The Still Moon Arts Society is planning the 19th Annual Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival this September. This is an amazing community event that celebrates the full moon, Autumnal Equinox as well as Renfrew-Collingwood’s diverse community and natural environment through interdisciplinary arts events. They are now recruiting artists, musicians and performers for their Harvest Fair and installation artists for their Streamside Lantern Installation. They are on the hunt for performers with a variety of backgrounds including visible minorities, persons with disabilities, newcomers, BIPOC, and LGBTQAI2s+ folks. Diversity of artists is very important to them. Artists will be paid industry-standard rates for their work ranging from $200-$500 depending on work provided. To learn more, we invite you to visit Still Moon Arts Society. Deadline to apply is July 18th.
If you have not experienced flamenco dance, you are truly missing out on an amazing experience. The music, the raw emotion, the dance, the storytelling, it’s like being transported to another world. If you wish to check it out, you are in luck as you don’t have to travel far. This July you can catch Noche Flamenca at Havana Theatre, 1212 Commercial Drive. The show will feature the most established Flamenco artists in the city who are continuing the legacy of Vancouver’s Flamenco scene that began at the legendary Kino almost 30 years ago. You are invited to come experience the rhythm, passion and power of this Spanish music and dance tradition. There are several upcoming shows with the first one kicking things off on July 2nd. Tickets are $15 in advance or $20 at the door. To reserve your table and tickets, visit Havana Theatre.
We are pleased to share there’s something fun and super chill you can now do in East Van. That is, visit the Bunny Cafe which is now open at 1696 Venables Street near Commercial Drive. This space is the first of its kind in North America and is the mastermind of Michelle Furbacher. She is the owner and founder of Catfé, which was the first cat cafe in Vancouver. During a time when Michelle did not have any cats for the cafe, she brought in rabbits for a pop-up event and it turned out to be a huge success. Thus the idea was born for a new concept of rabbit rescue, adoption and advocacy. We had the pleasure of checking out this new space just before its official opening and got to spend time with their 22 rabbits and Michelle.
The Bunny Cafe is a beautiful open space that same may recall was previously Venables Laundry. They have renovated the space and divided it into 2 distinct spaces. One is a glassed in room in which the bunnies roam free, eat hay and hide if they so chose under various benches and other spots. The idea being that if the rabbits don’t feel like being social, they can just hide out and chill. The other half of the cafe is a retail space with everything bunny you can think of including t-shirts, pillowcases, tote bags, mugs, tea towels, rabbit food and the best bunny slippers we’ve ever seen. The future intention is create an actual cafe in the retail space which would allow visitors to sit on stools and overlook the windowed room where the bunnies roam. Due to Covid this aspect of the cafe was put on hold for the time being.
So how does it work if you wish to spend time with the rabbits? You are asked to book online at BunnyCafe.ca where you can pay and book your time. Each time slot is for 1 hour and the space is open between 11:00 am and 8:00 pm with nap time for the bunnies between 3:00 pm and 4:00 pm. The cost is $15.95 per person including children who must be over 5 years of age. You enter the windowed room with the bunnies with a volunteer and you are requested to wish your hands and then given some greens to feed the rabbits and a few instructions. Speaking of greens, if you are an avid gardener near the Bunny Cafe and have extra greens and carrot tops, the Bunny Cafe would love to connect with a few locals who have any extras to offer.
All the bunnies in the Bunny Cafe are available for adoption. If interested in adopting a rabbit in their care, adoptions are handled through Rabbitat Rescue. If you wish to check out the Bunny Cafe on social media, you can find them on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tik Tok. This is a super chill and relaxing space we invite you to check out.
Kiwassa Neighbourhood House and Vines Art Festival invite you to the Pandora Park Summer Market happening Wednesday, June 30th. You can find fresh produce, local art as well as some creative workshops. The market happens in the southeast corner of Pandora Park, 2325 Franklin Street, between 3:00 – 6:00 pm.
Well if you are in need of some laughs, some good company and some new friends, check out Something Like The Antiques Roadshow on June 26th at Havana Theatre. Hosts Jake and Carson are doing their own Covid safe interactive improv show that is their take on the Antique Roadshow. They will be evaluating your items on stage so feel free to bring something fun. This is an all ages event that kicks off Friday, June 26th at 9:30 pm. Tickets are $15 and available through Showpass.
It’s been a long haul for the Rio Theatre that pivoted to a sports bar during the pandemic. As of June 15th, they are back to showing movies and are kicking things off Tuesday evening with an early showing of Cinema Paradiso. Heads up though, don’t go running to grab your tickets for that showing, it is already sold out. Tuesday’s 9:30 pm feature is The Big Lebowski which is also sold out. As you might imagine, there’s a little bit of a pent up demand and a lot of community support. The movie line up continues this week with Anthony Hopkins in The Father and Frances McDormand in Nomadland. If you are craving to see a movie in person, this is for you. Note, there are still COVID precautions and limited seating, so if there is a movie you wish to see, we suggest booking in advance. To purchase your tickets, visit the Rio Theatre.
It’s back baby! Live theatre that is at Havana Theatre located within Havana Vancouver, 1212 Commercial Drive. This is a great spot that features a variety of live performances including comedy, dance, drag, trivia and live podcasting. On June 17th they are officially back with an in person performance. The first performance in their line up is Fundays in the Neighbourhood: A Night at the Museum!
What is Funday in the Neighbourhood? If you ever wanted to see a show described as “Mr. Rogers after dark”? then this is the show for you. The show features local actor and comedian John Hannah who explores the ins, outs, peoples, places, vibes, moods and talents from around our neighbourhood, hint Commercial Drive. The show is co-hosted by a skeleton puppet named Slappy and musical director Julien Amar. Each performance is a little different and could feature a musical guest, a game show, epic music videos, stand up comedy, an introduction to bird watching, or even improv. Havana Theatre invites you to come on down and put a little FUN in your day. And honestly after the last year and a half, I think we could all use a little more fun. Tickets are $10 for a table for 2 and available through Showpass.
The Still Moon Arts Society is looking for youth artists between the ages of 16-24 that are looking to deepen their artistic development. Still Moon Arts Society is currently recruiting for their Emerging Artist Program, SMOLT (translation Still Moon Opportunities for Luminary Development). This is a pilot project program that runs from July 12th to August 22nd for artists in Renfrew-Collingwood. The program will provide youth with mentorship, resources and studio space to create works of luminary art to showcase during the 19th Annual Renfrew Ravine Festival. For more information and on how to register, visit Still Moon Arts Society. Applications close at 9:00 pm on June 20th. Have questions? Contact the Moon Festival Production Manager, Madelyn Read at madelyn@stillmoonarts.ca.
If you live in Hastings-Sunrise, Renfrew-Collingwood or Grandview Woodlands, you are invited to participate in free yoga in Sunrise Park. Sessions happen every Tuesday at 7:00 pm beginning July 6th and continue until August 31st. All levels are invited to participate. Note, they will be following all Public Health Orders which includes a Covid screening prior to attendance, so best to arrive a bit early. If you wish to learn more, you can check out their Facebook page at Sunrise Park Yoga or email them directly at sunriseparkyoga@gmail.com.
National Donut Day is this Friday, June 4th. In honour of that, we thought we’d highlight where we can find some great donuts in East Van. Specifically independent shops as we all know Tim Hortons and where you can find one. Outside of that, there are some obvious choices like Lucky’s Doughnuts, Cartems Donuts and long standing Duffin’s Donuts which has sealed a place in Vancouver’s collective history. New on the scene for us is Mello located near Chinatown which we have yet to try, but are looking forward to stopping in soon.
What we wanted to find were some spots in East Van that didn’t automatically come to mind when you think of donuts. One of those for us is Breka Bakery which has an apple fritter that is hefty in size and easily sharable between two, or not. Breka has a changing variety of donuts on hand, but the filled ones with apricot or raspberry filling are pretty delish. The added bonus of Breka is that no matter what time of the day or night you get a craving for a donut, they are open 24/7.
Next up is Swiss Bakery which we hear posted some fun flavours the other day like Maple Bacon bits with Custard, Walnut and Rose Petals with Chocolate Ganache, London Fog and Lavender with Custard, Chocolate Long John, Lemon Glazed, Chocolate Pearls and Peanut Butter and Jam. Low and behold they sold out quickly, but you are in luck, they will be available this week until Friday, June 4th. Don’t want to miss out on some of these great flavours and if you want to be sure you don’t, you can place in order online. Visit them at Swiss Bakery.
If Cartems is your go to spot, we learnt that they are offering a unique flavour this week, Sour Apple. It’s being billed as the ‘perfect mix of sweet and tart’. It’s a cake donut with green apple glaze topped with green apple chip. If this speaks to you, Sour Apple is only available till this Sunday, June 6th.
Did we miss your favourite spot? Drop us a line anytime.
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