73 things to do in Metro Vancouver on Saturday, October 21

by Steve Newton on October 20th, 2017 at 2:00 PM

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Looking for something to do on Saturday? The Straight’s got you covered. Here are 73 events happening in or around Vancouver on Saturday, October 21.

CONCERTS

Salt Spring Island blues-world fusion singer-songwriter Harry Manx performs at the Vogue Theatre with the Yaletown String Quartet.

David Foster shares the Rogers Arena stage with Steven Tyler, Robin Thicke, Jay Leno, the Tenors, Matteo Bocelli, and Laura Bretan in a fundraiser for the David Foster Foundation, which provides financial support to Canadian families with children in need of life-saving organ transplants.

Toronto indie-rock band Broken Social Scene plays the second of two nights at the Commodore, with guests the Belle Game.

Canadian folk legend Gordon Lightfoot performs at the Molson Canadian Theatre at Hard Rock.

Coastal Jazz presents Chicago's Marquis Hill Blacktet at Frankie's Jazz.

Los Angeles-based psych-rock band Wand plays the Cobalt, with guests Darto.

American synth-pop singer-songwriter Zola Jesus plays Venue, with guests Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and Maria Usbeck.

BENEFITS

The 18th annual Rockin' for Research fundraiser at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver features a cocktail reception, live and silent auctions, dinner, entertainment, and dancing, with proceeds to the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Celebrate the Day of the Dead at the Hellenic Community Centre with a Mexican buffet, a mariachi band, dancing, and a silent auction, with proceeds to Project Amigo.

Night of trivia at Loungeworks raises funds for the Vancouver International Children's Festival's hospital-outreach program.

A 1980s-themed evening at the Imperial raises funds for Rethink Breast Cancer.

ETCETERA

Fright Nights at Playland, a Halloween-themed event featuring murderous ghouls, creepy clowns, and chainsaw-wielding freaks roaming the site, in addition to eight haunted houses, runs until October 31.

Potter's House of Horrors in Surrey features two haunted houses and a kids' attraction geared towards children 12 and under.

The Haunted Vancouver Trolley Tour explores Vancouver's dark and spooky history through stops at locales like Mountain View Cemetery and the Vancouver Police Museum.

The Kits Autumn Fair at Kitsilano Neighbourhood House features food trucks, a pancake breakfast, bouncy castles, carnival games, local musicians, a haunted house, and craft and farmers markets.

Five illusionists join forces to perform a magic show at Burnaby's Michael J. Fox Theatre.

FASHION

The Union LGBT+ Wedding Show at Heritage Hall showcases LGBT-positive wedding professionals in an inclusive environment.

FOOD & DRINK

Celebrate Oktoberfest at the Vancouver Alpen Club with German food and beer, live music by the Continentals, and dancing with the Alpen Plattlers.

FORUMS

The Three Stages of Environmentalism at the Chan Centre features writer and naturalist Briony Penn (above) and executive director of the Union of British Columbia Indian Chiefs, Grand Chief Stewart Phillip.

The Arthritis Patient Advisory Board presents an interactive educational public forum at Vancouver Public Library on how to better manage your arthritis.

KIDS' STUFF

Spoo-ook-tacular at the Britannia Mine Museum features a spooky train ride, science shows, creepy critters, and a dress-up photo booth.

The annual Stanley Park Ghost Train features an alien-themed train ride that investigates a spaceship crash-landing in Stanley Park. Event includes live music, food vendors, and arts and crafts.

Let Your Music Shine! with Lisa & Linda presents kid-friendly concerts of barnyard-themed songs at New Westminster's Anvil Centre.

SPORTS

The B.C. Lions take on the Edmonton Eskimos in Canadian Football League action at B.C. Place Stadium.

COMEDY

Comedian Erik Griffin performs the third of three nights of standup at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club.

Comedian Lachlan Patterson performs the third of three nights of standup at the Comedy Mix.

Bloodfeud: The ol’ Switcheroo at Little Mountain Gallery features improv and standup performances.

Six actors and six improvisers perform six mashed-up scenes from five movies at Havana Theatre's Actor's Nightmare.

ARTS ETCETERA

Cirque du Soleil presents Kurios: Cabinet of Curiosities, a new production that takes you into the curio cabinet of an ambitious inventor who defies the laws of time, space, and dimension, at Concord Pacific Place.

Fight for Beauty at Fairmont Pacific Rim features public art projects undertaken with world-class creatives, architecture from architects who are artists in their own right, and fashion by some of the greatest designers in recent history.

DANCE

Vancouver dance ensemble plastic orchid factory and Montreal's MAYDAY/Mélanie Demers present dance at Scotiabank Dance Centre that comments on the nature and posture of man.

In association with SINDHOOR/NATYAVEDA–Navarasa Dance Theater, the Cultch presents Encounter, a production that delves into the struggles and challenges of the Indigenous communities of India.

Ballet Kelowna presents four recently premiered works from Canadian choreographers Donald Sales, Gioconda Barbuto, Matjash Mrozewski, and Simone Orlando at Maple Ridge's ACT Arts Centre.

LITERARY

The Vancouver Writers Festival features more than 95 events at various venues with local and international writers. Authors appearing today include Scotland's Andrew O'Hagan (above) at the Revue Stage.

The three-day Surrey International Writers' Conference at the Sheraton Guildford Hotel features over 75 workshops, pitch appointments, a writing contest, a literary masquerade, book signings, a banquet, and a live auction.

MUSIC

Jin Zhang conducts the Vancouver Philharmonic Orchestra and guest violinist Sean Gao in a performance of works by Mendelssohn, Sibelius, and Beethoven at Shaughnessy Heights United Church.

Cristian Măcelaru conducts pianist Angela Cheng and the VSO in a program of works by Enescu, Ravel, and Dvorak at Chan Centre for the Performing Arts.

Pianist Tzenka Dianova explores the music of John Cage at the Orpheum Annex.

THEATRE

Touchstone Theatre presents a performance at Firehall Arts Centre of Happy Place, playwright Pamela Mala Sinha's story about seven woman in an in-patient care facility.

Théâtre la Seizième presents Guillaume Corbeil's play Unité Modèle, which takes an objective and unsettling look at gentrification and our relationship with image, at Studio 16.

The Arts Club Theatre Company presents a performance at the Stanley Industrial Alliance Stage of King Charles III, Mike Bartlett's political satire about what happens when Queen Elizabeth II dies and her son Charles ascends the throne.

Aenigma and Bright Young Theatre present a performance of Viva, Scott Button's play about one night that changes the lives of two people forever, at Havana Theatre.

Vagabond Players present the musical Little Shop of Horrors, about a flower-shop assistant whose life is changed when he stumbles across a peculiar new plant species, at Queen's Park's Bernie Legge Theatre.

Western Gold Theatre presents Homeward Bound, director William B. Davis's version of Elliott Hayes's play about one family's Sunday dinner, at PAL Theatre.

Performance at Deep Cove Shaw Theatre of Dracula, Liz Lochhead's stage adaptation of the classic horror novel, codirected by Amy Starkey and Clive Scarff.

The White Rock Players Club presents a performance of The Woman in Black, director Stephen Mallatratt's version of the horror story about a lawyer who is certain that a curse has been placed upon him, at Coast Capital Playhouse.

The Sidekick Players present a performance at Tsawwassen Arts Centre of Someone Who'll Watch Over Me, Frank McGuinness's play about three men who are held captive by terrorists in Beirut.

Gateway Theatre presents a performance of A Little Night Music, Stephen Sondheim's Broadway-style musical about mismatched couples.

Tomo Suru Players present Cabaret, a musical production that explores the dark, heady, and tumultuous life of Berlin’s natives and expatriates as Germany slowly yields to the emerging Third Reich, at XY.

In association with Dipti Mehta, the Cultch presents Honour: Confessions of a Mumbai Courtesan, a testament to the humanity and lives of sex workers, at Vancity Culture Lab.

Performance at Pacific Theatre of The Lonesome West, the story of two Irish brothers who eke out a squalid existence in the house of their deceased father.

GALLERIES

Intangible at Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art exhibition spotlights six Coast Salish artists influenced by tradition as well as contemporary inspiration.

Entangled: Two Views on Contemporary Canadian Painting at the Vancouver Art Gallery offers insight into two distinctly different modes of painting that have come to dominate contemporary painting in Canada.

Emily Carr: Into the Forest at the Vancouver Art Gallery is a collection of Emily Carr's forest paintings that highlight her continued exploration of the natural environment.

Bill Reid Creative Journeys at Bill Reid Gallery of Northwest Coast Art celebrates the three phases of the artist's creative journey, Pre-Haida (1948-1951), Haida (1951-1968) and Beyond Haida (1968-1998).

MUSEUMS

In a Different Light: Reflecting on Northwest Coast Art at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC features more than 110 historical indigenous artworks and explores what we can learn from these works and how they relate to indigenous peoples’ relationships to their lands.

Amazonia: The Rights of Nature at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC features Amazonian basketry, textiles, carvings, feather works, and ceramics both of everyday and of ceremonial use, representing indigenous, Maroon, and white settler communities.

The Lost Fleet at the Vancouver Maritime Museum investigates the unjust 1941 seizure of 1,200 Japanese-Canadian fishing vessels following the bombing of Pearl Harbour through a collection of historic photographs, models of Japanese-Canadian-built fishing boats, fishermen’s tools, and replica documents.

ATTRACTIONS

At the Bloedel Conservatory you can take in more than 200 free-flying exotic birds and 500 exotic plants and flowers.

The Capilano Suspension Bridge features seven suspended footbridges offering views 110 feet above the forest floor.

The new Parq Vancouver features two luxury hotels, a casino, eight restaurants and lounges, and a 30,000 square foot park.

Stanley Park features 400 hectares of trails, gardens, beaches, and West Coast rain forest, with scenic walking and biking along the 8.8 kilometre seawall.

The 22-hectare VanDusen Botanical Garden features over 255,000 plants from around the world, a restaurant, a garden shop, and a horticulture library.

The 763-hectare Pacific Spirit Regional Park located on traditional Musqueam territory includes 73 km of walking trails and Acadia, Tower, and Wreck Beaches.

The Vancouver Aquarium features almost 800 animal species in galleries ranging from Canada's Arctic to the Amazon rainforest.

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.

Take a ride in an exterior glass elevator and get a 360° view of Metro Vancouver and the North Shore mountains at Vancouver Lookout.

Lighthouse Park features 10 kilometres of hiking trails, picnic areas, guided walks provided by the Lighthouse Park Preservation Society, and the historical 1912 Point Atkinson Lighthouse.

Science World features hundreds of interactive exhibits in five permanent galleries, live science demonstrations and workshops, and giant movies in the Omnimax Theatre.

MOVIES