This year’s Vancouver International Flamenco Festival will offer an in-depth look at Spanish dance in Canada with an all-Canadian lineup of performances.

The 31st festival, which will run from September 4 to 26, will feature both live and live-streamed performances, with ticketed and free events taking place at Vancouver venues including the Waterfront Theatre, the Picnic Pavilion Stage on Granville Island, and the Vancouver Public Library.  

The festival gets underway with free shows at the Picnic Pavilion Stage featuring Mozaico Flamenco Ensemble, Peña Flamenca and Iminah Kani, Jhoely Triana, Bonnie Stewart and Friends, and Jafelin Helten and Friends.

All ticketed events will take place September 23 to 26 at the Waterfront Theatre.

Highlights include:

• Montreal’s La Otra Orilla performing RITE, featuring artists Myriam Allard, Hedi Graja, Caroline Planté, and Miguel Medina;
• Alma de España Flamenco from Victoria presenting Familia, with artistic director Veronica Maguire, guitarist Gareth Owen, dancers Amity Skala and Denise Yeo, and guest singer Oscar Nieto;
• To Victor with Love…. by Vancouver’s Flamenco Rosario, with percussionist Davide Sampaolo, dancers Katia Flores, Yurie Kaneko, Meghan Asher, and Charo (Chien-Ai-Tsai); singer Hedi Graja; and guitarist Caroline Planté;
• Vancouver’s Kasandra Flamenco Ensemble in Solo Flamenco, featuring dancer Kasandra "La China", cante singer Jafelin Helten, and percussionist Davide Sampaolo.

The Vancouver International Flamenco Festival was founded by Flamenco Rosario in 1990, and the company “explores the possibilities of flamenco by crossing boundaries of history and culture, incorporating dancers from other dance traditions, international dance artists, musicians, and vocalists into the development of new work”, according to a news release.  

For more information and tickets for this year’s festival, click here.