While summer continues in full swing, there are fun things to look forward to this September. One of which is the 8th Annual McSpadden Country Fair being held on Sunday, September 10th in McSpadden Park. This is a community event that features fun activities for the whole family including live music, games, local vendors, food trucks and the ever popular East Van zucchini races. If you have an idea on how to make a zucchini go fast, now’s your chance! Be warned though, there is stiff competition for bragging rights. If you cycle, Kickstand will be on hand doing bike tunes up by donation. As with any country fair, there will be raffles, contests and prizes. The 8th Annual McSpadden County Fair takes place in McSpadden Park, 2125 Victoria Drive, between 11:00 and 5:00 pm. To learn more about the event and all the activities, you can visit them on online at www.mcspaddenfair.ca or on Facebook.
We invite you to check out another great opportunity to get outdoors and do some gentle exercise. Mindful Moves comes to Pandora Park July 26 to August 16, 2023. This a free event that is sponsored by a Neighbourhood Small Grant and features gentle yoga, live music and happy grooves. The event takes place in Pandora Park by the community garden from 6:00 to 6:45 pm. To register, scan the QR Code in the graphic provided, email them directly or visit Ticket Tailor.
You are invited to come celebrate Japanese Canadian art and culture at the 47th Annual Powell Street Festival happening August 5th & 6th. Festivities will take place in Oppenheimer Park and Paueru Gai (the Powell Street area) from 11:30 am to 7:00 pm. There will be stages showcasing contemporary and traditional artists, community food vendors and crafters offering Japanese delights and designs. You can expect to catch live performances by Kiyoshi & Oleksiy and Katari Taiko as well as dance performances by the Southern Wave Okinawan Music & Dance Society. There will be a children’s tent with origami and Japanese crafts as well as several martial art demonstrations. To learn more about all the events taking place during the 47th Annual Powell Street, visit them online at Powell Street Festival.
The very delicious Greek Summerfest on Boundary is back! If you haven’t checked this event out, it is a true culinary experience you don’t want to miss. Along with great food, they have lots of great entertainment lined up including performances by Jim Byrnes, Johnny & The Walkers, Heart and Sole and Alpha Video and along with many others. Food includes souvlaki, BBQ lamb, spanakopita as well as delicious Greek donuts (loukoumades) which are an absolute must try. We understand vegan options have been added to the menu line up. Greek Summerfest on Boundary takes place at 4541 Boundary Road at 29th Avenue, close to Moscrop Avenue on the Burnaby side. Admission is free. To learn more, visit them online at Vancouver Greek Summerfest.
After 3 years without the Italian Day Festival due to the pandemic and other gathering restrictions, Italian Day returns to The Drive Sunday, June 11th. This 14 block vibrant street party will take place on The Drive from the Grandview Cut to Venables. Italian Day is filled with food, entertainment, and loads of things to do, see and experience. Grab some friends and stop at one of the many outdoor patios set up for the day, or take in one of the many food trucks lined up and down Commercial Drive. You will certainly not go hungry while you wander and take in all the sights and sounds.
Italian Day kicks off at Noon and the party runs till 8:00 pm. Just a reminder that vehicle traffic on Commercial Drive is blocked off, so it is best to take transit, walk or cycle in. For those cycling to Italian Day, we expect a Bike Valet will be set up again at 1st Avenue & Commercial, but this hasn’t been confirmed yet. We invite you come out and celebrate all things Italian. Italian Day represents the largest one day cultural street festival in Vancouver. Stop by and see some of the magic of this great street festival. For more information about Italian Day, visit them online at www.italianday.ca.
The Cultch and The Search Party YVR (Vancouver) bring a contemporary adaptation of Chekhov’s The Seagull, STUPID F*ING BIRD to the stage April 12 – 23. This is a whip smart comedic tragedy about unrequited love, missed connections, lost dreams and the pursuit of happiness. The production features original songs, live music and multi-generational tales that reveal the danger in our own desires and the elusive pursuit of happiness. Tickets are now on sale and start at $25. To purchase tickets online, visit The Cultch.
The much loved Vancouver based singer/songwriter, Jill Barber, invites you to an evening of live music at The York Theatre Saturday, April 15th. Jill will be featuring songs from her new album, Homemaker. This album, which she helped co-produce, is very personal and reflects on marriage, motherhood and self-identity. Jill Barber is a three-time Juno Award nominated singer-songwriter who has an unforgettable voice once. Her critically acclaimed repertoire includes songs in both French and English. Tickets are $45 and available online at The Cultch.
The Vegan Night Market hosted by Peaces is back at the Waldorf Hotel, 1489 East Hastings Street, on Thursday, March 23, 2023. Expect to find vendors with all things 100% plant based including food trucks and local vendors. The market happens indoors and outdoors from 6:00 pm to 10:00 pm. There will be cocktails, bonfires, live music and 30+ food brands on hand. Admittance is by a $2 donation or by bringing canned goods. Kids are free.
It’s very easy to see why Fado was such a big hit at the Firehall in 2019 and why they decided to bring it back as part of getting into the swing of things with live theatre again.
This play attempts to blend an ambitious number of themes into a typical runtime of 90 minutes or so and not only succeeds but makes it look easy.
I went in not knowing much about it besides that I like Fado music even if I don’t listen to it very often. I expected to be impressed with Fado as a musical and a story of artistic ambition and development, and that’s 100% true. We get not just one but 3 incredibly talented singers showing us how an entire country could be in love with “the saddest music in the world” and the way it turns pain into beauty.
We get an appealing and sympathetic main character who wants to learn to sing Fado with true Portuguese passion even if she was born in Canada and some people think that makes her too happy and too lucky to pull it off. We get a cantankerous yet charming mentor figure. We get singing that shows strong yet unrealized potential – which is quite something to pull off when a lot of the audience isn’t very familiar with what the fullest expression of the form would sound like.
At the same time, we also get an interesting examination of Portugal’s 20th Century history and politics as seen from contrasting points of view – with a couple of questions that you may have never considered before such as, “can a song be fascist?” We get a conversation about whether emigrants can ever really leave the home country behind and whether they can ever really return to it, as well as what the imagined homeland means to the second generation. We get two love stories with some surprising twists and turns. And Fado fits all of this in with a script that feels like natural conversation, never forcing large chunks of backstory or introspection into anyone’s lines.
Performances are very strong across the board but for me the standout is Natércia Napoleao’s Luisa, the main character’s mother. She seems at first meeting like she’s going to be an Old-World Mum cliché, a bit of comic relief that we return to occasionally, wielding her precious iron to make everything fancy. However, she quickly blossoms into a complex character, although not always a likable one. She’s a woman who actively resists being stereotyped and complicates the narrative or speaks volumes by simply walking away when others try to dismiss her too easily.
If I have any quibbles it would be that the play introduces a gay character whose story feels like it doesn’t quite have time enough to breathe or resolve properly. That said the character and his storyline are every bit as strong as the rest of this tale in the moments he does get – and it’s possible that too neat a resolution would be a dishonest way of presenting what it’s like to be gay in a very Catholic country.
The Firehall Arts Centre and Victoria’s Puente Theatre bring FADO – The Saddest Music in the World back to The Firehall Arts Centre from Saturday, January 14 to Sunday, February 5, 2023.
Acclaimed Portuguese-Canadian playwright Elaine Ávila’s play, FADO, is a tale of love and ghosts set in the back alleys and brothels of old Lisbon. This musical, which premiered at The Firehall in 2019 and enjoyed a wildly successful run, tells the story of a young woman confronting her country’s Fascist past and her own identity is interwoven with the heartbreaking national music of Portugal known as Fado, which means “fate.”
If you have not experienced Fado music, you are missing out. What is Fado? Wikipedia describes it as “a form of music characterized by mournful tunes and lyrics, often about the sea or the life of the poor, and infused with a sentiment of resignation, fatefulness and melancholia.” We can tell you it is passionate, emotional and relatable. For a taste of Fado music, listen to Amália Rodrigues singing “Abandono” here. To see it live and person, visit the Firehall Arts Centre for tickets which start from $25.
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