Looking for something to do on Friday? The Straight’s got you covered. Here are 53 events happening in or around Vancouver on Friday, August 23.

CONCERTS

Legendary soul-pop singer Smokey Robinson performs as part of the PNE's Summer Night Concerts series.

Local gospel-blues vocal group the Sojourners plays PAL Studio Theatre.

Mexican alt-rock band Cafe Tacvba plays the Vogue Theatre.

Acoustic folk-rocker Ashleigh Somerville performs a release show for her new album July at Hood 29.

Blues band Raul and the Big Time plays White Rock's Blue Frog Studios, with guests the Mojo Stars.

Sweet Home Chicago is a celebration of the blues at Fairview Pub featuring Wailin' Al Walker, Angie Brinton, and Dameian Walsh, with Rob Montgomery and his All-Star Band.

Ottawa duo Rideau Rounders & Jim Edmondson sings traditional Canadian folk songs at the Tipper Restaurant & Review Room.

The Ben Lockwood Quartet performs classic saxophone jazz at Tyrant Studios.

BENEFITS

The 22nd annual Golf for Guide Dogs Charity Tournament at Richmond's Mayfair Lakes Golf & Country Club raises funds to help BC & Alberta Guide Dogs. 

The Summer's End Signature Dinner at Granville Island's Dockside Restaurant raises funds for the Arts Club Theatre Company.

ETCETERA

The 2019 PNE Fair features midway rides, pig races, drag shows, agriculture displays, cooking demonstrations, Superdogs, the Summer Night Concerts series, and nightly finale shows (above).

The four-day Vancouver Wooden Boat Festival celebrate the city’s rich marine heritage on Granville Island.

SPORTS

The Vancouver Canadians take on the Salem-Kaizer Volcanoes in Minor Baseball League action at Nat Bailey Stadium.

COMEDY

Classic TheatreSports at the Improv Centre sees two teams of performers pitted against each other in competitive improv matches.

Comedian James Ball performs the first of two nights of standup at Yuk Yuk's Comedy Club.

ARTS ETCETERA

A Nude Hope: A Sci-Fi Burlesque Adventure is a Star Wars burlesque parody at the Red Gate Revue Stage.

Theatre Under the Stars presents its closing performance of Disney's Newsies at Malkin Bowl in Stanley Park.

Performance at the Dusty Flower Shop of Duncan Macmillan's off-kilter love story Lungs.

Performance at Bard on the Beach of Coriolanus, Shakespeare's examination of what it means to be loyal to a parent, to a leader, and to a country. SOLD OUT.

Promethean Theatre presents a performance at Stage Door of Of Mice and Men, a collaboration between artists with disabilities and those without disabilities.

The Rusted Cage Theatre Lab. presents a performance of Edward Albee's classic story of human disconnection and class division, The Zoo Story, at Havana Theatre.

Performance at Bard on the Beach of Shakespeare in Love, in which young Will Shakespeare's love blossoms amid schemes and backstage theatrics.

Dog Days at the Polygon is a photography exhibition featuring contemporary works, classic images, and vintage photographs of man's best friend.

Metalmorphosis at Visualspace Gallery is a sculptural exhibition from metal artists Kye-Yeon Son and Brian Hoyano, curated by Barbara Cohen.

Vicky Alexander: Extreme Beauty at the Vancouver Art Gallery features photography, sculpture, collage, and installation, including new massive murals created in 2019.

Alberto Giacometti: A Line Through Time at the Vancouver Art Gallery features more than 130 paintings, sculptures, drawings, and lithographs from the artist’s pre- and postwar career. 

Robert Rauschenberg 1965-1980 at the Vancouver Art Gallery features rarely seen prints, drawings, collages, sculptural works, and large-scale works from one of the most experimental periods in the artist's career.

Moving Still: Performative Photography in India at the Vancouver Art Gallery features more than 100 works that examine themes of gender, religion, and sexual identity.

Views of the Collection: The Street at the Vancouver Art Gallery focuses on the street as a source of inspiration and site for the production and enactment of culture, with works by Roy Arden, Kati Campbell, Robert Capa, Robert Frank, Fred Herzog, Hong Chan Park, Judy Radul, Jack Shadbolt, Danny Singer, and Ian Wallace.

The Clock by Christian Marclay is a 24-hour video at the Polygon that montages film and television footage from the last 70 years.

MUSEUMS

Shakeup: Preserving What We Value at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC explores the convergence of earthquake science and technology with Indigenous knowledge and oral history.

Shadows, Strings and Other Things: The Enchanting Theatre of Puppets at the Museum of Anthropology at UBC illustrates the role puppets have played in the transmission of cultural knowledge, stories, and values.

There is Truth Here at the Museum of Vancouver focuses on rare surviving artworks created by children who attended the Inkameep Day School (Okanagan), St. Michael’s Indian Residential School (Alert Bay); the Alberni Indian Residential School (Vancouver Island); and Mackay Indian Residential School (Manitoba).

Wild Things: The Power of Nature in Our Lives at the Museum of Vancouver delves into the life stories of local animals and plants—how they relate to each other and how they connect people to nature in the city.

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.

Haida Now: A Visual Feast of Innovation and Tradition at the Museum of Vancouver is guest-curated by Kwiaahwah Jones and features more than 450 works by carvers, weavers, photographers, and printmakers, collected as early as the 1890s.

ATTRACTIONS

Capilano Suspension Bridge features seven cable bridges suspended in trees, the Living Forest exhibit, totem-pole collection, Cliffwalk, and Treetop Adventure. 

North Vancouver's Grouse Mountain features a Skyride to the peak with views of the city and the Pacific Ocean.

Kits Pool, Vancouver's only saltwater swimming pool, is 137 metres long and features a water park, two slides, cafes, and lockers. 

The B.C. Sports Hall of Fame and Museum features permanent galleries devoted to Terry Fox and Rick Hansen, a rock-climbing wall, a virtual sports simulator, and history galleries.

The 22-hectare VanDusen Botanical Garden features over 255,000 plants from around the world and almost two dozen sculptures.

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

Parq Vancouver is a 24-hour casino with 600 slot machines and 75 table games, eight restaurants and lounges, and the sixth-floor outdoor Parq.

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is an authentic representation of an age-old garden tradition that reached its peak in the Ming Dynasty.

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

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

The Deeley Motorcycle Exhibition features more than 250 privately-owned bikes from around the world.

Stanley Park features 400 hectares of trails, with scenic walking and biking along the 8.8-kilometre seawall and totem park featuring eight poles by First Nations artists.

Nitobe Memorial Garden is a traditional Japanese garden located at the University of British Columbia with waterfalls, stone lanterns, audio guides and tours, and a ceremonial teahouse.

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

MOVIES

Late-night screening at the Rio Theatre of James Cameron's 1984 action-thriller The Terminator, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Screenings at Vancity Theatre of Apocalypse Now: Final Cut, Francis Ford Coppola's classic Vietnam War movie, 29 minutes longer than the original release, restored and polished for 4K digital projection.

Screenings at the Cinematheque of Chavela, Figuras, Rojo, Socrates, and Cold Water of the Sea as part of the Vancouver Latin American Film Festival.

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