42 things to do in Metro Vancouver on Friday, December 23

Looking for something to do on Friday? The Straight’s got you covered. Here are 42 events happening in or around Vancouver on Friday, December 23.

CONCERTS

Celebrate the season at Cottage Bistro with jazz vocalists Ashleigh Somerville, Mandy Rushton, and Karin Plato.

Canadian country-rock band Brother Twang plays Dubh Linn Gate.

BENEFITS

The Original Ugly Christmas Sweater Party at the Commodore Ballroom supports the Children's Wish Foundation of Canada.

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

Vote on your favourite gingerbread creation and get your photo with Santa at Grouse Mountain, with proceeds to SOS Children’s Village B.C.'s programs and homes for local foster children and homeless youth.

ETCETERA

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.

The Vancouver Christmas Market continues at Jack Poole Plaza, featuring traditional German cuisine, mulled wine, gingerbread, German beer, a Christmas pyramid, a large heated tent overlooking the North Shore, entertainment, a carousel, and vendors selling gifts and treasures.

The Festival of Lights at VanDusen Botanical Garden features over one-million twinkling lights, a carousel, a dancing-lights show, the Make-A-Wish candle grotto, and photos with Santa.

Experience a winter wonderland at Bloedel Conseratory's Holiday Heights at Bloedel, complete with magical lights, festive music, a holiday scavenger hunt, seasonal activities, and a Ferris-wheel ride.

Heritage Christmas at Burnaby Village Museum features light displays, vintage shop-window displays, a visit with Father Christmas, live entertainment, fresh heritage baking, kids' crafts, a sing along, and a scavenger hunt.

Buy anything from LPs to old fashioned tools, vintage gig posters to hand-crafted underpants, at the WISE Hall Night Flea.

KIDS' STUFF

Experience the holiday-themed lights, displays, and live performers along the miniature-train route at Bright Nights in Stanley Park, with proceeds to the B.C. Professional Fire Fighters' Burn Fund.

Help Santa search for his missing elves during an exhilarating simulated flight-ride experience across Canada and on to the North Pole at Flyover Canada.

COMEDY

Vancouver comedian, actor, and writer Adam Pateman performs the second of two nights of standup at the Comedy Mix.

The Vancouver TheatreSports League presents the final performance of Christmas Queen 3: The Bachelorette Edition at the Improv 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.

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 York Theatre of East Van Panto: Little Red Riding Hood, Theatre Replacement's pantomime that sees Little Red Riding Hood battling bike thieves, distracted drivers, and the Big Bad Wolf.

The Arts Club Theatre Company presents Avenue Q--the musical story of Princeton, a bright-eyed college graduate who arrives in New York City looking for love, a job, and his purpose in life--at Granville Island Stage.

The Arts Club Theatre Company presents The Day Before Christmas--about a perfectionist who is desperately juggling family and work as she attempts to create the perfect Christmas--at the Goldcorp Stage at the BMO Theatre Centre.

Christmas pantomime Captain Hook's Revenge at Deep Cove Shaw Theatre sees Captain Hook and his swashbuckling pirates plot their revenge on Peter Pan.

Carousel Theatre for Young People presents A Charlie Brown Christmas at the Waterfront Theatre.

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.

Performance of James & Jamesy’s O Christmas Tea: A British Comedy at Maple Ridge's ACT Arts Centre.

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.

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

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

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

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

MOVIES

Screening at Vancity Theatre of Art Bastard, Victor Kanefsky's documentary about painter Robert Cenedella.

Screening at the Rio Theatre of the classical musical The Sound of Music, starring Julie Andrews.

Screening at the Cinematheque of Ingmar Bergman’s wonder-filled evocation of childhood, Fanny and Alexander, as part of the series Essential Cinema! Essential Big Screen!

Screenings at Vancity Theatre of Hunt for the Wilderpeople as part of the Best of 2016 Series.

Screening at Vancity Theatre of Human, Yann Arthus-Bertrand's documentary that touches on love, murder, sexuality, mortality, and much, much more.

Screening at the Rio Theatre of the 1988 action flick Die Hard, starring Bruce Willis.

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

Screening at Vancity Theatre of Peter and the Farm, Tony Stone's documentary about the life of Peter Dunning, who's worked his farm in Vermont on his own for 40 years.

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