28 things to do in Metro Vancouver on Thursday, January 5

Looking for something to do on Thursday? The Straight’s got you covered. Here are 28 events happening in or around Vancouver on Thursday, January 5.

 

CONCERTS

Scottish rock singer, musician, songwriter, and producer Midge Ure plays the Rickshaw Theatre.

 

BENEFITS

The ongoing Lights of Hope Christmas lights display at St. Paul's Hospital raises funds for the St. Paul's Foundation.

 

ETCETERA

Get a free introductory lesson that covers the basics of swordplay at Valkyrie Western Martial Arts Assembly.

See the world's tallest Christmas tree, sing along with the holiday band, and stroll through the lights decorating the suspension bridge, Treetops Adventure, Cliffwalk, rainforest, and canyon at Capilano Suspension Bridge's Canyon Lights.

 

COMEDY

Vancouver-based standup comedian Dino Archie performs the first of three nights at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club.

Los Angeles-based standup comedian Michael Kosta performs the first of three nights at the Comedy Mix.

 

ARTS ETCETERA

Paul Anthony and Ryan Beil cohost an evening of comedy, song, dance, and weirdness at the Rio Theatre.

 

LITERARY

Meredith Quartermain heads a lineup of The Writer's Studio students and alumni and local and touring authors reading poetry, fiction, and nonfiction at Cottage Bistro.

Wendy McMahon, senior lecturer in American literature at the U.K.'s University of East Anglia, speaks on "Fictions of Personhood: Writing Torture in Law and Literature" at SFU Harbour Centre.

 

GALLERIES

Walker Evans: Depth of Field at the Vancouver Art Gallery features more than 200 black and white and colour prints from the 1920s through to the 1970s.

Ceramics by Judy Chartrand at Bill Reid Gallery present her own personal history and insights into life in the Downtown Eastside of Vancouver.

Juxtapoz x Superflat exhibition at the Vancouver Art Gallery offers a unique insight into contemporary art and its place in cultural life.

Stare exhibition at Vancouver Art Gallery features photographic works that evoke a fixed and concentrated gaze on the part of artist and viewer.

 

MUSEUMS

Layers of Influence: Unfolding Cloth Across Cultures at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC features more than 130 diverse cultural garments, from Japanese kimonos, to colourful Indian saris, to the elaborate feather cloaks of the Maori people of Aotearoa/New Zealand.

The Museum of Anthropology at UBC hosts an exhibition that features the carvings of Papua New Guinea's Iatmul people.

At the Museum of Vancouver, you can explore the cultural power and significance of collecting through wall-to-wall displays of unconventional objects.

 

THEATRE

Performance at the Firehall Arts Centre of And Bella Sang With Us, Sally Stubbs's play about constables Lurancy Harris and Minnie Miller, Vancouver's first female police officers.

The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Mary Poppins--a musical based on the stories of P.L. Travers and the Walt Disney film--at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage.

 

ATTRACTIONS

Grouse Mountain resort features a Skyride to the peak with views of Vancouver and the Pacific Ocean, as well as skiing and snowboarding, snowshoeing, ice skating, mountain ziplines, and the Peak of Christmas.

Edgewater Casino offers 24-hour gaming, over 60 table games, a poker room, a high-limit section, 500 slot machines, restaurants and lounges, and live entertainment, including concerts and televised UFC events.

Mount Seymour features skiing and snowboarding lessons from the Mt. Seymour Ski and Snowboard School, tubing and tobogganing, and snowshoe trails.

Robson Square Ice Rink offers free ice-skating in downtown Vancouver, with skate rental available.

Cypress Mountain features skiing and snowboarding lessons, snowtubing park, cross-country ski trails, downhill skiing and snowboarding trails, and snowshoeing tours.

 

MOVIES

Screening at the Cinematheque of a new restoration of Black Girl, the 1966 debut feature of Senegalese novelist and master filmmaker Ousmane Sembène. 

Screening at Vancity Theatre of Yann Arthus-Bertrand's film Human, which spans the globe to document the land and its peoples, touching on love, murder, sexuality, and mortality.

Screening at the Cinematheque of a new restoration of Robert Bresson's 1983 farewell film L'Argent.

Screening at Vancity Theatre of Reset, which depicts renowned choreographer and dancer Benjamin Millepied as he attempts to rejuvenate the Paris Opera Ballet in his new position as director.

Screening at Vancity Theatre of André Téchiné's Being 17, about two teenage boys who take an instant dislike to each other when circumstances conspire to throw them together.

 

For all the latest Metro Vancouver event announcements and updates follow @VanHappenings.