Javayoga, dance artist Donna Redlick’s dance video and Sophie Yendole poetry. Along with entertainment, there will also be a show and sale which include Erland Kirste’s carved wood spheroids, Sarah Campbell’s jewelry, artwork by Chris Blades and Blake Williams Art, Charmian Nimmo’s Tuxedo Cat pottery and Kiki Yee’s photography. For libations, Strange Fellows Brewing, will be supporting this event and if you bring a receipt from a receipt Strange Fellows beer purchase, you receive a $5 discount on your ticket price. Tickets are $20 and available at the door or you can obtain tickets in advance by emailing e: bluedirt@gmail.com. The event takes place Saturday, March 5th 8:00 pm to midnight and carries on Sunday Noon to 4:00 pm. Note, Saturday evening ticket is good for Sunday attendance. Sunday’s attendance is by donation.
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4th Annual East Side Beer Fest March 9 At The Wise Hall
25 Feb
Liberty Merchant Company presents the 4th Annual East Side Beer Fest tasting event on Wednesday, March 9th at the Wise Hall, 1882 Adanac Street. The event will feature craft beers from all over the world as well samples from food purveyors on Commercial Drive. Some of participants lined up for this event include Bomber Brewing, Bridge Brewing, Dageraad Brewing, Driftwood Brewing, Four Winds Brewing Company, Moody Ales, Postmark Brewing, Parallel 49 Brewing, Steel & Oak Brewing Co., Strange Fellows Brewing as well as Copper & Theory, supplier of artisans beers, and Untapped BC which imports craft beer & cider into BC. This event is also a fundraiser for the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society which helps provide food for up to 25,000 people in need each week. All ticket sales and draw prizes directly support the Greater Vancouver Food Bank Society. Tickets are $24.99 each and available at all Liberty Wine Merchant locations. In East Vancouver, visit them at 1622 Commercial Drive or call them at 604.633.1922. The event gets under way at 7:00 p.m. and goes till 9:00 pm. Be sure to hop to it, if you want to be sure to get your ticket to this tasty event.
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For The Love Of Craft Tour By Vancouver Brewery Tour February 14
20 Jan
Looking to do something different with your partner this Valentine’s Day? If you and your partner are beer lovers, than Vancouver Brewery Tours has something for you. They are offering a craft beer and food tour called the “For The Love of Craft” on Sunday, February 14th. They will take you on a tour of some great local breweries including Storm Brewing, Strange Fellow Brewing and Big Rock Urban Brewery & Eatery. There will be food along your beer sampling route as well as finishing the whole day off with some decadent chocolate from local chocolatier Thomas Haas. The For The Love Of Craft Tour runs Sunday, February 14th from 2:00 pm to 5:30 pm. Tickets are available from Vancouver Brewery Tours for $85 per person. UPDATE: 2:00 pm tour is SOLD OUT, but a second tour has been added at Noon.
ILiveInEastVan.com 