72 things to do in Metro Vancouver on Friday, October 20

Looking for something to do on Friday? The Straight’s got you covered. Here are 72 events happening in or around Vancouver on Friday, October 20.

 

CONCERTS

Vancouver alt-soul band the Boom Booms plays the Vogue, performing tunes from its new album A Million Miles.

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

Canadian Celtic-folk band the Paperboys performs a 25th-anniversary show at the Imperial.

American DJ and electronica producer GRiZ plays the PNE Forum, performing on his Good Will Continue Tour.

American indie-pop/R&B singer-songwriter Lostboycrow plays the Fox Cabaret, with guests Prelow.

American psychedelic-pop singer-songwriter Ariel Pink plays Venue.

Folk-rock band Just a Season plays the WISE Hall, with guests Gentle Party.

Local alt-rock band Spidercracker plays the Fairview Pub, with guests the Starling Effect and Skyote.

 

BENEFITS

The Little Black Dress Gala at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver features jazz, ballet, opera, and fashion, with proceeds to Help Change My City Alliance, which provides mentorship programs to youth in schools. 

Toast to the Coast Gala at the Aquarium features gourmet dishes from Ocean Wise seafood restaurants, B.C. wines, and an after party, with proceeds to the Vancouver Aquarium.

Girls Night Out 2017 at the Port Moody Inlet Theatre features standup comedy by Erica Sigurdson, with proceeds to the arts and music programming and gallery initiatives at the Port Moody Arts Centre.

 

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.

 

FOOD & DRINK

Experience the flavours of the Lonsdale Quay Market as you take in a free culinary showcase, hands-on workshops, a taste tour, and kids' activities.

The Eastside Flea Harvest Market at the Ellis Building features more than 20 local artisan-food vendors, free taste-testing samples, bar specials, and exclusive food truck specials.

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

 

FORUMS

Emily Millen leads a vinyasa yoga class at Semperviva Yoga Kits Beach Studio that includes music by violist Thomas Beckman.

E-waste geographer Josh Lepawsky discusses what is the right way to deal with electronic waste at SFU Harbour Centre.

Jeff Spencer presents a repeatable blueprint for anyone who wants to play a bigger and better game at a higher level at the Alliance for Arts and Culture.

 

KIDS' STUFF

Day of celebration and empowerment for girls aged 10 to 12 at Burnaby's Ismaili Centre includes speeches and performances by Desiree Dawson, Lori Boland, Michelle and Tru Wilson, Vanessa Richards, and Cybele Negris.

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 the Vancouver Playhouse.

 

COMEDY

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

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

Grad School Improv presents a high-stakes comedic tale inspired by Game of Thrones and the works of William Shakespeare at Little Mountain Gallery.

Improv-comedy show at Havana Theatre mashes up elements from different evening talk shows.

 

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

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.

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.

 

LITERARY

The Vancouver Writers Festival features more than 95 events at various venues with local and international writers. Authors appearing today include Dina Del Bucchia, Leanne Dunic, Zoey Leigh Peterson, Dennis Lee, Hera Lindsay Bird, Fanny Britt, James Maskalyk, Kate Hilton, Karen Connelly, Ken McGoogan, and Gurjinder Basran (above).

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.

 

MUISIC

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.

The Borealis String Quartet, clarinetist Jose French-Ballester, and pianist Mark Anderson perform works by Mozart and Dvořák at UBC's Roy Barnett Recital Hall.

Muzewest Concerts presents pianist Wayne Weng in a program of works by Schubert, Liszt, and Debussy at St. Helen's Anglican Church.

French organist Jerome Faucheur performs music by Boëly, Franck, Vierne, Saint-Saëns, Guilmant, Dupré, Litaize, Demessieux, and Langlais at Holy Rosary Cathedral.

 

THEATRE

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.

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

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.

 

GALLERIES

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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

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

The three-day Vancouver Polish Film Festival kicks off at SFU Goldcorp Centre for the Arts. Films screening today include Hatred (above).

Screenings at the Cinematheque of director Eric Rohmer's A Tale of Winter and A Summer's Tale.

Screening at Vancity Theatre of Frederick Wiseman's new documentary Ex Libris: The New York Public Library.

Canadian premiere screening at the Rio Theatre of Haunters: The Art of the Scare, director Jon Schnitzer's documentary about how family-friendly haunted houses for Halloween have spawned a growing subculture of extreme horror simulations. Includes a post-screening director Q&A session.

Free screening of short films curated by the National Film Board at the Vancouver Public Library's Dunbar branch. For families with children ages five and up.

Free afternoon screening at Vancouver Public Library's Renfrew branch of the animated kids' film Hotel Transylvania.

Late-night screening at the Rio Theatre of Tobe Hooper's groundbreaking 1974 horror flick The Texas Chain Saw Massacre.

 

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